Not that this picture of Strasburg illustrates 'at the top'.  :- )

.

=== At The Top ===

Almost all pitchers kick the front knee and "stand tall" at the top.  

The reasons being to (1) Get all the body parts on the centerline and (2) to create rhythm into the drop-and-drive.

Paxton also does not do this.  LOL.

............

Well, the slo-mo at 1:02 is a trifle misleading.  In that pitch, Paxton does not stand tall - but in that pitch, his knee is lower than it usually is, for him.

In his other pitches, such as the one at 0:28, kicks the knee more ... but still fails to execute the fundamental "stand tall" idea.

Paxton does float his weight just a bit, and he does get everything onto the CL.  But his cap does not rise, and he shows us the Japanese "moving without motion" idea -- he stands tall inside his skin, not outside it.  (It sounds like mumbo jumbo to Americans; it is a fundamental concept in Japan.)

Paxton's (2) lack of windup trigger, along with his (2) "moving without motion" knee kick, create an exceptionally compact beginning for him.

Stephen Strasburg is very similar.

..............

Up to this point, Paxton's and Lincecum's motions couldn't be more different.  From now on, they couldn't be more similar.

That's why we'll conclude that Paxton has a Lincecum motion, minus the trigger.  Paxton has a Strasburg trigger but a Lincecum motion.

...............

How could Paxton (basically) eliminate the windup trigger, and the weight float - and yet be one of baseball's most powerful pitchers?   Oldtimers will remember Jim Kaat, who used almost a play-catch-with-your-sister motion, and yet had a respectable fastball...

In Paxton's case, he loses energy by eliminating the trigger and weight float, but gains it back in two ways:

• He tilts his shoulders back to the CF
• He gets an extraordinary amount of energy from his front hip

... as we'll discuss.

.

Next

.