What's the Best Follow-Through?

To moms and dads who obsess over YouTube pitching videos: I’ve been there to. You love the “forearm fire,” Bill Hillhouse, and Amanda Scarborough’s Power Drive.

First, we have Bill. Dads think "Bill was the best pitcher ever, has tons of free videos, and he’s just like me- a dude!" He even has a great blog which I would suggest reading, after mine of course. Hillhouse says things that are different than what you’ve heard elsewhere. It seems pretty compelling. After all, different is exciting.

Then we have the “forearm fire” guy. He's cool, too. Look at how his hand wiggles at the end. I get it.

Amanda’s video’s are top-notch and go through the whole motion step-by-step. Plus she’s just like your daughter - a girl.

Bill Hillhouse promotes a cross-bodied follow through to the opposite-side shoulder. Below I will clarify what he means when he talks about this and why I teach something else. The follow through others teach is a straight-arm one with the hand pointing to the target at the end. I call this the “hand-shake” follow-through. I teach most players to point their elbows, not hands, to the target, referred to as “hello elbow.” I’ll discuss each follow throughs and what they mean to your pitcher.

What is a follow through and why do we need one?

A follow-through is the report card for everything a she does in her motion before delivery. It’s the direction her arm travels after release. It’s important because it dissipates the energy she creates in the throwing arm. Follow-throughs are a deceleration of the arm, preventing injury.

If a pitcher does not follow through there would be two big problems.

1) Imagine a pitcher releaser the pitch and then immediately stopping her arm. The ball would end up traveling slower to prepare for the stop at the release.

2) If she were able to manage to throw at full speed, but then suddenly stop her arm, the pressure on the bicep would be great. It would increasing the risk of a bicep or tendon tear.

A follow-through is obligatory for pitch effectiveness and safety. You must do it.

For how much I talk about the follow-through with players, the best pitchers and coaches in the country mention it very little or noe. I go to the NFCA coaches conferences yearly. We have seminars on every aspect of pitching imaginable. Yet no one has ever talked about the follow-through. This is because there are so many important and interesting things about pitching. Talking about - keeping the arm straight or bent at the follow through matters little. Pitchers just need to have one.

We are talking about the follow through on ONE pitch. The fastball. The follow through is actually different for every pitch you throw. The only players who throw a fastball over and over again are pitchers aged 7 -12. This explains why it’s not a big topic of conversation for college coaches. For example, the curve-ball follow through is at your hip and the drop ball is low. The change-up is usually back-handed. To argue about the differeent fast ball follow throughs neglects all other eight pitches. Every pitch that demands a different release and follow through.

Why then am I insistent on this particular way to follow through if it doesn’t matter in college? Youth coaches must reinforce one follow-through. We are trying to teach young girls to have repeatable motions. Unfortunately, most 8-year-olds stop their hands abruptly after their release. Since new pitchers start with fastballs when learning, it’s important they have a single way to follow through. It lends to faster learning.

“Hello elbow” puts less pressure on the bicep and tendons than any other follow through. This is according to research by Dr. Sherry Werner. Pitchers who learn to follow-through with a straight arm to the target have a hard time learning to speed up all the way past release. They are also stiff.

Yet, if this happens to not be the case I will leave their follow through as the handshake.

When the arm “whips” through the release point, it relaxes, then straightens out, then relaxes again. It’s like when you whip your little brother with a towel, the towel straightens out with a “snap!” then loosens after that. Her arm also does this motion. With each of the types of follow-throughs, this is what is happening. They are all identical through this point.

Those who like a hand shake follow-through argue that hello elbow is “forcing the arm to get into a position which is unnatural.” By what standard? If you've ever trained a pitcher you’re asking her to do unnatural things every single lesson. So far, the only actual research says that hello elbow puts less pressure on the bicep. The rest is subjective.

If the arc of your arm circle is round, it would be natural for the follow through to follow the same round path. If the follow-through is a report card for what pitchers do during the motion.

Hillhouse’s argument for finishing across the shoulder is a comparison to other athletic movements. He says when shooting a puck, hockey players finish across the body. Overhand throws finish across the opposite side. What he misses, though, is that in underhand pitching the ball is coming from a straight circle even if the hips are rotating laterally.

Pitchers who do not close their hips at delivery stay open. Think of a pitcher who might do a “figure 4” with her legs. This is the only motion that would lend itself to a cross body follow through, as she is delivering her pitch sideways. Her hand follows through to her left shoulder, not right.

It’s good practice to keep every follow through the same for every pitch. This will not to tip off the batter (again, after the whip and extend happens), as Hillhouse teaches. If you watch Hillhouse pitch, he snaps each pitch differently. They look different coming off of his hand, then he brings his arm up in a loose cross-shoulder hello elbow position. He deceives batters at the end of the follow through. This is a great idea, and something I’d introduce for the college-bound pitchers. For those less skilled pitchers the tactic is likely to alter their mechanics in a negative way.

There are so many wonderful resources for learning tips for pitching online. Find pitcher who you think is great, then find out who their pitching instructor is or was. See what her instructor has to say. Try to “follow-through” on this.