The Crow-Hop

Helping Make Flat-Ground Throwing Safer For Pitchers

April 7, 2015

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When discussing long toss with my pitching students, I strongly emphasize the use of a crow-hop to improve quickness, build momentum, and perfect timing in the transfer of energy from the lower body to the upper body.

Now a 2014 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine shows the benefits of the crow-hop on minimizing arm stress:

Specifically:

Pitchers throwing 60 feet on flat ground from a stationary position had similar arm stress as throwing off the mound BUT produced much less velocity:

While throwing with a crow-hop at 120 and 180 feet produced lower arm strain than either throwing 60 feet off the mound or 60 feet in a stationary position on flat ground:

This led the researchers to conclude:

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Contact (631-352-7654/PitchingDoc@msn.com) Dr. Arnold!