Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Wed Feb 11 12:41:50 2004

Do you believe the torso rotation used in throwing is essentially the same as the torso rotation used in batting?
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> My son is beginning to do torso rotation exercises with a band as resistance. I believe it is good for him in a few different ways. For hitting it just puts it in his mind to pivot instinctively and it also increases his explosiveness.
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> But he is also a pitcher and I think the same exercise should help him be more explosive with his hips in pitching. What do you think, should he be doing a slightly different torso rotation exercise for pitching?
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> I kind of think these exercises will really help him because he is not all that athletic or strong so I hope they help him. But on the other hand I don't see a lot of baseball exercises involving torso rotation. Maybe I am just missing them or not looking in the right places.
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> Thanks in advance for your help.
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> RMB

This is a very complicated question.I would put the nmost credibility in an answer from Nyman.

While there are similarities in both skills,the timing and sequence are different enough that it is hard to predict how much crossover or specificity can be expected.

Hitting is bow-arch.

Throwing is bow-arch-bow,one armed,extra lever,arm circling in different direction.

Back arm loading action/sequence is similar as is the creation of stretch by hips opening and torso resisting opening.Timing of wieght shift is different however,

In pitching you need to rotate the back foot/leg to assist in creating body torion/boost hips open,but the push off of the back foot is timed more so that when the front foot comes down and bears weight/blocks,it triggers the final BOW of the body rather than accentuating coiling.

How foundational activities/abilities for both skills can be improved and reliably produce better results in both requires more expertise and range of domains to be mastered than I can muster.