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Dec 20, 2009, 5:04am

ASMI Sports Medicine Forum :: Other Sports :: Softball :: Muscle Memory

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Topic: Muscle Memory (Read 108 times)

paulygirl
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Muscle Memory
« Thread Started on Nov 2, 2009, 9:58pm »

Is there any medical study relative to overcoming muscle memory issues specifically in the release action of the ball.

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Glenn Fleisig, Ph.D.
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Re: Muscle Memory
« Reply #1 on Nov 3, 2009, 11:51am »

Paulygirl,
Can you explain in more depth about what you are asking or your situation?

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thepainguy
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Re: Muscle Memory
« Reply #2 on Nov 3, 2009, 12:12pm »

I'm also interested in the topic of muscle memory and if there is any good research around it, especially whether it is real and how much effort it takes to change it. In the hitting realm, people say it takes 1000 to 1500 swings to change your swing, but I have often wondered if there is any (good) research behind that number.

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thepainguy
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Re: Muscle Memory
« Reply #3 on Nov 3, 2009, 12:13pm »

Nov 2, 2009, 9:58pm, paulygirl wrote:

Is there any medical study relative to overcoming muscle memory issues specifically in the release action of the ball.

Are you talking about the yips and problems with the release of the ball?

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paulygirl
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Re: Muscle Memory
« Reply #4 on Nov 3, 2009, 8:57pm »

In my experience with training softball pitchers I often get into discussions relative to "at what age should you start teaching movement pitches".
My recommendation is to start at the relatively early stages of a pitchers career-----the rationale is that the longer you wait the more difficult it is for the pitcher to get their wrist/fingers/body position to do something other than what it has been used to doing.
For example, I have inherited many pitchers who are 4--5 years or more into their careers but have only thrown fastballs or dropballs (which are basically the same release wrist/finger action and body position). These girls have extreme difficulty learning how to throw a riseball or curveball. In teaching/learning this new pitch and its new release I find that the pitcher can achieve the correct spin/rotation when throwing at very low effort levels, but as soon as the pitcher trys to throw these pitches from full distance/effort levels their release reverts back to the dropball/fastball action. The farther into their career it seems the more difficult it is to change-----not sure some can ever make the change.

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thepainguy
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Re: Muscle Memory
« Reply #5 on Nov 3, 2009, 11:25pm »

Nov 3, 2009, 8:57pm, paulygirl wrote:

These girls have extreme difficulty learning how to throw a riseball or curveball. In teaching/learning this new pitch and its new release I find that the pitcher can achieve the correct spin/rotation when throwing at very low effort levels, but as soon as the pitcher trys to throw these pitches from full distance/effort levels their release reverts back to the dropball/fastball action. The farther into their career it seems the more difficult it is to change-----not sure some can ever make the change.

I think this is interesting and relevant to the youth baseball curveball question.

I hear people say this all the time -- that if you don't learn a curve when you're young you're never going to develop a good one -- but I don't know of any evidence pro or con other than anecdotal stuff such as that I know a lot of pro baseball pitchers who didn't start pitching until later on in HS and still developed good curveballs, changes, and such.

That to me says it's possible, but I don't know if it makes it harder to learn a pitch if you learn it later on in life.

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