| Tiny Tim and His Mechanics |
Tiny Tim and His MechanicsIf you didn't have a chance to watch Tim Lincecum of the Giants last season, you missed out. What a fun performer to watch. But more than just a quality and amazing athlete, Tim's philosophy regarding understanding pitching mechanics we can all learn from.At 5'10, 174 lbs., 24 year old Tim Lincecum is amazing. It's not just the fact that his fastball hovers around 100mph; it's that his body can produce such energy and force. While there is much to study and learn from him, I've taken just one piece of his pitching mechanics to look at in this article, and will leave you a link to the rest of the story should you want to study more.
Pick Up 3-10 MPH Within Weeks!Torque is a magic word for pitchers. It means whip action and velocity. It reduces wear and tear on the arm and gets you deeper into games. Tim Lincecum is a master of it. What makes him a master at creating torque first and foremost is his attention to detail and his willingness to improve. If we can desire to learn and understand our craft like Tim understands his, then we will become better.Here is an excerpt from a Sports Illustrated piece on Lincecum. The remainder of the story can be found with the hyper link at the end. "One key to Lincecum's delivery is to keep his left side, especially his left shoulder, aimed toward his target for as long as possible. "Don't open up too soon because then you lose leverage," Tim says. "If you twist a rubber band against itself, the recoil is bigger. The more torque I can come up with, the better." Where Lincecum truly separates himself from most pitchers is the length of his stride. It is ridiculously long as it relates to his height. And just as his left foot, the landing foot, appears to be nearing the ground at the end of his stride, he lifts it as if stepping over a banana peel -- extending his stride even more. The normal stride length for a pitcher is 77% to 87% of his height. Lincecum's stride is 129%, or roughly 7 1/2 feet.
"That just came naturally," Tim says. "My dad always told me to sit down on my back leg as long as I could and push off as much as I could. I'm trying to get as much out of my body as possible. I've got to use my ankles, my legs, my hips, my back. . . . That's why I'm so contorted and it looks like I'm giving it full effort when it's not exactly full effort. I'm trying to create torque. That's when everything kind of explodes. My body comes, and [my arm] is just kind of along for the ride."
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