Stacking the Hips

Want to generate momentum and great direction down the mound? “Stack ‘em”! 

This is a common statement our pitchers will hear me say, in our program we talk often about stacking the hips (hip drive, pelvic loading, etc.). Now the first question to answer is why do we talk about it and what does it do for you?

In an ideal delivery, the hips work separately from the torso during the stride phase. A disconnection needs to occur for proper torso rotation to take place. The hips have to go first, with the torso close to follow. Some of the verbal cues [which I try not use a ton of] are, “show the back pocket” or “drive the back hip through the front hip”. For the record, I'm more a fan of pitchers physically learning how to move, rather than learning how to listen [to cues]. When done correctly, the athlete should feel either a pinch in the back hip and/or pressure on the inside part of their lead leg.

In a recent #PitchingChat, Marcus Stroman was brought up, how his hips load before peak leg lift is achieved. I think Stroman is a great model for momentum, mainly because of the force he creates into the ground - he creates diagonal force into the ground, rather than vertical:

On the flip side, Zack Greinke is a great example of stacking your hips after peak leg lift:

Here’s a look at one of our guys doing the same (stacking after peak lift):

What else does properly stacking your hips do for you? Blake Herring, pitching coach at Carson-Newman, who I had the opportunity to hear speak this past December, might have said it best:

@PitchMechanics @33Castro_ this creates max torque in pelvis/hips. Also creates a natural, shorter arm action bc of quickness to foot plant
— blake herring (@blakeherring25) April 20, 2015

“A natural, shorter arm action because of quickness to foot plant.” One thing we talk about a lot in our program, and consistently work on is the notion that the faster your feet work, the faster your arm can work. Essentially, the more athletic you are, the better chance you have of developing proper movement patterns throughout the delivery. As pitching coaches, I think we should remind ourselves that we are not just training pitchers - we are training athletes.

I'd like to thank Josh Boggs' of PitchMechanics101.com for featuring this post on his website - follow Josh on Twitter, @pitchmechanics and keep up with Josh's weekly podcast as well.

Until Next Time...

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