Side Session - 1/30

Posted on January 30th, 2008 in working out, gyroball, side session-kyle by Kyle

I hit and threw today with Jacob at Arena Sports, where we got about an hour’s worth of work in. We focused mainly on dead-arm soft toss for hitting and threw from the mound a bit after working with the wrist weights. Both Jacob and I noticed better spin axes on our pitches after working with Marshall’s plans, but we both lost consistency with our breaking pitches (his curve, my gyroball). That being said, Jacob’s slider is getting much, much better - he is getting excellent tilt and depth to it, and he threw his best one ever (in my opinion) today. Great lateral break and excellent depth.

After incorporating some of Marshall’s theories on pitching (pendulum swing, loaded slingshot position), I have noticed an increase in velocity when throwing from the traditional motion. I have started to combine the theories of Mills and Marshall to increase the stretch reflex in my lower half while simultaneously driving the ball with early supination and late pronation. The results feel good right now, I will say that much, but I need to start doing more push-ups and conditioning of my arm to maintain shoulder integrity throughout the season. My lightweight SPRI bands were chewed up by my cats, and I’m stuck with only a heavy band. What I need is multiple reps with light weights and varying degrees of resistance to build endurance in my arm.

One thing I am working very hard on to improve my control is the combination of pointing the acromial line (shoulder plane) towards the target and getting the feeling of “sprinting” down the mound; both of these cues are Marshall-esque in nature.

As for hitting, I am crushing soft toss but having a few problems with overhand toss at lower speeds (60 mph). My timing is poor; my front foot is blocking late and as a result, I’m letting outside strikes go by and getting jammed inside unnecessarily. It’s time to hit the video and watch Yeager’s DVDs again to help fix that problem!

Side Session, 10/9

Posted on October 10th, 2007 in gyroball, side session-kyle by Kyle

I threw a great side session today with Jacob. My arm felt great, the fastball was popping, and though I was missing high/inside a bunch, I think I unlocked a few more minor things with my mechanics. The gyroball felt great and had good movement on it, as did my fastballs - I’ve been consciously trying to pronate more to both protect my elbow and to produce sinking/boring action. It seems to be working well.

Looking forward, I’m not sure what my role is going to be on my next team - I want to pitch, but moving up to the Baker division (soon to be renamed) will mean tougher competition and no restriction on innings pitched per game. Though I think I have the endurance and makeup to go as a starter, it has yet to be determined whether or not my shoulder is going to hold up if I take the ball every fifth day. Another concern of mine is that I only have two pitches I feel comfortable with - my two-seam gyroball and my four-seam fastball. Though my circle change is a plus pitch when it’s on, I have significant trouble locating it and keeping my arm action similar to my fastball. If I stick to middle relief, all I’ll need is two pitches, but if I go as a starter/long reliever, I’ll need an offspeed pitch for help on the second time through the lineup.

We’ll see; going forward I will be preparing as a starter (as will Jacob, who looked good on the mound today - throwing pain-free!) and see what the next team offers in the way of pitching.

End of summer stats

Posted on September 15th, 2007 in goals, gyroball, stats by Kyle

Hitting Stats:
.300/.380/.410 over 113 PA / 100 AB
30 H, 9 2b, 1 3b, 12 RBI, 14 R, 8 SB, 8 K, 9 BB, 4 HBP

Pitching stats:
2-2, 1 SV, 6.94 ERA
33.7 IP, 20 H, 32 BB, 18 K, 26 ER

Not too bad, I guess. I ended the season on an 0-for-15 slump with 3 walks and a HBP, so that explains the dramatic drop in batting average. That being said, hitting .300 with a little pop in the bat ended up being pretty good for me, and though I need to fix my swing after breaking it in the middle of the season, I’m confident I’ll get a home run next year if I stay here in Seattle (I might be moving back to Cleveland).

Pitching was another story, as my shoulder faded in and out of health and my command/control went with it. Nearly a walk per inning is inexcusable, especially when you don’t strike out enough batters, but in the middle of the season I had some of the best stuff all year as I rarely got hit hard (gave up few XBH and only one HR). Despite my fastball being barely average, the late life on it is something Jacob can attest to, and my change is a plus pitch at getting groundballs. My breaking ball started off terrible and was a real plus pitch for two outings, but faded back into obscurity. I barely threw the gyroball, never really getting the command on it like I wanted.

To sum it up, I didn’t work hard enough during the season to get to the level I wanted to. I consider that a failure, but I have all winter to work hard again with Jacob, Otto, and my students.

C.J. Wilson’s Gyroball

Posted on July 12th, 2007 in video, gyroball by Kyle

This is C.J. Wilson’s gyroball, striking out Eric Chavez in the process. He confirmed that this pitch was indeed a gyroball, so there’s no conjecture here. Here’s the video in slow-motion:

You can definitely tell there is pronation of the arm, and the hand is on the outside of the baseball, so it’s thrown like I’ve been taught how to throw the pitch.

As you can see, there’s nothing magical about the pitch. It’s just a good semi-offspeed pitch.

John Van Benschoten’s Gyroball / Pronation Slider

Posted on June 20th, 2007 in video, gyroball by Kyle

On June 16th the Pirates hosted the White Sox. In the third inning, John Van Benschoten struck out Tadahito Iguchi looking on a 1-2 count with an offspeed pitch. The announcers couldn’t tell what kind of pitch it was - the slow motion video and grip clearly show a grip that is the exact same thing as the two-seam gyroball grip from Himeno and Tezuka’s book.

The action on the pitch is extremely similar to video of known pitchers who throw the gyroball. Was Van Benschoten taught how to throw the gyroball, or is this a variant of the slider (think Matsuzaka’s pronation slider)?

Gyroball Video

Posted on June 20th, 2007 in video, gyroball by Kyle

Here is a high-speed analysis of a real pitcher trained by Himeno on how to throw the gyroball. It is filmed from the batter’s box of a RH hitter.

Gyroball realization, new video editing software

Posted on June 20th, 2007 in gyroball by Kyle

Gyroball Realization

Dr. Alan Nathan was kind enough to send me a copy of the gyroball DVD that is published by Beta Endorphin, a Japanese dojo for baseball staffed by both Drs. Himeno and Tezuka, original creators of the gyroball. The video is entirely in Japanese, but after viewing it tonight, I was able to pick up on a lot of clues. You may notice that almost all Japanese pitchers have extremely similar mechanics. This held true in the Seattle League, where a significant amount of the players were Japanese-born students in America. Most of the pitching instruction follows a specific agreed-upon set of guidelines with regard to leg kick, foot plant, arm action, and weight shift. One of specific mechanics that is pointed out in the gyroball video (and in the book) involves “Elbow Targetting.”

At face value, it sounds like the idea that you target the catcher’s glove with your glove arm elbow for control purposes. This is exactly what I thought it was, because it’s a very common cue told to pitchers by their coaches. In actuality, “Elbow Targetting” means pointing the throwing side arm elbow at the catcher’s mitt when you are halfway through the arm action and after the chest thrust towards home. In doing so, it seems like control can improve, but the benefit I see for myself is improved velocity due to a shorter arm action and a delayed arm throughout the entirety of the motion. Pretty interesting stuff I hope to work on the next time I’m out on the field.

New Video Editing Software

Previously for my videos I was using Studio 10 for simple editing and analysis, which got the job done fairly well. However, Carlos Gomez turned me on to V1Sports. After demo’ing it and working with it a bit, I am absolutely sold on picking up a copy to use for myself, Jacob, and my students over the summer. The editing capabilities are outstanding. Look for more involved videos in the coming months!