A rear-view mirror analysis of the preparatory phase in pitching.

Baseball fans love to watch the pitcher go through his motion and deliver the ball to the plate. It is an artful and exciting piece of athleticism, but only if you are a fan.

The pitching analyst has to do his job another way. Whenever a pitcher asks me for help, I tell him that we have to start with a look at him from behind.

I will be his rear-view mirror. Why "rear view?" Because everything a pitcher does when he separates his hands and brings the pitching arm back will effect what he does when he brings his arm forward.

I use a video camera and a VCR to mirror all his actions in back. I then analyze the videotape by advancing it one frame at a time, frame-freezing whenever necessary.

The entire procedure is organized as follows:

1. I place my video camera 30 feet behind and six feet above the pitcher's rubber, centered straight down the line between home plate and second base-making sure the 24-inch-long rubber is clearly visible.

2. I videotape the pitcher throwing his best fastball.

3. I insert the completed videotape in my VCR and display it on my television screen.

4. I analyze the fastball that the pitcher told me was his best.

5. I stop the videotape on the first frame that shows the baseball leaving the pitcher's glove.

6. I place graph paper over the front edge of the pitcher's rubber and tape it to the screen. (I mark the 24-inch pitcher's rubber on the graph paper.)

7. On the graph paper, I draw circles to depict the baseball in each frame until the moment the pitcher starts moving his pitching elbow forward.

The movement of the baseball from the point it exits the glove until the pitching elbow starts moving forward defines the "Preparatory Phase."

During this phase, the pitcher elongates the muscle he will use in throwing the baseball.

The circle pattern of the arm should follow a narrow, smooth, elliptical path.

Common errors:

* A big circle of the arm.

* Bouncing the pitching elbow.

* Starting fast and then slowing down or stopping the pitching arm.

If the circle pattern does not follow the prescribed path, I will suggest adjustments:

1. Have the pitcher place his pivot foot at a 45-degree angle to the front edge of the pitcher's rubber -- preventing him from turning his hips too far.

2. Have the pitcher turn only his shoulders up to -- but not beyond -- the straight line between the pitcher's rubber and home plate -- preventing him from turning his shoulders too far.

3. Have the pitcher move the baseball backward along the straight line between the pitcher's rubber and home plate -- preventing him from taking the baseball too far behind the back.

Pitchers need a smooth, controlled preparation phase that will enable them to begin accelerating their upper arm at the perfect leverage position from which they can drive powerfully toward home plate.

SIDEWARD MOVEMENT

Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion can be rewritten for pitchers: "The velocity of a fastball relates only to the force that the pitcher applies directly toward home plate."

When a pitcher applies the kind of force that moves the baseball sideward behind his body, he decreases the force that normally drives the baseball toward the plate.

At every point of the sideward application of force, the baseball's inertia will try to move the ball in a straight line that is tangent to the arc of the sideward curve.

I analyze the pitcher's sideward movement with the same seven-point procedure used for the pitcher's backward movement, described earlier in this article -- analyzing a videotape of the pitcher's movement (shot from the rear) frame by frame.

My research suggests that a six-foot-tall pitcher should never have any sideward movement greater than 30 inches -- about 18 inches would be considered normal.

We want to minimize sideward movements by having the pitcher observe the following procedures:

1. Stride toward the non-throwing side of the straight line between the pivot foot and home plate -- permitting you to move your head toward that side.

2. Turn your chest toward the non-throwing side of home plate -- permitting you to move the baseball from behind your head to the throwing side of your head.

3. Delay your straight-line arm drive toward home plate until after you have turned your chest toward the non-throwing side of home plate -- permitting you to drive the baseball straight toward home plate.