By Gene Coleman, Jose Vazquez, and Regan Wong – Texas Rangers
Research on pitching indicates that the back leg (drive leg) gradually builds up force in the direction of the pitch until just before the front foot (landing foot) makes contact with the ground. Thus, the back leg is the “gas” and the front leg is the “brakes”. The more force generated by the back leg towards home plate, the higher the pitch velocity. High forces generated in the direction of the pitch, are associated with faster velocities because high forces produce more kinetic energy that can potentially be transferred from the lower body, through the core to the upper body and ball.
While being strong in the back or drive leg is a plus, it is also essential to be strong in the landing leg because the landing leg is responsible for harnessing and transferring the energy produced by the drive leg to the upper body. The drive leg produces force towards the plate. The landing leg transfers this force up the kinetic chain. The landing leg must have enough eccentric strength to absorb and capture the energy produced by the back leg and enough concentric strength to transfer it up the kinetic chain where it can be applied to the ball. The more efficiently you can produce, capture, and transfer energy up the kinetic chain, the more likely you will throw hard.
The take away is that strength in both legs is needed to produce and redirect energy from the ground up to the shoulder, arm, hand and ball. Concentric strength is needed to produce and transfer force and eccentric strength is needed to absorb force, decelerate the body, and create strain (elastic) energy in the muscles of the hips and legs. When pitchers try to muscle up and push off with more force than they are capable of absorbing, there is an increased risk of an energy leak somewhere along the kinetic chain resulting in decreased throwing velocity. Achieving high velocity is not just about how much force you can produce, it’s also how much you can harness, redirect, and utilize.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper into what happens with the front leg. When the front foot hits the ground, vertical and horizontal forces are applied to the ground. Vertical forces are transferred up through the body to the ball to help stop the lead knee from flexing and moving forward over the lead foot. Horizontal forces are applied against the ground in a backwards direction. The back leg gets your momentum moving towards the plate, and on foot contact, you slam on the brakes to stop your momentum and redirect it backwards with the front leg and foot and catapult the body and baseball towards home plate. The more efficiently you can go from “gas” to “brakes” the better your chances of throwing hard. Research indicates that one of the main biomechanical differences between fast and slow throwers is the ability to have the front leg go into extension after landing, i.e., not flexing.
“Slamming on the brakes” by the front leg contributes to at least two other biomechanical differences separating fast and slow throwers, trunk angle and hip rotation. Data indicate that the amount of forward trunk tilt at ball release is significantly greater in fast throwers than in slow throwers, and the only way to achieve proper trunk angles is with a strong front leg. After lead foot plant, your front hip acts as a pivot for your trunk to rotate around. If you are soft or weak with your pivot you will lose rotational velocity. When your front leg is strong enough to slam on the breaks and push back into your front hip after foot plant, hip rotation will increase and you will be able to transmit force from your stride into your upper body to improve throwing velocity.
Executing proper front leg mechanics requires high levels of absolute and relative leg strength. Not only are you moving powerfully toward the plate with your stride, but the slope of the pitching mound enhances gravitational force so that at front foot plant you land with forces up to 1.75 – 2.5 times your body weight. If you are weak in the front knee, not only will you lose power, you will have trouble being strong and stable at pitch release, which can have a negative effect on control. There are several effective exercises that can be used to improve concentric and eccentric strength in the drive and landing leg. While a detailed discussion and comprehensive training program involving these exercises is beyond the scope of this article, the following references should provide a good starting point for those seeking more information concerning which exercises can be used to increase lower body strength, core stability, and trunk rotation to help enhance throwing efficiency and velocity.
Suggested Exercises
I. Legs
- RDL – Pitcher’s single-leg opposite arm RDL. http://baseballstrength.org/pitchers-single-leg-opposite-arm-rdl-jose-vazquez-ptrscc-and-qene-coleman-ed-d-rscce/
- RDL Progressions. http://baseballstrength.org/rdl-progressions-by-dwaynepeterson-rscc/
- Single-leg forward reach. http://baseballstrength.org/single-leg-forward-reach-bygene-coleman-ed-d-rssce/
- Rear foot elevated split-squat. http://baseballstrength.org/rear-foot-elevated-splitsquat-rfe-split-squat/
- Kettlebell in baseball. http://baseballstrength.org/usinq-the-kettlebell-swinq-inbaseball/
- Plyometric ankle jumps for reactive ankle strength. http://baseballstrenqth.org/cateqory/traininq/strenqth/paqe/6/
- KB reverse lunge. http://baseballstrength.org/kettlebell-reverse-lung/
- Multi-directional lunge and reach. http://baseballstrength.org/multi-directionallunge-and-reach-exercise-for-hams-core-and-more/
- Lateral bound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McBg7nru_hi
- Step into MD ball throw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryRfwxe5g_o
II. Core
- MD ball resisted rotations, shops and lifts for sore strength and stability. http://baseballstrength.org/resisted-md-ball-rotations-chops-and-lifts-for-corestrength-and-stability/
- Kneeling hip thrust. http://baseballstrength.org/kneeling-hip-thrust-by-mikereinold-dpt-scs-atc-cscs/
- Hip thrust progressions. http://baseballstrength.org/progressions-from-glutebridge-to-hip-lift-to-hip-thrust-by-dwayne-peterson/
- Moving plank. http://baseballstrenqth.org/the-movinq-plank-for-core-stability/
- Core strength & Stability: Planks with taps. http://baseballstrength.org/jv-plankwith-taps/
- Bear crawls. http://baseballstrength.org/1309-2/
- MD ball rainbow power slams. http://baseballstrength.org/medball-rainbowpower-slams/
Ill. Mobility and Flexibility
- T-spine. http://baseballstrenqth.org/quadruped-t-spine-self-mobilization-by-brianschiff-pt-ocs-cscs/
- Open and close the gates. http://baseballstrength.org/open-and-close-the-gates/
- Three lower body stretches. http://baseballstrength.org/three-lower-bodystretches-to-prevent-adaptive-shortening/
___
Gene Coleman, Ed. D., RSCC*E, FASM is Professor Emeritus in the Exercise and Health Sciences Program at the University of Houston – Clear Lake and Website Education Manager for baseballstrength.org. Jose Vazquez, PT, RSCC is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Texas Rangers. Regan Wong, DPT is the Physical Therapist for the Texas Rangers and Director of Physical Therapy/Sports Physical Therapy at Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (TMI) in Arlington, TX.
