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Hey, what's up guys? I got another pitching question today and it's about stride length.
OK? The question is, "My coach says that I need to stride out further when I'm pitching.
I'm 6'1" and I'm not striding out my full height. My coach always says, 'You're 6'1".
So you need to stride out 6'1" or more. So I was just wondering if you had any tips on
how to help me get my full potential in my stride."
That's Wyeth from Ohio. Thanks Wyeth. That's a great question. I did a video a while ago
talking about pitching and stride length and what I said in that video was that I do not
believe that stride length is directly related to velocity.
Now, with that being said, I do think that guys need to find their comfort zone. There
was a study done that said that most Major League pitchers -- I think it's around 80
percent of their stride length is what they're throwing. Aroldis Chapman is like 110 percent.
But then if you look at a guy like Heath Bell, he goes about six inches of a stride and that
man throws some gas. So that's my point. Stride length is not directly related to velocity.
What I think is more important in velocity is how well the pitcher generates momentum
and is able to put everything on time, all his mechanics on time to a quick release point.
OK? The mechanics should speed up the whole way and the fastest point of the mechanics
should be at the release point from here to here. So it's how efficiently an athlete can
transfer that momentum or that force through his release point.
Stride length to me is more of a comfort thing and it plays more of a part in the plane that
the pitch comes in. A guy that strides out further is going to be a little bit flatter,
a little bit lower to the ground because he's striding further.
A guy who is shorter is going to have usually more of a downward angle, maybe a little bit
more movement on his pitches because he is a little bit taller at release point. So me
personally, I was a short stride pitcher and I was able to throw at 96 miles an hour. Again,
Heath Bell, look him up on YouTube. He doesn't stride very far at all and he's 98, 99 miles
an hour sometimes. So stride length is not directly related to
velocity. It's how well you could put everything together and get it through your release point.
I hope that answers your questions. If you have any more, let me know. I will be happy
to answer them. Thanks guys. If you found this video helpful, please subscribe
and then join the free newsletter at YouGoProBaseball.com.