Turn and Tumble Finish

In this clip, pitchers' rear legs cross their front legs in their follow throughs and land the opposite side of their throwing arms. I named this kind of motion 'turn-and-tumble finish'.

In the current world baseball scene, especially in the MLB, turn-and-tumble finish seems to have been common, but it probably had been controversial issue even in the MLB. 

In fact, Leo Mazzone, a former Atlanta Braves' pitching coach being known for having mentored Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, dealt with that issue in his book, 'Pitch Like a Pro'.  He stated that pitchers should focus on delivering their best pitch, and if the pitching mechanics is a kind of one in which his rear leg lands the opposite side of his throwing arm, then, he should stick to the mechanics for playing his most important role.

I read the Japanese edition of his book more than 10 years ago, and according to his description, the pros and cons about the 'turn-and-tumble finish' seemed to be existing yet at that point. Since he was a very influential figure in the baseball circle, his opinion also must have been influential. Indeed, turn-and-tumble finish has got majority in current baseball scene.

In my opinion, turn-and-tumble finish is an ideal motion. One advantage of doing it is to be able to avoid the risk of shoulder injuries. As you can see in the photo below, the arm path of the throwing arm is followed and traced by the weight transfer that is unique to turn-and-tumble motion.

Some kinds of shoulder injuries occur when a slowing arm slows down in the follow through, because shoulder muscles suffer tensional force when the acceleration of the throwing arm is stopped. Therefore, the weight shift that follows and traces the arm path in turn-and-tumble motion becomes an effective device for easing the shock that a shoulder suffer in the follow through.

However, turn-and-tumble finish unfortunately has not been accepted in Japanese baseball circle, especially by senior therefore high-standing coaches. They think that it diminishes the accuracy of ball control as well as not allow pitchers to take proper fielding stance. In fact, young pitchers often were 'corrected' their pitching mechanics that have turn-and-tumble finish even in professional baseball teams.

Here is a footage of Masahiro Tanaka. His rear leg not only does not cross the front leg, it even does not land beyond the front foot - a most vulnerable mechanics to slowing-arm injuries as the throwing arm is stopped suddenly.

  


So how about the pitcher in the following clip? Actually, in the case of sidearm mechanics, the rear leg lands on the throwing-arm side because in that case, the pitcher's spine tilts forward (third base direction for right handed pitchers) right after he lifts up the front leg to make the angle for sidearm throwing. So it's correct for him to land his rear leg on the throwing-arm side because his balance inclines to that direction.



Next, how about the pitcher below? I think he has a pretty good mechanics even though he doesn't turn-and-tumble finish. His rear leg jumps up in the springy motion after kicking the ground, which is a proof that he is able to use his lower half effectively, and that is why I think he is not vulnerable to shoulder and elbow injuries. I would not advise a pitcher who has this kind of mechanics that you should change your follow-through.