Introduction:
Being around youth players for the past 3+ years I have seen my fair share of poor arm actions.
There is no doubt that having an efficient arm action is crucial for maximizing velocity and staying healthy, and one of my biggest jobs over the past few years is refining the arm actions of the players I coach.
The arm action is also the last part of the kinetic chain and the lowest hanging fruit for younger athletes yet to be ingrained with poor movements.
Improving a younger athlete's lower half can be a tedious process and one that is almost impossible if they do not have a good foundation of single leg strength. By solidifying the arm action early on in an athlete's career we can begin to direct training economy to focus on other areas of the kinetic chain and challenge the athlete's movements with the force-velocity curve as they mature.
If we were to work in reverse, an athlete with strong a good foundation of strength and an effective kinetic chain (minus arm action), would be spending most of his training economy on low effort constraint drills to improve arm action. We then would have to challenge that newly acquired movement with the force-velocity curve by adding in weighted balls, throwing on the run, from varying slots, etc. All the while the rest of his movement could deteriorate where they could lose some of their rotational intent and develop bad habits (mainly lower half focused), all because of the high volume of low intent work.
It is more optimal to first work on the arm action when players are young and have fewer other areas to spend their training economy on.
Without knowing what you are looking for, evaluating an efficient arm action to an inefficient one can be challenging. We will get into drills and techniques for making adaptions to an athlete's arm action later in the post, but first, we have to distinguish what a good arm action looks like relative to a good one.
Defining an "Efficient Arm Action":
An efficient arm action is a continuous flow of energy where the arm passes through the elbow spiral and gets an adequate amount of external rotation to propel the ball forward. However, the arm action is not over after the release of the ball - having good deceleration patterns is equally important. Letting the arm decelerate naturally by swinging down to the side of the body (depends on arm slot) and having a moderate recoil of the arm is important for staying injury free and indirectly aiding velocity.
Movements/Positions of an Efficient Arm Action:
Before I go over a breakdown of the phases to the arm action it is important that we discuss a couple of the key positions (ie. terms you hear often) high-velocity throwers typically pass through prior to ball release.
Horizontal Abduction (commonly referred to as Scap Retraction)
From research and biomechanical analysis conducted by Driveline Baseball, we know that horizontal abduction is closely correlated to increased velocity. Although individual mobility constraints can impact the degree of this position, a good arm action has the athlete pass through this position before ball release.
Stride-Foot-Contact (SFC for short
Not quite a position, SFC, is a check-point that we use to analyze movements syncing together. There is a lot about this checkpoint that can be discussed but for the basis of this article, we will look at the throwing arm position.
At SFC, we want the arm at close to a 90-degree angle with the ball facing outwards (towards 3rd at RHP) - this picture is a great example of that.
Elbow Spiral
The Elbow Spiral is how the arm transcends up from separation to external rotation. A good elbow spiral is a direct result of horizontal abduction - ie. the scap retracting back, pulling the elbow tight into the body and then flipping up into position around SFC. The elbow will then start to move and layback into position for external rotation.
This whole process happens quickly and fairly naturally for most athletes. When done right it will look like the elbow is climbing a winding staircase.
External Rotation
External Rotation is often referred to as forearm layback - this is the position that puts the most stress on the elbow (valgus force) - but is also one of the most important positions to high ball velocity.
Like a rubber band, the forearm will layback - almost flat with the ball facing the sky. This creates external rotation that propels the ball forward after release.
Athletes with less external rotation than others will exhibit a more pushy arm action.
Arm Action Phases:
The role of the arm can be broken down into six unique phases as outlined by Driveline Baseball's Hacking the Kinetic Chain. The "Arm Action" is commonly associated with phases 1, 2, and 4. Though every phase is important - some cannot be consciously altered because of their timing and how quick the athlete moves through the phase. The phases at the beginning are much easier to change, while the phases at the end are much harder - think of it as a domino effect.
1: Separation
This phase starts when the athlete separates their hands. Although a relatively simple phase - athletes can cause a few problems for themselves if they separate their hands improperly.
As young players, many are taught to get their arm extended behind them and point the ball towards second. We know that this is troublesome because at stride-foot-contact we want the forearm in a natural position (facing 3rd base for RHP) - by pointing the ball to 2nd at separation this can be a hard position to achieve. In my experience, This cue of showing the ball to 2nd can also cause lack of scap retraction and often an elevated humorous (elbow above shoulder height at stride-foot-contact, forearm position angled inwards with the ball closer to the head). Combine these two issues together and you get athletes with a pushy arm action.
