Step 10

K Position

Start with the feet at 45, shoulder width apart as in step 7. The right hand is by the right shoulder. Reach straight up as high as possible then slightly flex the elbow. Keep the ball above the power line. The ball is facing third base (RHP). The left hand is pointing towards home plate. Let the right wrist become limp so that the hand falls towards third base. Bring the elbow back towards second base as far as possible while still keeping it flexed or increasing the amount of flex a bit. Make a large 1/4 of a circle with the elbow. When the arm is pointing back towards second base you are right where you started #7. Finish as in #7.

In this step, concentrate on having the right elbow make a large half circle. The hand lags slightly behind and the amount of flex in the elbow increases until the upper arm is pointing straight down at which point the hand whips past the hip, then the hip closes and the pitcher continues to follow through.

The pitcher should feel the limp wrist snap at the bottom of the circle or just slightly after that. Getting that feeling provides good feedback that the whip is being executed properly. Now, in a real pitch when the arm reaches the K position, the wrist will be extended straight up and not flopped over. But the wrist is being pulled up due to centrifigual force, not because of any direct involvement of the muscles controlling the wrist. Starting with a flopped over wrist in the K position is best because it reinforces the limpness. Plus by the time it gets to the 3rd quarter position the wrist will have been pulled out into its proper position. Similarly when the wrist snaps it is because the forearm is slowing down, not because of any push with the wrist.

(As an aside, most coaches, myself included, used to have pitchers do a lot of wrist snap drills and work on strengthening the forearm. When high speed, high quality video became available, it was observed that the wrist “snaps” after the ball is released and the having the limp wrist improved both speed and accuracy. Most of the top college pitchers today probably did wrist snap drills, but somewhere along the line they developed a limp wrist delivery. My experience with the young pitchers is that they have success more quickly by starting with the limp wrist approach.)

Also to note in this step, as the left hand is falling to the pitcher’s leg, it should be pretty close, just a little left, to the power line. If the left hand is drifting farther to the left, that is usually a sign that the hips are closing early or that the shoulders are turning before the hips instead of at the same time.

Repeat this step, increasing the speed of the elbow circle and hand whip.

By the way, this starting position is call the K position. The arms and legs kind of form the letter K, and K is the abbreviation used to record a strikeout when keeping score. There are many drills that start from the K position

Go To Step 11