In 1687, Professor Isaac Newton wrote Principia, the most important Physics book of all time. Nineteen years after accepting his professorship at Cambridge University, 45 year old Isaac Newton organized and published his system of mechanics. While the majority of Professor Newton's work exceeds the physics required to understand pitching, his three laws of motion explain how pitchers should apply force to their pitches.

a. Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion: The Law of Inertia

'A body remains at rest, or if in motion, it remains in uniform motion with constant speed in a straight line, unless it is acted on by an unbalanced external force.'

When Sir Isaac Newton determined that moving objects continue moving with constant velocities in straight lines, he refuted Aristotle's theory that objects were in their natural states only when they were at rest. Now, moving objects are also in their natural state when they move with constant velocities in straight lines.

Baseballs start 'at rest' in pitchers' gloves. However, gravity is an external force that constantly acts on baseballs. On earth, gravity accelerates baseballs downward at 32 ft/sec2. To hold baseballs at rest, pitchers counter gravity's force. Therefore, while pitchers apply force to baseballs to achieve maximum release velocities, they continuously overcome the downward force of gravity.

Once baseballs start moving out of pitchers' gloves, they want to move with constant velocities in straight lines. Therefore, if pitchers want to move baseballs in non-straight lines, then they must apply additional force to overcome the straight-line inertial pathways baseballs want to follow. This wastes force.

Curved force applications waste force in two ways. First, they require pitchers to constantly redirect the mass of the baseballs. Second, they take force away from straight-line force applications. When pitchers apply force from side-to-side and up-and-down as well as toward-home-plate, only the toward-home-plate force applications influence release velocity.

b. Sir Isaac Newton's Second Law of Motion: The Law of Acceleration

'The acceleration produced by an unbalanced force acting on an object is proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.'

Pitchers apply unbalanced forces that act on baseballs. Pitchers want to maximize the velocity of their pitches. Therefore, we need to examine what variables influence baseball velocity after force applications at the moment of release, or, release velocity.

1. The Release Velocity Formula for Baseball Pitchers

In formula form, the law of acceleration is: a = F / m

Where:
(a) stands for acceleration which equals the velocity of baseballs at release (vr) divided by the time (t) pitchers apply toward-home-plate force.
(F) stands for straight-line toward-home-plate force.
(m) stands for mass which equals weight (wt) divided by gravity.

Baseballs weigh five and one-quarter ounces or 0.328 pounds and gravity approximates 32 ft/sec². Therefore, the mass of baseballs equals 5.25 / 16 / 32 or 0.0102539 ft. lbs./sec².

Substituting these two factors into the law of acceleration formula creates the release velocity formula for baseball pitchers.

1. Formula:	a = F / m
2. Multiple both sides by mass (m):	(m)(a) = (F)(m) / (m)
3. Because (m) / (m) = 1:	(m)(a) = F
4. Substitute (0.01) for mass:	(0.01)(a) = F
5. Substitute (vr) / (t) for a:	(0.01) (vr) / (t) = F
6. Multiply both sides by time (t):	(0.01)(vr)(t) / (t) = F(t)
7. Because (t) / (t) = 1:	(0.01)(vr) = F(t)
8. Divide both sides by (0.01):	(0.01)(vr) / (0.01) = F(t) / (0.01)
9. Because (0.01) / (0.01) = 1:	(vr) = F(t) / (0.01)

The release velocity of baseball pitches equals the amount of straight-line toward-home-plate force that pitchers apply times the time period over which pitchers apply their forces divided by the mass of the baseballs or 0.01. Therefore, the variables that determine what release velocities pitchers achieve are their straight-line toward-home-plate force applications and the time period or distance over which they apply their forces.

My uniform acceleration study determined that pitchers apply force from leverage through release for approximately 0.2 seconds. If we assume that pitchers want release velocities of at least 90 miles per hour, then we can determine how much straight-line toward-home-plate force they must apply for two-tenths of second. To determine the feet per second of ninety miles per hour, we multiply 1.467 times 90 and learn that 90 mph equals 132 ft/sec. Therefore, for vr, we substitute 132 ft/sec.

1. Release Velocity Formula:	(vr) = (F)(t) / (0.01)
2. Substitute known quantities:	(132) = (F)(0.2) / (0.01)
3. Divide both sides by (0.2):	(132) / (0.2) = (F)(0.2) / (0.2) / (0.01)
4. Because (0.2) / (0.2) = 1:	660 = (F) / (0.01)
5. Multiply both sides by (0.01):	(660)(0.01) = (F)(0.01) / (0.01)
6. Because (0.01) / (0.01) = 1:	6.6 = F
7. Change sides:	F = 6.6 lbs.