Learning from the teachings of Dave Coggin's (@pfastrong1), I have become more aware of how an athlete separates their hands. Dave talks about getting athletes into the "Pocket", which originated from him discovering that reaching into one's right pocket (if RHP) and bringing a ball out to throw is the type of efficient arm action he has been teaching for years prior. While there are many hard-throwing big leaguers that don't exemplify this action - there are increasingly more examples of pitchers that have redefined their mechanics and even career as a result of shortening - more accurately, compacting - their arm action.
The "pocket" can be described as the area next to the back pocket of your shorts close to your body. Passing through the pocket is a quick but important step in achieving many important checkpoints along the way to actually releasing the ball.
Dave also talks about wrist wrapping during the separation phase. This is another issue that can limit an athletes ability to get into horizontal abduction. A "wrist wrap" is when the athlete starts to contort his wrist either wrapping it into his body or outward (where the ball starts facing the sky).
2: Pickup
This is when the scap retracts and the elbow flips up into the position seen at SFC.
Effects of the previous phase will leak over into the pickup phase. For instance, if you are a big "feed the dragon" type guy, your pickup phase might be almost indistinguishable from the separation phase.
The inverted "W" is another highly talked about issue that fits into the pickup phase. The inverted "W" is when the athlete's elbow hikes up higher than shoulder height while the forearm is neutral and pointing towards the ground. This is something to watch out for with athlete's since this movement can impact their timing, and impede their ability to get the arm up into position at SFC, before starting rotation and getting into the later parts of the throwing motion as the arm lags behind.
3: Disconnection
This is where the term positive disconnection comes into play. Positive disconnection describes the relationship of the glove-arm to the throwing-arm. During this phase of the throw, the lead arm scap should retract and begin folding the glove arm down at the same time that the throwing arm scap retracts.
4: Elbow Spiral
This phase of the throwing motion can be described as the elbow climbing a spiraling staircase. The elbow and hand will go from the retracted position on horizontal abduction to the position at stride-foot contact, and then proceed to climb into external rotation.
This can be one the most troublesome phase for younger throwers, as they have a tendency to push the ball and not create enough horizontal abduction to get the elbow to follow this kind of path. However, the Elbow Spiral cannot be heavily internal cued - to create changes to the spiral we have to go earlier in the chain and create a more efficient pickup phase.
5: Driveline
The Driveline phase occurs during the external rotation of the throwing elbow.
I'll be honest this is one of the phases of the arm action that I am not as well versed in. From my understanding, this phase is centered around the idea of holding max external rotation of the elbow for as long as possible. Doing this ensures that elbow extension is happening later in the delivery - at the point of release - as opposed to earlier which causes increased valgus stress on the elbow.
6: Recovery
After releasing the ball the arm goes through a deceleration phase. During this phase, the elbow internally rotates and the forearm pronates (thumb points to the ground).
If the athlete has performed the prior phases properly the recovery phase will happen naturally and without any internal thought.
Where athletes get into trouble is when they start trying to consciously decelerate their arm. Sometimes athletes may try to come to a complete stop and not allow their arm to recoil (ie. sway) after release. Or they might try driving their chest into the ground because of an internal cue of finishing low.
Something to note, after coming back from minor injuries, typically ones where there is pain or discomfort during the recovery phase, athlete's may start to consciously change their follow through to avoid this pain/discomfort even if they are healthy. This can lead to negative changes to the prior phases since they are creating less acceleration before release.
Constraint-Based Drills to Improve Arm Action:
Now that we understand all the phases of the arm action lets discuss some drills to help athletes create more efficient movements throughout these phases.
1: Pivot Pickoffs
Pivot Pickoffs are highly regarded as one of the go-to drills for remapping arm action. The great thing about the pivot pickoff is how versatile the drill is - there are literally dozens of ways to perform the drill. Each player will have their own unique spin on executing the drill and that is perfectly ok - hell - it's encouraged.
The Pivot Pickoff mostly works on the Elbow Spiral phase, but depending on the variation and what the athlete needs to work on most - the drill can be tailored to work on the pickup phase as well.
