How can I Improve my Pitch?
As a chiropractor, the majority of my pitcher clients come to me with one or all of these three goals:
To improve power
To improve motor control and stability
To reduce the pain that prohibits them from doing the above
There are a variety of testing methods I use to help me understand the root cause and determine the necessary modality of treatment. At Transcend Wellness Chiropractic we can assist in resolving what is decreasing your pitch performance by addressing a number of factors.
What factors affect your baseball pitch performance:
Efficient Mechanics: A big prohibiting factor in pitch performance is poor biomechanics. Understanding how to work with your body and not against it will allow us to perform any movement necessary for our sport. Efficient mechanics will also ensure that we can utilize the max amount of power produced through the whole body.
Mobility: One main reason for poor mechanics and movement-restricting pain is due to our lack of mobility. Lack of mobility in hips and ankles prohibit a lot of pitchers from reaching their full potential.
Properly treating old injuries
Frequent stretching and recovery
Working with a professional to address underlying causes
Activating the correct muscles
Are ways to increase mobility, and therefore, the velocity of your pitch as well.
Strength: Once proper mechanics are addressed, strength becomes a large factor in pitch power and performance. Applying practices like progressive overload and the SAID Principle are ways to increase strength as long as movement patterns are properly intact.
Fatigue: Both physical and neurological fatigue can result in a decreased pitch performance as a game goes on. While fatigue is inevitable with something like pitching, due to the muscle recruitment required in order to produce such force and thus speed, there are techniques we can apply to prolong it. Routine recovery and body work are without a doubt a necessity in order to have the ability to produce maximum force for the most amount of time.
Mind-Muscle Connection: Production of force, speed and power is a multifactorial production and to help our muscles and neurological pathways carry out this symbiotic process is quite simple. It all comes down to good communication. Studies suggest that physical movements like bench presses can be improve intensity by up to 60% through mind-muscle connection
Neuro based warm-ups
Practicing intentional movement - referring back to the SAID principle
Slowing down to ingrain the correct firing patterns
Visualization of optimal form
If you are looking to improve your pitch and want to learn more about how Transcend Wellness Chiropractic works with athletes everyday on their performance, speed and pain-free movement, then contact us today!