The Release Velocity Formula shows that when pitchers apply 6.6 pounds of straight-line toward-home-plate force for two-tenths of a second, they achieve release velocities of ninety miles per hour. To better understand the interrelationship between release velocities and force and application time, let us assume some other numbers.

When pitchers decrease their application time forces by five-hundreds of a second, the force required for pitchers to achieve ninety miles per hour release velocities increases to 8.8 lbs. Therefore, the application time directly influences the amount of force that pitchers have to apply to achieve their desired release velocities. For example, when pitchers uniformly apply 6.6 lbs. of force for 0.22 seconds, then they achieve release velocities of 145.2 ft/sec or 98.98 mph.

c. Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion: The Law of Reaction

'For every Action force, there is an equal and oppositely directed Reaction force.'

The law of reaction requires that pitchers apply force toward second base equal to the force that they apply to baseballs toward home plate. If pitchers want to apply greater force to their baseball pitches, then they have to apply greater force toward second base. Pitchers have three ways with which they can apply their oppositely directed force. First, pitchers can push harder against the pitching rubber with their rear legs. Second, pitchers can push toward second base with their stride legs. Third, pitchers can use the inertial resistance of their body mass against which to apply oppositely directed forces.

1. Against The Pitching Rubber

Pitchers push against the pitching rubber with their rear legs to start their bodies forward. At one time, pitching coaches instructed pitchers to powerfully drive against the pitching rubber. However, when pitchers developed serious shoulder pitching injuries, they stopped emphasizing the rear leg drive. Some recent pitching coaches recommend that pitchers do not push off the pitching rubber at all, rather, pitchers should simply fall forward. The Law of Reaction requires pitchers to push off the pitching rubber, but the position of their pitching arms is critical. I will discuss this in great detail in Chapter Twenty.

2. Against The Ground

The ground provides pitchers with a resistance against which to apply their oppositely directed force. To achieve greater oppositely directed force, pitchers can drive off their stride legs. If pitchers use this stride leg drive technique, then they also lengthen the driveline over which they apply force. When pitchers increase the length of their drivelines, they increase the application time of their force.

3. Against Intrinsic Inertial Resistance

Pitchers require hundreds of hours of proprioceptive awareness to learn how to incorporate inertial resistance into their equal and oppositely directed forces. Infants do not have inertial resistance instinct. However, kittens do.

When pet lovers cradle upside down kittens with their hands twelve inches above soft, injury-preventive cushions and unexpectedly remove their hands, kittens instinctually use their lower extremities as inertial resistance against which to rotate their torsos and upper extremities to face downward, and, then, they use their rotated upper torsos and upper extremities as inertial resistance against which to rotate their lower extremities to land on all four feet. Pitchers require hundreds of hours of practice to learn their perfect equal and oppositely directed reaction techniques.

d. Dr. Mike Marshall's Three Laws of Force Application for Baseball Pitchers

Sir Isaac Newton wrote his laws with regards to the motion of objects. Kinesiologists study Newton's laws in light of the movement of objects or center of masses. When Professor William H. Heusner explained Newton's laws to my Kinesiology class, I immediately understood that Newton's three laws also explained how athletes should apply force to projectiles, including themselves. Therefore, I developed my three laws of force application for baseball pitchers. I leave it to others to develop the three laws of force application for other sport/work activities.

1. To achieve their maximum release velocities, pitchers must apply their force from leverage through release in straight lines.

Pitchers must minimize all side-to-side movement of the baseball behind their bodies during the preparation or transition phase of the pitching motion. When pitchers reverse rotate their bodies beyond where the line extending the points between the tips of their shoulders (acromial processes) points toward home plate, they take the baseballs too far behind their bodies. This reverse rotation causes side-to-side baseball movement that wastes force and causes unnecessary stress on the pitching arm. I teach a technique that enables pitchers to keep their drivelines as straight as possible.

2. To achieve their maximum release velocities, pitchers must uniformly apply their maximum forces over the greatest displacement or time period possible.

Pitchers must extend the length of the driveline between leverage and release. High speed cinematographic studies show that pitchers release their pitchers about five and one-half or six feet in front of the pitching rubbers. They release their pitches behind their stride foot, beside the heads. I teach a technique that enables pitchers to extend their drivelines up to two feet farther out front. I call this concept, 'hidden velocity.'

3. To achieve their maximize release velocities toward home plate, pitchers must increase the magnitudes of their straight line toward second base forces.

Pitchers must increase the force that they apply towards second base. However, the anatomy of the shoulder requires great care. If pitchers simply push extra hard off pitching rubbers without regard for the position of their elbows relative to their acromial lines, then they can irreparably damage their shoulders. I teach a technique that enables pitchers to apply greater force toward second base without endangering their shoulders.

Coaching Adult Pitchers