There are many ways to perform the Pivot Pick, but it starts with the athlete setup with their feet shoulder width apart and with their throwing arm leg towards the target. You can vary the angle of your feet, I like having athletes set up at about 45 degrees as opposed to perfectly perpendicular. The athlete with then rotate their trunk and throw the ball. This is where most individual variance will come into play. Some guys like reaching their elbow overhead, others do more of a glove tap. Regardless of the variant the concept stays the same, isolate the upper half and while creating separation from the lower half.
If you are looking for a more detailed example of how I teach the Pivot Pickoff, follow this link for a video demonstration I created outlining a Beginner and Advanced version of the drill.
2: Quick Picks:
Quick Picks is one of my favorite drills for getting guys used to compacting their arm action down to the bare essentials. Because of the time constraint in the drill, we are asking the athletes to strip down their arm action into the most essential components, ie. the most efficient way to throw the ball.
There is not really one phase of the arm action that this drill works on more than others. The Quick Pick is a great drill to add into the end of your throwing routine to blend movements learned in more specialized (constrained) drills like the Pivot Pickoff.
To perform the drill have the athlete setup with their body opposite of the target. When ready to throw simply turn your body with a bit of a false step backward - make sure this is all in on motion.
I tend to avoid having athletes perform a drop-step with this drill because it seems to slow their tempo down and take their focus off the arm action and being quick.
3: Kneeling Pocket Throws
With this constraint drill, we are eliminating the lower half and getting athletes to focus on their arm action. This drill is meant to be done at low effort and is more of a mind-body type drill than anything. I have found this works great for younger athletes to help them understand where they want to bring their arm during the separation throw.
To perform the drill, have athletes start on their knees facing the target. Have the athlete counter-rotate their trunk and instruct them to place their throwing hand at the "pocket" - you can even have them start with the ball in their back pocket - from their the athlete is trying to throw without any excessive movement (bringing the ball down lower, or moving their arm back towards second base).
To see an example of this drill in action, you can view an Instagram post of mine showcasing this drill here.
4: Backward Pocket Throws
This is another phenomenal drill I have picked up from Dave Coggins - it is so simple yet has the athlete immediately understand the way their arm action should be playing out and feeling like.
This is one of the few constraint drills that I have found to force an athlete into a horizontally abducted position. At first, athletes will perform this drill miserably. They will feel uncomfortable, and their arm action will probably look awful. But, as they get more comfortable with the concept of the drill they can really start to let their individual athleticism shine.
Perform the drill by starting right at the wall (ie. the intended target), while facing the wall the whole time, stary walking backward. When you feel comfortable or are going to run out of room - throw the ball while still moving backward. The biggest key to getting this drill to work as intended is to ensure the athlete is throwing while moving. We don't want the athlete to stop their momentum, or swivel their feet and hips. By staying in this constrained position the athlete will be forced to counter-rotate their trunk and have their elbow slide back creating horizontal abduction.
While I mostly program this drill at lower RPE levels, it can be a good idea to get some velocity readings on this drill. This will ensure the athlete is not cheating the movement - where they are just flipping the ball to the target and not creating the separation required to throw with higher velocities.
The other thing to keep in mind with this drill too is that if you have space I would recommend performing this drill with some distance (10-15 feet at a minimum). This ensures two things, 1: the athlete has enough room to comfortably walk backward without running out of space, and 2: that the athlete is forced to throw with reasonable intent to get the ball to the target.
Conclusion:
The arm action is the low hanging fruit of the kinetic chain. Meaning it is one of the easier parts to train because it requires less invasive constraints then say the lower half - it also does not require the strength levels that elite lower half movements need.
While this article has tried to be as informative and detailed as possible, I urge you to not over complicate the arm action with athletes. Most of the phases of the arm action are not consciously controlled by the athlete and using internal cues will not be very helpful for creating more efficient movements.
The drills I outlined should give you a good starting point of constraints to help athletes figure out their individual arm action. I am also a big believer in long-toss and playing infield/playing wall ball for improving arm action. Long-toss helps the athlete find their optimal mechanics and syncs their upper half with the lower half. Taking ground balls or playing wall ball at your local school promotes tons of athleticism and places some emphasis on varying arm slots - both of which help a pitcher become more adaptable thrower.
As always if you have any questions regarding this article you can reach out to me via any of my social media: Instagram (@richardsbaseball), Twitter (@richardsbsb) - or via email: lennon@richardsbaseball.