I was both flattered and proud when Perry Husband asked me to write the foreword for Filthy: The Science of Effective Velocity. This book is actually the first written material explaining a new way to look at how a hitter tries to match his bat speed to a pitcher's pitch speed and location. He has been working on identifying and quantifying these phenomena for two years. Just being involved in the development of a new pitching concept, with the strategies and tactics to back it up, would have been enough but this foreword gives me a forum to chronicle how a hitting guy came up with something that actually helps pitchers! So here goes. "He knows how to pitch". These 5 words are the ultimate compliment to any pitcher who has mastered his craft. As an ex-major league pitcher and pitching coach who currently instructs with information researched at our *NPA Motion Analysis Lab, I am always looking for ways to improve a pitcher's performance.
We've known for years that pitchers must have enough real velocity (actual MPH's) and/or perceived velocity (where release point distance can affect the perception of real velocity…1 foot of distance = 3 mph) to compete at higher levels. We know that elite pitchers locate, change speeds, and have late ball movement. We also know that elite pitchers must throw 3 pitches (fastball, breaking ball, change-up) to at least 2 locations (inside, outside) to compete successfully at higher levels. Obviously, commanding another pitch or two (cutter, split finger) to another location or two (up and in, down and away) is a bonus. What we didn't understand about elite pitchers (until Perry's R&D) is how to quantify their intuitive feel for putting all these pitching pieces together. That's what Filthy is all about….matching up real velocity, perceived velocity, and effective velocity with different pitches to different locations using a measurable protocol that will minimize a hitter's chance to make solid contact. "It's a must read for every pitcher or pitching coach who wants to perform at the higher levels of competition. It's also a must read for every hitter or hitting coach who wants to perform at the higher level. The answer is obvious. There's something in this book for everybody in baseball."
Tom House
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The Downright Filthy Pitching Series is a very in depth study of speed as it relates to the hitter's reaction time. Initial velocity is the speed of the ball as the radar gun sees it, perceived velocity is the speed of the ball as the mind's eye sees it and Effective Velocity is the speed it actually is. Effective Velocity is the initial velocity plus the location effects of the pitch due to different locations having different reaction times.
When a pitch is thrown at 90 MPH of initial velocity, it has 9 different possible speed zones it will enter depending on the location of the pitch. Within the strike zone, there are 5 time zones. In simple terms, a 90 MPH pitch can and does equal many different speeds, depending on where the pitch is located. This begs a question, are the locations and the velocity combinations that you use regularly helping or hurting your battle with throwing off the hitters' timing? There are many major league pitchers, the majority of all we studied, misuse the combination of either velocity or location of at least one pitch. Most pitchers throw pitches that are intended to be off speed such as a slider that are consistently located where they are gaining Effective Velocity and the location of their fastball, which is intended to be fast is in a location that is loosing Effective Velocity. This is called Effective Velocity Crossover, the speed of the slower pitch is gaining and the speed of the faster pitch is losing with the reaction time of both pitches heading toward each other. When they get to within 6 Effective Velocity Miles Per Hour of each other they are At Risk pitches. This phenomenon is responsible for over 50% of the hard hit balls in all the studies conducted over a 2 year period.
There are 25 reachable contact points in the Strike Zone and the six inch area surrounding it called the Pressure Zone. Each ball above represents the 100% on time contact point that the ball must be hit to be considered 100% on time. Of course the hitter can hit almost all of these pitches at many points and often does exactly that, but there is only one point in time and space that the hitter can get the sweet spot of the bat to the ball with perfect mechanics to insure 100% on time contact. Do you know how to avoid that kind of contact or are you routinely "Hitting Bats" and not even aware?
10 year old hitters can tell whether a pitch is inside or outside and/or high and low within the first 10 feet of flight of the pitch. This was one of the first of many discoveries that lead to the uncovering of the most exciting NEW breakthrough in baseball and softball in the past 50 years. The pitcher versus hitter confrontation is one of the most complex sports activities there is. There is so little information that we are able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it has made the uncovering of the truth about velocity very elusive. That is until now. With the discovery of Effective Velocity and the uncovering of the Hitter's Attention Theory, pitching has just taken one giant step forward. Understanding reaction time and the physical limitations of hitters has catapulted pitchers into a position of dominance like never before. Through the use of a 4 million pitch database thanks to the folks at Inside Edge, we have been able show that when pitchers throw Not At Risk pitches (pitches that are not headed toward 100% on time contact), batting averages go down 17%, well hit averages go down 26%, home run production goes down 19% and swing and miss percentages go up by 17%. Simply stated, when pitchers use time wisely, they are Downright Filthy. Now you can understand the principles that have been hidden since the first pitch was thrown over 100 years ago. Effective Velocity has been at work since that very first pitch, the fact that we haven't been aware of it is another issue completely. Well over 70% of all hard hit balls in our studies spanning a two year period at the major league level came as a result of a pitch that we call At Risk. In other words, when pitchers understand Effective Velocity, the mistake pitches that hitters have lived off of all these years will be cut down dramatically making hitting 20% harder than it has ever been. The Downright Filthy Pitching three book Series will walk you through the process of understanding this very basic concept that has been hidden for so long.
