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Hip Flexibility and Velocity
December 6, 2010
(Click here for a 2-page .pdf of this newsletter)

A study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine:

AJSM 20Title

Measured hip flexibility and assessed pitching mechanics in 19 professional major league pitchers:

Hip 20Measurement 201Hip 20Measurement 202


They found that hip flexibility directly affected 2 mechanics of pitching:

1) Stride Length

  • The stride must be at least 90% of your height. Stride length also has to do with momentum and timing.
  • If your stride length is off, bad timing will result, resulting in decreased velocity and possibly injury.
2) Hip-Shoulder Separation

Timing 20staying 20close


The greater the hip-shoulder separation, the higher the velocity:

Hip 20ROM 20Conclusion


How Can I Increase Hip Flexibility?

Here is a very good article on combat sports training:

Hip 20Stretches 20Title


that has some very good hip stretches:

Hip 20Stretches 201

Hip 20Stretches 202

Have A Question About This Newsletter?
Call (631-352-7654) or Email (PitchingDoc@msn.com)
Dr. Arnold!