Baseball & Softball Throwing: Glove Side Mechanics | High Level Throwing®

Should you tuck your glove or pull your glove side into the armpit? Well, it depends on the situation, type of ball fielded or received AND the direction or timing of how of all of this! There’s a lot going on and the glove side will vary based on the play.

The glove sides purpose is to 1. allow for thoracic extension/ rotation of the trunk, 2. to allow the torso to rotate and accelerate through ball release AND 3. to create a timing mechanism to help hold trunk counter rotation as the arm loads back, in order to sequence effectively.

I especially like these clips (courtesy of @noontimegifs) because it shows a variety of MLB players allowing their lead arm to clear during a throw. This means the arm is pulling down and away from the body, allowing the thoracic spine to extend and the trunk to turn back against the hips, creating resistance between the two structures. There is no active pulling towards the arm pit.

If a coach tells you to ACTIVELY tuck your glove into the arm pit, ask him WHY. Once the lead arm clears, the body will move towards the glove as the torso turns forward to the target.

Jayson Werth

Ichiro Suzuki

Andre Ethier

Gonzo

Dee Gordon

Reyes

Bautista

Recap
We need to allow Thoracic Extension to occur. We need to allow the pelvis to open towards the target while the torso/trunk turns back against this hip opening movement (counter-rotation of trunk).

When the glove is actively tucked, you take away from thoracic extension AND the ability for an athlete to create resistance between the two structures (hips and trunk/torso) AND to properly accelerate and rotate the trunk/torso.

Of course, there will be some variations of this movement. Some athletes will completely clear their lead arm to the side and some will clear it only partially. Some even might pull into the armpit as well!

The key concept is to allow the lead arm to clear, pull, fold, peel, or rip down naturally based on the play! If you want to learn more about High Level Throwing® Patterns, please check out our training manuals and guides at highlevelthrowing.com!