Today we are going to look at some screen grabs of famous pitchers at diferent parts of the pitch.
The Push
Every pitch starts with a push off the mound. Its important to push out straight!! With both legs. This is a common misconception with younger pitchers who open up too soon. In the pics at right you see cat osterman and rachael garcia pushing towards teh catcher with their shoulders pretty much square to the catcher.
Hand separation to toe touch
The second stage is from hands forward ( pushing but your stride foot still in the air) to hands separation and then toe touch. What you see in the pics is that as the hands separate the hips open – Osterman a bit more so, Garcia not quite to full open. At toe touch both pitchers throwing arm i past vertical but not yet parallel to the ground. ( and I’m sure RG coach would be telling her to get that glove in tighter!!)
Hips go next
The pics show how after toe touch the hips turn FIRST. Keeping the hips open and “clearing space” is is a speed killer, although commonly taught up in the past. You can see both pitchers hips closing back ahead of their ball hand. This with arm whip is a major contributor to speed.
Release
And finally with the hips closed at about 45 degrees the ball is released close to the leg. Note also the shoulders have stopped at very close to the same angle as the hips, and both pitchers are tall with their heads behind their front foot
Push off the mound with shoulders and hips square. Let your hand separation open your hips. You may note both have their glove above the shoulder as they open. Once the front toe touches, the hips close ahead of the hands. And both release with their hips at about 45 degrees thigh close to straight down. There are a lot of details to why this pattern is the key to speed. But that is a topic for another day.