Trip and I talk fairly frequently over instant messaging these days, and we (mostly) share the same philosophies on pitching. We both think that there’s two sides to Dr. Marshall – what he teaches in theory and what can be practically attained. I’ll let Trip elaborate, but he found himself throwing in a similar manner as many of Dr. Marshall’s students – on his own!

I think there’s mitigating injury risks to the anterior shoulder structure of Dr. Marshall’s students; additionally, Dr. Marshall’s disbelief of how the kinetic chain is described by today’s kinesiologists (specifically his belief that the ball must be going forward for the kinetic chain to positively contribute to ball velocity) means that he’s not willing to debate this topic. The kinetic chain does work via ground reactionary forces, meaning that energy can be transferred from proximal to distal segments of the body without the hand moving positively in the X-plane (towards the target). Dr. Marshall does not believe this is true – unfortunately for him, modern exercise scientists and kinesiologists disagree. As a result, his pitching mechanics are designed to stop reverse rotation of the shoulders (good) and subtract the concept of hip/torso separation entirely (bad) through the drop step mechanism.

Just a few years ago, he believed that the hips should forwardly rotate ahead of the shoulders, but now believes the hips, torso, and arm should rotate as a unit. The former is biomechanically efficient; the latter is not. Rotating the hips ahead of the shoulders (and the shoulders ahead of the arm) transfers energy that builds up efficiently throughout the chain; rotating them as a unit is highly inefficient. However, it is important to note that this is not necessarily the most effective way to compete in ballistic events.

For example: For actions requiring high-speed ballistic activity of an object that weighs 5 oz. (such as a baseball), transferring energy from proximal to distal and separating body segments with the hand and middle finger coming through last will generate the most force and the highest velocity. However, for actions requiring long-distance ballistic activity of an object that weighs 8 pounds (shot put), the same mechanics would easily destroy the fragile bones and tissues in the arm – this is why you see different throwing mechanics for shot putters.

Dr. Marshall would say that throwing a baseball that weighs 5 ounces in a manner differently than throwing an object that weighs 8 pounds are bad mechanics and would predict an injury to occur. This is why his students throw 8 pound lead balls with little trouble and no injury to connective tissue. However, I disagree – the manner in which we apply forces with a lower weighted object (such as a baseball) can utilize the kinetic chain in an effective and safe manner if we attain a (mostly) vertical pitching forearm and avoid as much side-to-side movement as possible. Of course, this is what Dr. Marshall shoots for – but his body action is significantly different than what most people teach. I have little problem with his arm action, and only mainly disagree with how he utilizes the lower body.