Pitching Mechanical Faults: Lead Leg Block

Pitching requires absolute perfect timing. We want to be able to load the back hip, take a long stride to produce as much force as we can. Transmit that force from our trunks, to our arms, and ultimately into the ball to produce the highest velocity possible. 

In order to have the perfect timing in each throw, we must create very efficient mechanics. That does not mean that all pitchers should all have the same mechanics. But that does mean that when we look at your mechanics, you do not demonstrate a "Mechanical Fault." If you have a mechanical fault, that will cause a kink in the chain in your pitching performance, and could even put you at risk for a baseball injury. 

What Is Lead Leg Block?

One pitching mechanical fault that is commonly seen is the "lead leg block." What we are looking for is that your knee does not travel any farther forward towards home plate after foot contact - which is described as the time when your lead leg foot hits the ground in your stride.

If your knee does travel forward after that point in time, you do not have a good lead leg block and you are leaking energy. You will not be able to fully transfer the force you produced from your stride, through your front leg, to create the rotational forces to whip the ball towards home plate which will lead to a lower velocity in throwing. 

Why Do I Have a Bad Lead Leg Block?

Many factors can contribute to a faulty lead leg block. One could be that you just simply do not know that you are doing this. This would be considered a mechanical error. Something that you can fix with your pitching coach by working on pitching drills and mechanical work to plant the foot in the ground and not leak energy forward.

Another reason that you may not demonstrate a good lead leg block is that you don't have the performance pieces to be able to absorb the forces of the ground and send them up through your body. You may not have enough power in your body or enough postural integrity to accept those forces. This is something you would be working with your strength coach to improve on.

The most basic of reasons you may not be able to demonstrate good lead leg block is from a movement restriction. A common movement restriction I see with pitcher's that do not have good lead leg block is limitations in their lead leg Hip Internal Rotation. 

As a pitcher, you really want to be able to get about 40 degrees of rotation of that front leg (As you can see in that picture, I do not come close to this - one reason I'm not a pitcher!)

When you do not demonstrate the ability to do this, your pelvis will not be able to rotate down over your leg at foot contact. This will make other places in the body have to make up for that missing rotation. What commonly happens, is the knee will try to overcome this by rotating a little more which puts it at a bad position to be able to accept the forces you created a split second earlier and then will not be able to push those forces back through your body.

What Can I Do to Improve My Lead Leg Block?

There are numerous things you can do, the first is to identify what the reason is that you demonstrate less than ideal lead leg block. Is it a Mechanical issue? A Performance issue? Or a Movement issue? Once you figure that out, you can become a sniper at what to work on the most. 

If it is a hip mobility issue, finding someone that specializes in movement is your best option to improve mobility and stability through your hip to be able to demonstrate enough Hip Internal Rotation. They will be able to guide you to improve the mobility and then progress the new mobility you tap into and restore it back to your pitching mechanics. 

A simple exercise I like to perform initially to regain some of that hip mobility is a Self Lateral Hip Mobilization:

The band will help gap your hip joint a little bit to allow the extra range of motion and mobility. 

Give that a try and continue to monitor if you are improving any of your Hip Internal Rotation. When you do, watch as your lead leg block continues to improve!

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

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