{"id":556,"date":"2023-02-15T16:05:23","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T16:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepitchingmechanicllc.com\/?page_id=556"},"modified":"2023-03-15T17:09:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T17:09:50","slug":"lumbopelvic-control-leg-lift","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thepitchingmechanicllc.com\/?page_id=556","title":{"rendered":"Lumbopelvic control (leg lift)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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“Lumbopelvic Control and the Development of Upper Extremity Injury in Professional Baseball Pitchers” Laudner et.al. 2021<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/0363546520988122<\/a><\/p>\n

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How do we as pitchers gather the most energy from the ground as possible? Is it rhythm? Is it leg left? Is it hip hinge? The most correct answ<\/span>er is all of them, but if the body is not able to complete the basic movements<\/span> with stability first, then we lose potential kinetic energy. The link above is to an article from Kevin Laudner, and in it is the description of some basic tests that I\u00a0<\/span>also use to evaluate my pitchers from both a medical standpoint, but also a performance standpoint wh<\/span>en I’m coaching. When looking at the article, the big take away is professional pitchers with decreased lumbopelvic control tend to get hurt more than pitchers with increased\/better pelvic control.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The two basic evaluation tools are the single leg bridge and a static single leg balance with leg lift (see below). These simple tests can give us good insight into if a younger or older pitcher has control of their pelvis during the windup\/leg lift portion of the delivery. Many of my younger pitchers I work with demonstrate poor leg lift (under 90 degrees) and is usually linked to decreased pelvic control.<\/p>\n

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Single leg bridge<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Both the single leg bridge test and the single leg stance test require you to hold the above positions for a minimum of 30 seconds up to 60 seconds to see if your hip level drops or stays stable through the whole test.\u00a0 If the hips drop, with either test, then some of your workout should include some balance\/control work (more on that below).<\/p>\n

There is a simple drill progression to help increase control and by association, performance for pitchers of all ages. And I want to be clear, I\u2019m not suggesting there is no place for a slide step or motion disturbances like Johnny Cueto or Nestor Cortes, but when looking at efficiency, these are the basics.\u00a0 \u00a0Below are 3 exercises to help with pelvic control and 1 transition drill into the pitching motion.\u00a0 Keep in mind the top of our leg lift is not a “balance point” as in we stop our motion, we want to get and keep our motion moving forward once we lift the foot from the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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