"That's When I Realized How Potentially Dangerous This [Pitching] Phenomenon Has Gotten," Says One Baseball Pitcher

Coach Ellis,

I liked the article on scap loading [Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005].

I've been to see Bill Thurston, too, and you're right, this "scap loading" stuff is something pitchers have been doing for decades. You can look at pitchers from the 30s and 40s and they do this. Nobody ever told them to do it. That's where I agree that it's dangerous to teach young pitchers to do this. The idea of thrusting your chest out is much better.

I had a high school kid tell me that he had a college coach at a clinic tell him to work on scap loading and he'd get 5 mph. That's when I realized how crazy and potentially dangerous this phenomenon has gotten. I had to set him straight, that yeah, he wants to get that good full-range of motion, but actually, consciously "loading the scap" will only slow him down or put his shoulder in a dangerous position.

Keep up your good work.

Phil

P.S. I don't think Wolforth's program has anything bad in it, per se. Just when kids or coaches interpret it in a way that they see the key to it all being is "loading up the scap." Then, it creates problems. I mean, Billy Wagner has a short-arm action and he throws 100 mph. But, I bet he doesn't think, "Gotta make sure I load my scaps."

From the desk of STEVEN ELLIS, The Complete Pitcher™:

Thanks for the comments, Phil. I couldn't have said it any better. All the best!

Yours in complete pitching success,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher, Inc.
www.thecompletepitcher.com
www.thecompletepitcher.blogs.com