Clayton Kershaw

[todeen]

Wanted to bump this since the Astros news broke.

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[Touch'EmAll]

Kershaw has a nice high leg kick before he delivers. However it seems he loses that leg kick momentum halfway through his delivery as his leg comes down and pauses before he makes movement toward the plate. Looks somewhat herky-jerky to me. I wonder if he were to continue his leg kick momentum further into driving toward the plate, smooth it out, maybe gain more power on delivery. Heck if I know technically, I am sure not a coach, but it would seem coaches would spot this and try to help him have a more smooth continual pitching motion.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

Kershaw has a nice high leg kick before he delivers. However it seems he loses that leg kick momentum halfway through his delivery as his leg comes down and pauses before he makes movement toward the plate. Looks somewhat herky-jerky to me. I wonder if he were to continue his leg kick momentum further into driving toward the plate, smooth it out, maybe gain more power on delivery. Heck if I know technically, I am sure not a coach, but it would seem coaches would spot this and try to help him have a more smooth continual pitching motion.

This most continually dominant starting pitcher of his generation (up until the last few years) Have you ever considered that he's making an adjustment for ache and pain? Ankle, knee or hip? In 12 MLB seasons he's been a workhorse. Pitched a cargo ship of innings. I highly doubt knows nothing how to adjust his technique.

[Touch'EmAll]

To answer your question, yes, I have considered that Kershaw has been making adjustments the last few years. I would be shocked if he hasn't. I know he has been working diligently on developing a change-up and I know he constantly makes adjustment to keep hitters off balance and focusing more on pitch placement rather than just sending fastballs straight down the plate. If you take a look at the site, "Let's Talk Pitching" (a forum with technical talk from actual pitchers/coaches) there are concerns with his herky-jerky pause before he comes to the plate. The posts inquire why the pause, claiming the pause does indeed take away from power to the plate. And pitchers say the pause is not the best of mechanics to promote to young pitchers as it can lead to a loss of power and too much stress on the arm and shoulder. On the other hand, some posts claim what Kershaw gains with the pause is the ability to keep hitters off balance. They also say that the other aspects of his pitching motion are infact very solid.

[dgo71]

I've always thought pitchers with complicated wind-ups had a shorter shelf life in general. When there's that many moving parts, when something goes wrong or gets out of whack it's tough to pin down exactly what is wrong. This leads to constant tweaks that effect performance. Look at Tim Lincecum, Dontrelle Willis, etc. Crazy wind ups and when the bottom fell out, they were effectively done for. On the flip side, guys like Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux had simple mechanics, and they were able to pitch for a long time, remain largely injury-free and be consistently effective throughout their careers.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by dgo71

I've always thought pitchers with complicated wind-ups had a shorter shelf life in general. When there's that many moving parts, when something goes wrong or gets out of whack it's tough to pin down exactly what is wrong. This leads to constant tweaks that effect performance. Look at Tim Lincecum, Dontrelle Willis, etc. Crazy wind ups and when the bottom fell out, they were effectively done for. On the flip side, guys like Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux had simple mechanics, and they were able to pitch for a long time, remain largely injury-free and be consistently effective throughout their careers.

I totally agree...Alex Wood has had health problems too.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by dgo71

I've always thought pitchers with complicated wind-ups had a shorter shelf life in general. When there's that many moving parts, when something goes wrong or gets out of whack it's tough to pin down exactly what is wrong. This leads to constant tweaks that effect performance. Look at Tim Lincecum, Dontrelle Willis, etc. Crazy wind ups and when the bottom fell out, they were effectively done for. On the flip side, guys like Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux had simple mechanics, and they were able to pitch for a long time, remain largely injury-free and be consistently effective throughout their careers.

Disagree...we can all give names for our side...how was Juan Marichal..,,,didnt look up spelling

Satchel Paige played like 30 years and i believe he didnt have a conventional wind up, correct me if i am wrong .tons of guys with simple wind ups im sure got hurt a lot as well and/or ineffective

im sure there were good sidewinders and bad ones as well

[dgo71]

Marichal and Paige are definitely good examples against my theory. They played before my time so I'm just going on a guess that maybe they didn't have the steep dropoff that Lincecum and Willis had? To be more clear, it's my belief that players with wind-ups like that are harder to correct once something goes wrong, not that they can't be effective throughout their entire career. I I have to think that when something was slightly out of whack for Ryan it was easier to correct than when something went out of whack with Willis. I'm sure there's exceptions to the rule though as you just mentioned two that clearly are.