Customer Reviews

The Art & Science of Pitching

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tom House is the premier pitching coach in the United States and has a large cross section of successful pitchers that attribute many of their pitching achievements to House's training and expertise. His relentless studies on the biomechanics of pitching combined with the use of inventive technology have resulted in an encyclopedia of pitching expertise backed by science, experience, and results. In The Art & Science of Pitching, House (along with fellow authors Gary Heil and Steve Johnson) provides readers access to the full scope of his research.

The Art & Science of Pitching is laid out in four sections; mechanics, training techniques, strategies, and fitness, all complete with diagrams when applicable. This book is as comprehensive as it is valuable, meaning it is absolutely full of qualified information. One of the weaknesses of the book is in the authors' ability to convey the physics behind the mechanics of pitching. While it is evident they have conducted considerable studies on the subject, it can be difficult to replicate their explanations on the mound even when reviewing the diagrams provided. Another surprising omission is the lack of attention to discussing grips; which play a prominent role in pitching.

The information provided should be essential for anyone seeking to improve his or her performance; whether beginning as a pitcher of refining one's abilities after years of play. The book will prove somewhat complicated to use for those without any pitching experience; however, this should not detract from the wisdom provided, as it should be implemented from the start of any career if possible. I recommend this book to all baseball players interested in pitching but advise supplementing it with more basic material in order to be able to fully absorb the information.

From page 47 to the end, this book is great. Chapter's 1-7 need plenty of help.
First, if your going to talk about momentum (linear and angular) and kinetic energy, then explain what they are and how they relate. The same goes for terms like adduction and abduction. In that way, when a glove hand gets pulled into the finish position under the armpit or wherever, we can talk about the effect of that on angular acceleration; which leads to a discussion of torque and onward to angular velocity and ball speed.
Second: get rid of quaint terms like foot/arch complex unless you explain what that means and why you have to say that instead of just 'arch'.
Third, if your going to use stick figures from 2D and 3D imagery and talk about separation angles, then it would be nice if you defined the angles. For instance, hip shoulder separation angle (40-60 degrees) is stated but not defined. My question was, angle relative to what? A vertical line running through the front hip node or what? This book is not an in-house memo and should not be written as such.
Fourth: Graphs found in the figures are completely inadequate. Figures 3-3, 4-5, and 6-2 are good examples of decent data inadequately displayed. What's the point of distinguishing right and left arms on a horizontal adduction graph when the lines describing those two arms look identical? The lines in 6-2 are, I guess, supposed to represent the glove and glove elbow but the lines are identical and unlabeled. Figure 4-5 is the worst offender. There are supposed to be three lines showing angular velocity change with time (which should have been tied to a discussion of torque but no dice. One line is barely visible and the other lines are, again, indistinguishable. Even my students know that color displays converted to black and white require some extra thought if the display is going to be useful.
Do right by your data, always. This data deserves better.

I grew up playing baseball and pitching. After college, I hung up the cleats and did not play until recently when I joined a mens senior baseball league. Reading through this book, you realize that many of the things taught to players were actually incorrect. This book sheds new light on proper mechanics and should be read by anyone wanting to be a better pitcher and keep their arm healthy. I am not as strong, flexible, or conditioned as I was in high school or college, but I am now throwing almost as hard as I was then and with no elbow or shoulder pain.

Great book for teaching the fundamentals and drills of successful pitching. I saw Tom House speak at a baseball seminar and he's by far the best pitching instructor on the planet. He uses observational science of the best pitchers in the major leagues and breaks down what they do and has them written down in this book. He provides a very detailed sequence of what pitchers should do and gives a variety of drills to simulate that sequence. He believes in improving each pitcher's style and not trying to start everyone from scratch to create pitching robots.

I wouldn't go as far as saying you can find most of the information in this book on the website. That's not the case at all. You can find a little bit of the information from this book ont the website but not very much. This book presents the pitching information in a very simple format making it very easy to find whatever you are looking for. It includes drills to correct many of the problems pitchers now-a-days are having. It is a very good book, and it's probably the best pitching book to date. Tom House is a very reputable source and is called by some the "pitching guru." If you are a coach, a player, a curious parent, or a student of the game/pitching, you'll want this book.

This is a wonderful resource for understanding all that goes into throwing and pitching effectively and I have only started with the book. Look forward to the rest of it.

Book gives technical background, instruction, and drills for pitchers. This is a must book for any pitcher.

It is a good book for anyone wanting to learn about mechanics( and I mean broke down to a science)of pitching.Great tips in there from top guys too.

This book has a good breakdown of the landmarks of proper hitting mechanics. It also provides great drills and a practice plan to learn to pitch using those mechanics.