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Jason Ormond - #52
Pitching at Tropicana Field - August 7

The focus for analyzing a pitcher is observing how he is throwing. There must be a goal for the pitcher to getting the most efficiency out of the body. The arm and shoulder must be at peak efficiency to reach maximum velocity. The mechanics of delivery must be analyzed with an eye toward physics.

For Jason Ormond, 6' 3" RHP from the Class of 2009, the journey to improving velocity began with a trip to one of Coach Wayne Mazzoni's pitching camps. Once there Coach Mazzoni took a long look at his mechanics to see where the extra miles per hour were. Coach Wayne Mazzoni, of Sacred Heart University, is a pitching coach who has studied the mechanics of pitchers for many years. He watched Jason pitch in a live game situation. Once his observations were complete, he was able to correct a number of things in the delivery by Ormond, including position and angle of his shoulder, length of stride and his overall movement. He looked for ways to make changes to his motion that would unleash power and mazimize torque from the lower body on up. Almost an immediate improvement was seen in his velocity. In fact Mazzonni commented as the receiver of the throws that with no additional force he could see that his mph velocity had improved several mph.

Click here to go to Coach Mazzoni’s website

At the Showball Showcase event held at Tropicana Stadium in early August 2008, Jason was pitching with his fastball at 80-82 mph. Subsequent to working with Coach Mazzoni and making mechanical adjustments his velocity increased to 85 mph. This was off of the radar gun readings at the Harvard University ~ Play To Win Camp held on August 23-24, 2008 at O'Donnell Field on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Clearly every mph added is a step toward learning what is humanly possible in the act of throwing a baseball.......safely.

Fast Ball Velocity in MPH

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Jason Ormond - #47
Pitching at Harvard Play To Win Camp - August 24

The moving slide show above and the photographs below were taken in mid August 2008 at Whitecaps Field in Brewster, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.

Working with Ormond, Coach Mazzoni has him staying on his back leg as long as is possible and then going into the motion and pushing off with as much energy as he can. The pitcher has got to use ankles, legs, hips, and the back to generate power. Then with everything moving toward the target the pitcher must "step out" to the maximum stride. The shoulders and hips must stay closed and move toward the plate in a seamless flow. The mechanics must be efficient to create explosion and torque.

Where pitchers can separate themselves is in the length of his stride. Stepping out and over towards the target is key to generating power efficiently and effortlessly. The less energy expended the less wear and tear on the body and arm. It takes tremendous balance, coordination and athleticism to make it all work. As the motion comes through the ball is unleashed and goes a long for the ride. All of this happens in just 3/4 of a second.

Throwing a baseball is about the most unnatural thing the human body can do. From the loaded position, the shoulder at its peak speed rotates forward at 7,000 degrees per second. This is according to Dr. Glenn Flesig of the American Sports medicine Clinic in Birmingham, AL. who reports that a human pitching a baseball is the fastest measured human motion of any human activity. When the pitcher is in the loaded position, the shoulder and elbow bear the equivalent of about 40 pounds of force pushing down. A pitcher is just about at maximum force before ligaments can begin to blow apart.

For this reason it is unlikely that a pitcher will be throwing much above 100 mph. Pushing the ligaments and tendons any further only risks injury.

Working With Coach Mazzoni to Improve
Mph Velocity

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