Many players dream of the opportunity to get on a big league mound and fire fastballs past over matched hitters. God given ability will take most of these individuals only so far so almost every one of them is looking for an edge with the number one goal of gaining velocity. The big concern in this is obtaining the extra speed with correct mechanics so injuries will not occur in the future.
In the summer of 2007 I had the great honor to work a baseball camp in San Diego, CA with Tom House. Tom is the founder of the National Pitching Association and the current pitching coach at the University of Southern California. We have worked together and stayed in contact over the past few years and in that time our organization (Cactus Camps) has adopted many of his teachings into our throwing program. Today I will touch on the importance of torque in relation to velocity.
In layman’s terms torque means twist and velocity means speed. I have been taught that as much as 80% of your velocity comes from torque which would lead you to understand why this component of throwing is so important. Shoulder to hip separation is a big key to this because when you start your throwing motion your hips are rotating back while your shoulders are staying linear to your target.
Imagine a right handed pitcher on the rubber in the stretch position. When his left knee raises up his hips rotate backwards and now his left knee is pointed in the direction of the short stop. While this is happening his left shoulder is still pointing at the catcher. The shoulders will not begin rotating forward until after the left foot has touched the ground and the toes are pointing towards home plate.
Having strong core muscles and flexibility in the hips and torso area are two keys to keys to help players from sustaining injuries. I would encourage all young players, especially pitchers, to get on a strength and flexibility program as soon as possible. Doing this will not only help you get stronger, but also keep you out of the trainer’s room. The old adage in Spring Training is “You can’t make a club while sittin’ in the tub.”
Below is a link to a 5 page article written by Tom Verducci about the reigning 2008 Cy Young Award Winner Tim Lincecum. The importance of torque is discussed by Tim. It is an interesting read and I thought I would include it in this week’s story.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tom_verducci/07/01/lincecum0707/index.html
