Baseball Pitching

INTRODUCTION:

You are the main pitcher in the baseball team and you are playing a strong side. Usually your fastball is quick enough to strike-out the batters in the weaker sides however against the strong sides your pitch is not fast enough to strike them out. How can biomechanical principles be applied to the pitcher in order to increase the speed of his pitch. Accuracy cannot be compromised for speed as end result is to get a strikeout which requires both accuracy and speed. The end result of the biomechanical intervention should be to have the pitcher increasing their pitching speed.

BIOMECHANICAL PRINCIPLES:

-        Force Summation & the Kinetic Chain

-        The Magnus Effect & Hand Grip

-        Angular Velocity

Force Summation & the Kinetic Chain

The baseball pitch is a very complex movement that involves a large number of muscles and joints. Although the action is incredibly unnatural for the body the correct movements can lead to a very large summation of force responsible for building very large amounts of force. The key to having a efficient pitch is to have each stage of the action building up force (Redlegs Baseball, 2013). A flaw in any of the stages of the motion has a detrimental flow on effect that inhibits the end result. The kinetic chain of energy moves from the lower body through the following path:

Legs > Hip > Trunk> Upper Body> Forearm> Hand > Ball

The large muscles of the legs and trunk begin the motion and through careful sequential movements the energy transfers through to the smaller muscles of the arm and hand with the force becoming greater as the muscles size decreases . In order to get the most effectively pitch, the movements and rotations of the body need to be in a precise order with each muscles moving at the right time and in the correct direction. The pitching action begins the pitcher taking his stride, followed by the rotation of the pelvis, rotation of the upper body, extension of the elbow and finally wrist flexion and finally release. People often refer to people needing to pitch with their whole body in order to be efficient, this is correct to a degree but it is more than just using the whole body, the whole body needs to be used correctly. If part of the kinetic chain goes out of order the whole kinetic chain is broken and the resulting energy built up before the break is lost resulting in a loss of velocity on the pitch. In order to get the maximum velocity on the ball the pitcher needs to release the ball with back spinning motion. Any turning of the wrist will result in a breaking of the kinetic chain which will mean loss of velocity.

(http://psychsciencenotes.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/the-task-dynamics-of-throwing-to.html)

These images show the stages of a pitch and the Kinetic Chain develops

The Magnus Effect

The Magnus effect refers to the change in the trajectory of an object through the air as a result of the spin on the ball. Spinning of the ball changes the way the ball travels through the air. In a standard fastball thrown by a pitcher the ball will depart the hand with backspin imparted on the ball (Alan, 2007). The resulting airflow around the ball will impart lift onto the baseball. Baseballs are reasonably heavy so the lift force generated will not be enough to raise the ball in its flight path but the force will be enough to allow the ball to maintain its trajectory without dropping. A beach ball, being much lighter, can generate enough change in air pressure to actually lift the ball in its flight path. How with a baseball this does not happen.   In order to pitch the ball with maximum speed and velocity the ball needs to leave the hand with backspin. If the ball is spinning with a different spin the way the ball moves through the air changes. If side spin is put on the ball, it moves through the air differently and will lose speed as it moves through the air. If the goal of the pitch was to produce a more effective curveball, different spins on the ball would be desirable, however in the instance of a fastball, the pitcher wants the Magnus force to be lifting the ball and nothing else.

(http://www.aviation-for-kids.com/the-magnus-force.html)

This image shows how the backspin on a ball imparts lift onto it

Angular Kinetics and Acceleration

During a baseball pitch the shoulder moves at approximately 7600 degree’s per second making it one of the fastest angular movements in a sporting context (Barncard, 2012). This movement is very rapid and imparts a lot of speed onto the ball. When the motion is coupled with the ball being right at the end of the arm means that the ball will travel even faster than the shoulder does. Angles play a very important role in increasing the speed of a pitch as the further the pitcher has to get the ball accelerating the faster the ball can travel. Small changes to a pitchers action such as cocking the wrist or increasing the range of motion in the arms make major differences to the speed of the ball upon release (Wang, 1995). Many elite pitchers will begin the movement of the ball at the very start of their pitching stride in order to get maximum acceleration on the ball.

(http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/baseball/pitching/Images/Examples/Example_HipsRotatingBeforeShoulders_TimLincecum_2007_006.jpg)

This image shows how the shoulder of an elite pitcher is pushed right back to allow for maximal accleration of the ball. 

