King Felix Mechanical Analysis
I always hate spamming, but I figured this might be a pretty captive audience, so...
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/story/2005/7/23/203133/956
The short of it is that Felix generates most of his power from his upper body, getting very little from his legs - this adds pressure to his elbow and shoulder, although I think his delivery is smooth enough to avoid a serious injury.
The thing that needs to be fixed before anything else is his little mid-delivery head-jerk; it's a recurring problem that's hurting his command, which is pretty much the only thing keeping Felix from being a great pitcher * right now *.
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very nice
by yeoldejaco on Jul 28, 2005 12:42 AM EDT 0 recs
thanks a million
by Goodfella on Jul 28, 2005 9:11 AM EDT 0 recs
Analysis
As a baseball coach I disagree with minor parts of your analysis, more on a philisophical level than than technical aspects. I believe you have identified some effects of flaws but not necessarily the cause. I am a big believer in the front side as a facilitator to proper mechanics. I believe to a large degree arm path is a natural movement for a pitcher and you shouldn't mess with it very much.
You touched on it, but I believe Felix's "tuck" on the front side is a big part of any mechanical problems he has. Clearly his head position relative to his center of gravity produces his fall to the 1B side. You can see in frames 2 and 3 his head is over his C.G., but you also notice his lead arm gradually pulling him off line. By frame 4 his lead arm is offline, behind the stride foot and his head it tilted. (I would love to see an overhead shot of Felix. I think it would be very obvious why he has some shoulder issues.)
This does 2 things, one, obviously, produces energy in a direction counterproductive to the plate (throwing across his body) and two, causes him to release the ball "sooner" than he needs to. At release it appears Felix is about 60% of his stride length with his C.G., not good. Greg Maddux reaches nearly 90%. Effect? Maddux releases the ball closer to home plate. In terms of counterproductive energy, I look for a pitchers glove to be over his stride foot from the point at which that foot touches the ground to release. (reference Maddux again, but also Unit, Clemens and many others) You can in frame 2, Felix looks good, but by frame 4, his glove is well behind his stride foot and by frame 6 he is probably 6-8 inches short of where he could be at release.
I am also not a big believer in the legs as a definitive power sourse. Clearly, power starts there in creating linear energy towards to plate which translates into the rotational energy. But often times pitchers that get "too much" out of their legs and cannot translate all of it which creates more mechanical problems. I teach getting as much power as you can from your legs while still maintaining dynamic balance throughout the pitching motion. A pitcher that struggles with location or arm injuries almost always struggles with his center of gravity. (I'm a labrum/rotator cuff/capsule survivor myself, if I had known then what I know now.....)
Overall, awesome post Jeff. Nothing better than close up looks of prospects like this. Really really enjoyed your analysis.
by HuskerBob on Jul 28, 2005 10:35 AM EDT 0 recs
Leg Drive v. Hip Rotation
Like Husker, I'm not a big believer in leg drive as the main power source. Late hip rotation is key, and % of stride length at release.
Interesting that Felix has no shortage of power in spite of some inefficiencies in delivery. One of the first things I noticed in the photos is that he does appear to throw across his body slightly.
I noticed the same thing, albeit more extreme, with Matt Rogers on the MLB.com scouting video before he was drafted. None of the scouting reports noted this tendency, but it was fairly obvious even to me. Now, Rogers is struggling as the Brewers have tinkered with his delivery.
Back to my point, Rogers also possessed high 90s gas. What does that say about hip rotation as it relates to velocity if both these guys have a tendency to "throw across their bodies" presumably closing off their front hip?
by losgigantes on
Jul 28, 2005 7:47 PM EDT
up
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scouting films
by creepers on Jul 28, 2005 8:04 PM EDT 0 recs
That's where I saw the Rogers video
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/events/draft/y2
005/tracker/search.jsp?sc=round&sp=1
by losgigantes on Jul 28, 2005 8:43 PM EDT 0 recs
Agree
Will Carroll
by injuryexpert on Aug 1, 2005 11:48 PM EDT 0 recs
replying to your previous comment
by Isisaston on Dec 19, 2006 9:12 AM EST 0 recs






