In Pitching a fastpitch softball, there are three important issues involved. One is travel speed of the ball, another is the rotational speed ( spin) of the ball, and the last one is the direction of the spin.

Travel Speed of the Ball

In Ground Power™ research, we have found that the travel speed of the ball comes as a result of the application of Newton's Third Law of Physics and its equal and opposite reaction principal. In effect, the power of every pitch comes predominantly from the large muscles of the legs pushing (contracting) hard into the solid surface of the ground and in reaching the physical limit of penetration ( compression) the ground returns that power through the resulting spring like (expansion) reaction of those leg muscles. The key here is that the majority of the body's weight, center of gravity, and balance must be maintained on or over this drive leg as it pivots and opens the body, with leg muscles expanding and contracting and developing the kinetic energy to be ultimately transferred to the pitch. Remember, it would be difficult to pitch in the zero gravity of the space shuttle. ( Read On Free- Click Title Bar)

No, in Ground Power™, the pitching arm is not used to create that power. It only transfers it to the ball. And no, in Ground Power™ there is no such thing as a stride as such. All energy creation action takes place in what we call the Power Circle no wider more or less than the pitcher's hips with the legs forming what we term a Power Triangle for originating and transferring against resistance of the power created in this fashion.

That power is transferred up through the body and out to the ball utilizing mechanics supported by principals of Biomechanic's Kinetic Link theory, and the Physics Law of Conservation of Angular Motion and it's close relative, Principals of Gyroscopic Stability. The bottom line here is that you don't leap to throw the shot put and that takes care of where the power of the pitch comes from, at least in Ground Power™ terms.

Rotational Speed of the Ball

Getting to the concept of wrist snap and it's relation to ball rotation, our Ground Power™ research has determined that the said wrist snap ( back and forth action of the wrist hinge joint) is really not the predominating force involved in the process. Finger pressure and palm compression actually put the spin on the ball. For instance by squeezing the thumb against the ball held against the remaining fingers the resulting pressure creates a friction between the skin of the fingers and the leather surface of the ball that results in ball rotation as it is propelled out of the hand by the compression. Obviously the stronger the pressure the more spin.

Conversely, the stronger the muscling of the arm swing, the more vigorous an actual hinged wrist snap, the more contracted the muscles of the pitching arm, forearm, and hand are, the more likely it is to minimize available pressure resources to be applied to the ball. The point here is that if you use your arm to supply the power of the pitch, you will reduce the ability to apply sharp and tight rotation to the ball and your pitches won't break correctly. Travel speed and rotational speed are mutually exclusive elements when it comes to arm swing effort. Ever see inclined riseballs or drop and curve balls that hang?

The pitching arm should be powered by the legs. It must remain relaxed if it is to do it's work correctly in transferring the energy for travel speed and to yet retain the flexibility for the hand and fingers to interact effectively with the surface of the ball. The often quoted "having ball touch " is a real skill and applies to the ability of a pitcher to consciously vary finger pressures to achieve required spin speeds.

A further fiction exists that you have to be pushing hard against a seem with your fingers to get the ball to spin for best result. Ground Power™ research says not necessarily so! Pressure against the surface seems to be the major spin element with seem touch being somewhat a secondary contributor and more important for assisting clamping pressure of the fingers.

Spin Direction

Finally, as we've described above, the application of rotational speed to a pitched ball is a complex process. We all know that top spin assists a ball to drop and back spin is the basis for a riseball and so forth . Thus direction of spin is obviously important.

It is in this area that the actual hinge action of the wrist ( open & closing) is one lead element in directional determination of any of the compression created ball rotation. What we have also observed happening is that the wrist can actually be rotated by the forearm muscles while it's opening and closing. Thus it is more likely a combination of these two physical attributes determine spin direction in each pitch. Because most pitchers find it hard to cognitively control both these elements simultaneously, ball rotation usually will have variation from true, pitch to pitch, and thus on average each attempt at throwing a riseball or drop or curve may or will have different characteristics. Ball rotations of 5-11 0r 4-10 of a clock are more common than say a perfect 6-12. So it goes with other pitches as well. Consistency of each pitch type, delivered on demand is always a struggle and only the very best achieve it by training hard.

It is important in the training process to have the pitcher develop an awareness of all these factors while making each pitch. Drills should be designed to isolate each activity in the brain so that the pitcher learns to feel and sense what is happening to extended extremities so that they can make the required control adjustments on the fly. Not an easy task.

Pitching Consultant Bill is the founder of the Ground Power™ style pitching system.