THE ANSWER

To increase pitching speed that pitcher first needs to look at the biomechanical impact that has the greatest impact on the through, the kinetic chain. In order to increase the speed of the pitch it needs to be analysed to determine if the pitcher is using their entire body efficiently. Breaking down the movements of each body part of the pitch to determine if the movements are correct would be the first stage to determining the efficiency of the action. A pitch with lots of velocity starts right down at the legs. Many pitchers, particularly pitchers in the cognitive stage, throw with just the upper body and fail to get their legs involved in the process of the kinetic chain. In order to increase pitching speed it needs to be analysed to see firstly if the pitcher could involve their legs more in the action. The pitcher may need to lift their legs higher in order to get more force in the initial process of the chain. Understanding the kinetic chain is the key to increasing the velocity on the ball. Once it has been determined what mechanical issues may be present within the action, progress can be made to correct the flaws. The end result in a fluent kinetic chain will have a flow of energy from the legs, through the trunk and out the arm through the hand. Body rotation begins with the knee, followed by the movement of the pelvis, the trunk, the upper body and finally the extension of the arm and release from the hand.

The spin on the ball can play a part in the maximal velocity imparted on the ball. The pitcher is trying to throw the ball as fast as he can and any spin imparted on the ball other than backspin will actually slow down the ball as it moves through the air. The Magnus effect relates to the movement of the ball through the air. If the pitcher wants to be able to throw the ball at maximal velocity it is important he is throwing the ball with back spin. A coach can stand behind the pitcher and look at the ball to determine how the ball is spinning through the air. Minor adjustments to the grip on the ball or the angle of release can be implemented to ensure the ball is spinning correctly.

Angular kinetics can be the most difficult biomechanical principle to be applied to a pitchers technique. Most pitchers settle into actions that feel comfortable to them and find it hard to refine their technique with smaller actions such as wrist cocking or extra movement of the arm. With coaching techniques pitchers should be able to improve the technique in order to get more speed through the arm and a longer period of acceleration for the ball. With application of new technique the pitcher should be able to generate more force and throw the ball harder.

Through creating a stronger kinetic chain of energy, getting the correct backspin and application of angular kinetics the pitcher should be able to generate more force. The end result will be that the pitcher will be able to generate more speed and force through their body and deliver a pitch that has a greater velocity.

HOW ELSE CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION?

Increasing throwing speed can be applied onto a number of different sports. Within baseball itself having a throw that is both quick and accurate is vital, in particular to the infielders who rely on fast throws. The biomechanical principles of angular kinetics and the kinetic chain are important to understand for throwing in general. Throwing is a skill that can be applied to a number of other sports and although the ball may be larger in some other sports many of the principles remain the same. To throw a basketball harder across the court, increasing the angle allows more acceleration of the ball meaning it will travel faster. This skill can be very useful when trying to move the ball quickly across the court.

The principal of the Magnus Effect is very useful to understand in several other sports but the two main sports that come to mind are baseball and cricket. As previously discussed the Magnus effect is useful to understand in the context of the ball movement and how to get maximal speed the ball needs to be rotating backwards. Using this understanding how the ball moves through the air, pitchers can understand how to throw a curveball most effectively. In order to get the ball to drop down rapidly at the end of the pitch the ball needs to be having forward spin. To pitch a slider the ball needs to be rotating sideways. The result of the slider will be a pitch that not only drops down but also moves sideways. Therefore it can be determined that to throw a curveball most effectively the ball needs to spinning either forward or sideways. Throwing an in between pitch will see that the ball will not move as strongly in either direction.

The same concepts can be applied to cricket as well. To get the most effective fast pitch, backspin needs to be applied to the ball. Many cricketers use their fingers to apply different spin on the ball when bowling a fastball to deceive the batter. By using their fingers to spin the ball the ball different it will make the ball slower through the air. This can trick batters as the action looks pretty much the same apart from the minor difference. Changing the spin on the ball even slightly out of the hand will create a much bigger difference over length of the pitch. Understanding how to use biomechanics to improve a pitchers action has a number of applications to other sports, hence making it a very useful information.

 http://www.parentingcounts.org/information/timeline/can-throw-a-ball-overhand-42-49-months/

http://sports-software.com/registrations-2/registrations/

The first image is of a child whose coach hasnt read this biomechancial blog. The second image depicts more desierbale technique.