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:
Measured hip flexibility and assessed pitching mechanics in 19 professional major league pitchers:
They found that hip flexibility directly affected 2 mechanics of pitching:
1) Stride Length
2) Hip-Shoulder Separation
- 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.
- This is the "torque" that is THE MOST IMPORTANT generating velocity and a cornerstone of Tim Lincecum's delivery (click here to read more about Linceum's mechanics):
The greater the hip-shoulder separation, the higher the velocity:
How Can I Increase Hip Flexibility?
Here is a very good article on combat sports training:
that has some very good hip stretches:
Have A Question About This Newsletter?
Call (631-352-7654) or Email (PitchingDoc@msn.com)
Dr. Arnold!
