Stride and Momentum of Pitching with James Billotti Jr

                                                                                                                                                  Billotti 1


James Billotti


Period 4


Mrs. Meara


12/28/15


                                                             Stride and Momentum of Pitching

Playing baseball for a long time and hearing many coaches points of views on it more than a couple have said balance and momentum to the plate are the most important thing in pitching. The reason for this say one doesn't have good balance and isn't still, they will wobble he pitch landing their front foot not at the plate and throwing the ball somewhere no where near the strike zone. It also effects your momentum because being off balance causes you to get little to no momentum towards the plate, causing your pitch to be very slow and then get hammered. With stride and momentum, the body is initiating, absorbing, and directing energy so it can deliver the most energy possible into a baseball. A pitcher must overcome inertia to initiate linear momentum by having complete control in their body. Once they are able to do that the lifting of the front leg will come more natural, their arm wont feel like they are over throwing, and striding really far will not hurt in the legs as much as it normally would.

"Lifting the front knee toward the back shoulder- as high as possible without changing the starting posture. The head, spine, and belly button must be kept behind the center of gravity/ rear end as the body continues moving forward into foot strike".  (House 23)


What this is trying to say is the key to staying in good balance, is bringing your back knew towards your outside check. This will case one to naturally stay tall, (Keep body parts, head, and spine, at 90 degrees). Then it will also trigger a snap movement towards the plate causing the average velocity on ones pitch to really increase. This can also apparently cause one to save their arm, not hurt it pitching because when you do this motion, your legs are striding so far they are causing the whip action, not your arm. So their are many ways to prevent arm damage from occurring.

"Keeping the head and spine upright and at least at the halfway point of the stride distance at foot strike, with the arms creating an opposite  and equal "mirror image", as the torso continues to move forward until the front knew has flexed as close to 90 degrees as possible. once this point is reached one must slowly release the ball from their glove keeping all balance gained. (House 23).

If you have your balance all figured out that is the hard part. The reason this momentum towards the plate is so key is it sets everything else up naturally. The arm angle with follow, and then release and drop. The spine and head wills stay still in tell the ball is released causing it to then naturally bring it down with it. 

 

 These are the motions that I have learned on the stride and momentum of pitching a baseball. With these new skills I have learned I will be able to throw more strikes, and stay in better balance. This will help me get more outs, therefore helping the team have a better chance at winning. 

How fast do you think I will be able to throw after perfecting these skills into my pitching form?