by Azam Shah, 2002

When this article was written, in 2001-2002, it definitely went against what was conventional wisdom at the time - see the side note. In retrospect, we think that makes this one of the most under-appreciated concept introductions in all of baseball.

Coach Shah suggests combining his 'starter strategy' with these new mechanics. You might also read his page on 'pitch location'.


Anyone who teaches this style of pitching WILL go against many of the pitching styles of many coaches today. This is because this is new information that probably has not reached many of the coaches in baseball, especially the youth leagues. Yet, improper arm movements eventually lead to injury and according to ASMI research can never be corrected after the age of 18! [Editor's Note: In the years since we first published this, a number of pro pitching instructors have said that one of the reasons the Major Leagues struggles with quality pitching is that so many potential good arms have been ruined by the time they could be scouted.]

• HEEL UP, HEEL DOWN. Current advice is to pull off the rubber, or fall forward. As this page explains, the push comes later!

• STRAIGHT DOWN Even before the fall forward, when the pitcher lifts his leg, keep the heel directly below the knee - to keep the leg closed. After the leg lift, bring the leg straight down.

• PIVOT KNEE, LEAD WITH HEEL Now turn the pivot knee towards the plate -  to force the stride leg forward, but keep the body weight back.  Concentrate on keeping all weight on the back leg until landing with the stride leg. As the stride leg moves forward, make sure to LEAD WITH THE HEEL (toes loose) - to keep your hips closed, retaining more power for your pitch. [Editor's Note: As with many pitching approaches, an emphasis can be misconstrued. Only if a pitcher has a shoulder fly-out problem would WebBall suggest you emphasize this.]

• LAND CLOSED, THEN PUSH When the foot lands, keep it slightly closed, landing on the ball of your foot. Once the stride leg lands, then the pivot leg does push off the rubber - to open hips and deliver the ball. Remember: push on landing not on stride forward.

• HIPS ROTATE After the hips open up towards the plate, follow through on the pitch, and continue to rotate the hips by pulling the back leg toward the front. 

• LEVEL SHOULDERS When attempting to increase control KEEP THE SHOULDERS LEVEL! Best view to check this is from batter's box. Watch to see if pitcher's head/eyes tilt to one side or the other during the delivery, ESPECIALLY during throwing arc. Eyes should stay level with the ground.

• CONTROL WEIGHT TRANSFER Pitcher's weight must stay on the pivot foot until AFTER the lead foot lands. This is especially tough as the shoulders may become uneven, but imperative for pitching with velocity. Only after the arm is up to a good loaded position should the body move towards the plate.

• ELBOW LIFT Start with hands together at chest or center of gravity.  After the leg kick has reached its highest point, break the hands by lifting both elbows up. (Contrary to many coaches who teach 'down, out and up'.) Lifting both elbows up creates a perfect beginning to good arm action. Both elbows must only be lifted to shoulder height throughout the delivery - any higher creates shoulder injuries because shoulder ligaments get squeezed together.
  

[Editor's Note: The point above may be one of Shah's most controversial concepts. It may be the use of the term lift. In WebBall's view, the lift is better described as a swing out and lift - to create hand separation and rotate the elbows to shoulder height. You don't want to do it in a short-arm, bow-and-arrow catcher style. What the elbow swing/lift does help with is to strengthen the shoulder line and keep both throwing and glove arms in alignment and balance.]

• COCKED AND LOADED With elbows at shoulder height, the throwing arm turns up into a cocked and loaded position - NEVER straight back into the T position. (The T causes pitchers to throw high and rush - getting the body ahead of the arm.) As arm cocks, elbow bends to about 90 degrees and the fingers on top of the ball point to shortstop (for RHP) - so when the hips open up, the ball is directed towards the plate.

• PITCH AFTER LANDING Once the arm is in high cocked position with elbow no higher than shoulder, the stride foot will have just landed - an important concept, yet pitchers (and coaches) seldom know this. It's a switch in pitching form that puts much less stress on the arm because the arm has caught up with the body. Best way to check is with a video camera - stop tape when the stride foot lands. If his arm's not loaded and his body's not back, then the pitcher is rushing.

• 10 O'CLOCK HIGH (Revised 03/01) After the foot lands, the arm is pulled open by the hips, which then take the bulk of the stress from the arm.  During this phase, the elbow is still shoulder level, both shoulders horizontal.  This is a three-quarters arm action - no higher than 9-10 o'clock (for RHP, 2-3 o'clock for lefties). This way your pitcher can keep his head level with the horizon to mazimize control, and keep the force of rotation of the hips in line with the arm action.  It may look almost sidearm to many coaches who stress 'throwing over the top.'  In fact, throwing at any higher angle could cause serious shoulder damage and decreased velocity.

• EXTEND AND ARC Once the hips have opened up, the arm must then extend towards the plate, with the fingers behind the ball, and then throw across the body in a long arm arc that leaves throwing arm over and behind the stride leg. The pitcher's back should end parallel to ground - nothing more, nothing less.