The Future of Pitching?

If your son is a pitcher, I suggest you spend the next several weeks reading the information on www.drmikemarshall.com website. Your eyes are about to be opened to a whole new understanding of pitching mechanics, training, and strategy.

Dr. Marshall is the same Mike Marshall that pitched most notably for the Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970's. During his 14 year major league career he set many endurance records for pitching, such as Most games by any pitcher in a season (106), Most consecutive games pitched in a season (13), and Most games finished (84). He was also the 1974 National League Cy Young Award winner, and the 1973, 1974, and 1979 Fireman of the Year Award winner.

What you probably don't know about him is that his primary life's work is the scientific study of the pitching motion, with the specific goal of determining the proper mechanics and training for pitching so pitchers can pitch without causing pain or damage to their arm.

He currently lives and works in Zephyrhills, Florida, which is outside of Tampa. He runs a pitching school and research center there, year round.

His website contains an online book that you can read or print for free. The book explains everything about his study and current ideas on pitching. He also responds to email questions and puts the questions and answers on the website for viewing.

I will caution you, his book is difficult to understand at first because he uses correct scientific names for muscles, bones, nerves (any body part) whenenver he describes a particular motion. However, he is the only person, probably the only person in the world, that has studied the pitching motion scientifically for over 25 years using high speed (500 frames per second) film. In addition, he has the proper training (Master degree in Physical Education, and Doctorate degree in Exercise Physiology) to understand exactly how the body parts actually work to throw a baseball. And he can explain exactly why the traditional pitching motion causes the arm injuries that we see and hear about everyday.

Again, I strongly suggest that you visit this site and read what Dr. Marshall has to say about pitching. His ideas may very well be the future of pitching.

 

I knew Mike Marshall in the '70's. The thing I remember about him was his unique intelligence. He walks "the beat of a different drummer" and was always "anti-establishment"....but the thing I remember most about him, when he was espousing his theories on anything, he was usually right...even when I didn't understand what he was saying

 

WOW! This is some very heady reading. Would suggest looking at the table of contents in the book first and reading sections you are interested in. Thanks rjr4dad for the heads up on this site and online book.

 

I stumbled accross this book a couple years back. Needless to say, it is heavy reading, and the topics MAY be considered controversial. In particular, Dr. Mike Marshall was a screwball expert, probably the best in the history of the game. The stress that pitch puts on the body is "extreme" to say the least and can be devastating to say the normal.

There is no doubting his ability or knowledge. I can't say that anything Dr. Mike will every publish will truely effect the nature of the game. In order for his philosophies to be shared, he's gotta learn how to teach first. The book is heavy wading and extremely technical. The information he conveys and his descriptions are lacking clarity for the normal reader. It's difficult to create the necessary mental images to apply what he is saying.

Find a good pitching coach and have HIM read the book ... it's not for the faint of heart. :boune: :boune:

 

I know it's difficult reading! I had to buy a book on anatomy in order to see which muscles and bones he was refering to in his book. He is close to creating a new video to accompany his book. His first video is poor quality and I would recommend waiting for the new one.

Dr. Marshall's theories on pitching are being received as poorly as Bill James' Baseball Abstracts were back when he published them in the 70's and 80's. I'll go out on a limb and say that both men were ahead of their time. Bill James' theories are finally getting acceptance into mainstream baseball, (See the book "Moneyball" for details, and note how Bill James is employed by the Boston Red Sox as an advisor now), and I'm betting Dr. Marshall's pitching theories will break through soon enough too. It's tough to change people's minds when their ideas are based on tradition instead of science.

 

I would hate to compare Dr. Mike Marshall to Bill James. I don't think it's fair to Dr. Marshall, he's better than that. As for Bill (even though he's had ton's of success and I'm familiar with Sabremetrics and the formulas) ... you have to admit...."There's liars, D..n.d liars, and mathmaticians"

 

Never thought it would happen, NC, but I have to disagree with you this time. Bill James and The Baseball Abstract were eye opening for everyone, even those who didn't admit it at first. Runs produced, catcher efficiency, judging fielders in part by chances to account for range, field adjusted batting averages, home run totals and ERAs -- just a few of the gems James brought us that are now part of everyday basebal thinking.

 

DB, I'll have to share the application I wrote on baseball statistics using Bill James's sabremetrics. I love his work, I just think what Mike Marshall has to say is, in the long run, more important.

Here is my knock on Bill James and the reliance on his principles and techniques. You cannot perform an objective analysis of the game of baseball. They only thing you can perform an analysis on is the results of the game. The only place the results of the game are available to the statistician is in the score book.

First, you have to bar any "tilt" or prejudice on the part of the "official scorekeeper" and assuming that they are being objective in the awarding of hits versus errors. The only method available to the statistician to perform such an analysis is the use of a large enough sample size (such as an entire major league season, 162 games).

In his book, "Moneyball", Mr. James recommends using a statistical system that he has proven over a large sample size in selecting players where the sample size is smaller (such as a college season) and the scorekeepers not as well trained (and there is bound to be some degree of "cooking" the stats ... see the # of home games Miami plays each year versus the normal school).

My argument with his method is that there isn't any way to objectively "prove" his method works. You cannot base a draft on his methods as presented in "Moneyball" and go through the identical draft and compare performances for a TEAM on picks selected by experienced general managers. The intangibles which are so important in team chemistry and long term success aren't quantifiable from a scorebook.

 

...Just what I was going to say

 

Good post RJR4dad. I have been to his(Mike's) site several times over the years and have come to the same conclusion each time-This stuff is way over my head!