Pitching Mechanical Faults: Hip/Shoulder Separation

What does it take to throw gas? I’m talking about those heaters you see Ben Joyce throwing at 105+ mph. What do he and other baseball flamethrowers have in common?

They all move extremely efficiently. Not only is their movement clean, but they can also take that clean movement and put it in their pitching mechanics to not waste any energy on the mound. They produce a lot of force from the ground, transfer it through their body, and release it into the ball to hit that 105-mph fastball.

There are some differences in mechanics between some of the top pitchers in the MLB, and that is due to matching their mechanics with how they specifically move. BUT there are some key things you see in all the top throwers in the league that throw heat.

What is one thing that you see all the elite pitchers have in common? They all have elite separation from their shoulders and hips.

What is Hip/Shoulder Separation?

Hip/Shoulder Separation is defined as how much disassociation a pitcher can create between their hips and their shoulders in their throw. The largest separation a pitcher typically gets is just after foot touch from their lead leg. So right as soon as you hit the ground with your lead leg, you should have quite a bit of separation from your hips and shoulders.

To be an efficient and effective pitcher, it has been shown that you should be able to have 40-60 degrees of separation between the two.

If you struggle with this, there may be a few reasons why.

Why Do I Have Decreased Hip/Shoulder Separation?

The easiest answer to this would be that you may just not have developed the skill to be able to do this. Working with your pitching coach can help get you more.

The more likely reason is that you do not have the capacity to be able to hit those positions in your mechanics. Meaning you have a movement limitation that needs to be worked on that is preventing you from hitting the mark here.

I look at a thoracic rotation test to see if you demonstrate the movement capacity to be able to get into this position on the mound (just think, if you cannot do it in a controlled environment, you definitely won’t be able to hit the mark going as fast and hard as you can).

This is what that test looks like:

I am looking for 50-60 degrees of rotation from being parallel from the ground.

What Can I Do to Improve My Hip/Shoulder Separation?

This will depend on what you identify as your problem. If it is truly a mechanical problem, continue to work with your pitching coach. If it is a performance issue (you do not have enough power to get into the position), work with your strength and conditioning coach. If it is a mobility problem, work with you Athletic Trainer or Physical Therapist to improve the mobility!

One of my favorite exercises to do to work on this would is the Half Kneeling Thorax Rotation with Side bend!

This exercise is designed to get the feeling of separation and increasing the joint mobility at a lower level so that you can take it to the mound.

Give that a try and see if the thoracic rotation test improves. When it does, you’ll notice that you will be able to more easily improve that hip/shoulder separation on the mound!

If you are having trouble with improving your thorax mobility or hip shoulder separation, shoot me an email. I would love to help you out!

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