Good examples of a proper cocked position

Jon Leiber

Beltran Perez

Roy Oswalt

Why are these pitching mechanics of the cocked position good?

• Head in the top center of the body, chest thrust out and shoulders pulled back for torque and a full range of motion.
• Lead elbow-shoulder AND shoulder-throwing elbow level and aligned to the plate. Both elbows are relatively the same height horizontally.
• Front shoulder closed to the plate; eyes, shoulders, and hips level and ready to rotate to square off to the plate.
• Hand high in the cocked position, fingers on top of the baseball, wrist extended back, forearm beyond a 90-degree angle from upper arm.
• Stride foot firmly planted and stable, toes pointed in slightly.
• Stride leg flexed, pivot leg (foot) beginning to roll over off the mound to release the hips.