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Is Momentum
Important for Velocity?
You bet. How many
shortstops do you see waiting for ball? If you do,
they aren't playing that position very long.
Why are they charging
the ball? Baseball is a game of angles, distance and
time. Cut the angle, cut the distance and cut the
time, you have an advantage. Momentum will help with
all of those.
Think about it. If I
said that you could start pitching from a few feet
behind the rubber, run up to the rubber and throw
like while running, and you knew you could throw a
strike, would you? Kinda like Happy Gilmore. I bet
you would. Why? Because you intuitively know the
value of momentum.
Then why do some
pitching instructors tell you to pause, gather
yourself and then throw? I don't know. I think they
want you to look pretty, slow things down and just
throw strikes. Slowing down kills momentum, it
promotes posture change (less mechanically efficient)
and takes off velocity...among other things. Are
strikes important? You bet. But learning how to
throw hard and throw strikes is the key. We'll talk
about control at a later date.
Most pitchers are not
in good enough condition to support the explosive
delivery they need to be able to throw harder.
Get your body
stronger to be able to support the explosive
delivery.
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