Greg Maddux's Pitching Mechanics - Why You Shouldn't Copy Them

[springfield7100]

wait! maddux loses velocity due to his toe coming up to soon and his leg swing? ill give you one video to prove that theory wrong. take a look at tim lincecum mechanics 3.0 on youtube. 3 guys right there....lincecum, garrardo, and rodriguez who all have a leg swing and toe up early. all three throw mid 90's. why does that slow you down? is it because you are setting yourself up to land on your heel? actually, the majority of major league pitchers land on their heel- watch in slow motion

[RAWRAMPAGERANDY]

wtf are you talking about? his back HEEL comes up too soon. he does not complete his back leg drive, so his hips open sooner than they should! and yes, those are some pretty fuckin terrible mechanics, i mean he looks like hes going to fall flat on his face after ball release. watch ROY OSWALT pitch, nolan ryan, roger clemens, sandy koufax, mariano rivera, david price, edison volquez, cc sabathia etc... you could certainly admire his career but not his mechanics

[aroddy123]

Maddux, especially later in his career, developed a pitching style that employed simplified mechanics. This involves creating less momentum, which might decrease velocity, but improved his control and movement of pitches dramatically. I seriously doubt that TimLincecum, with the extreme contortions he does with his body to create torque, will have a career as consistent as Maddux's. Look at what happened to Hideo Nomo.

[OCdodgerfan88]

I'll take control over power. I think your better off following Maddux. Less injury and more victories.

[BroWiz]

i just started pticing (6 months ago) and i started offbasic mechanics . but i always had something wrong with the motion. it was always legs bailing out and coming over the top to much. But after several months at work i managaed to improve my speed like 5-10 mph because i wasnt over the top to much. then i fixed my leg and i was throwing 50mph strike 30 in a row.(im young and thats fast for my league) so if i u wanna pitch do this basic mechanics, control, mechanics again and then velocity

[texasmusicfan03]

well personally i believe that control is a lot more important that velocity because if you can throw 95 but cant throw strikes, then all youre doing is throwing 95 mph walks.. but it is important to have control more than anything else.. you have to have control and one of the other two, movement or velocity, to even make it out in the pros, and maddux here is one of the greatest pitchers out there and yet not in the upper velocity range of pitchers. maybe he just cant throw strikes w/ 90+ mph

[clint0223]

Everybody can't throw 93 mph if Maddux could throw 93 I think he would of. You got it or you don't.

[andros1984]

He did throw 93 in his early career. Even though his fastball dwindled to the 80's, he still got a load of ground outs.

And his movement was great.

[sliderjr2]

4 cy youngs in a row. 350 some wins. Yeah, i'm sure you know more than him....

You want pitchers to throw harder huh? Control is very important too.

[br3e5ds]

so i guess if lincecum had his elbow higher at the high cocked position he would throw harder than the 95 he can throw now????????.........

[leftyDM]

Why couldn't Maddux have had both more velocity with control. Koufax had both. Maddux didn't choose to throw 88 mph as he always said he wished he had Clemens velocity. He could have but his mechanics stopped him or his belief that control, movement and velocity are separate. Pitchers today do not throw enough volume of game intensity pitches in blocked sets of pitches to the same location to develop control with velocity..which is something that can be learned. Dick Mills

[hiebberacing]

I agree, Maddux was great for the reasons you cite. However, Dick is NOT "tearing down" a Hall of Famer for selfish (inferred) gain.

I believe he is simply pointing out that there ARE certain LAWS which govern the movement of the human body and that if a young man is going to achieve his optimum potential as far as velocity is concerned, it is useful to point out where flaws exist.

Pointing out that Don Garlits' dragster was mechanically inferior to todays dragsters hardly demeans him.

[Eatmiish0rtSsxD]

Maddux, when he began in the big leagues he was able to throw 93-95 mph. He choose to throw 88 because for excellent control. And I think Maddux's Mechanics is excellent is had never had any arm problems in the Major Leagues.

[mcgurk5150]

Love your videos, but velocity did not make Maddux great. Control and ridiculous movement did. I don't thinks it's right to tear down a hall of famer and winner of 350+ games. In order to promote your product.

[Eatmiish0rtSsxD]

I agree with you.