Samuel Midgette

Pitching Trainer @DrivelineBB
Former @Whitesox / @ORUbaseball

[Cam Lanzilli @LanzilliCam]

“This is the mechanism behind a too familiar coaching mistake of telling a pitcher to “get on top of the ball” when his delivery doesn’t support a high slot.”

We have so many old cues & general coaching tips that aren’t supported by irrefutable data

Awesome article here

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Understanding a Pitcher’s Plane of Rotation

https://t.co/Yg5me1ypUM

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Coaches spend a lot of time talking about arm slot. The more useful conversation is whether a pitcher's delivery lets him rotate through his plane, or whether he's working against it every pitch.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

A pitcher's arm slot isn't something he chooses. It's the output of an axis set by trunk tilt, shoulder abduction, and hip-shoulder separation — his plane of rotation. 🧵

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

A pitcher fighting his plane can't hold that window still. Release height and arm speed change to compensate. Hitters at every level learn to read this before spin and movement gets observed. An unstable plane isn't just a physical cost, It's information for the hitter.

[WVU Baseball @WVUBaseball]

𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃

Bass has agreed to a free agent deal with the Blue Jays 🍁

#HailWV

[Spenser Davis @SpenserDavis6]

Coaches design the problems and we let the athletes figure out the solutions, fantastic work here by @Midgette_28

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

@WillParkinson10 If an athlete can solve the problem through an external objective, constraint, or outcome based feedback, that’s where I’ll start. Internal cueing still has a place for building awareness or during isolated movements, but not typically where I want an athlete’s attention.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Why Internal Cueing Is Making Your Pitchers Worse: The Science of Self-Gathering

https://t.co/jYhFUbUSV4

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

The goal isn't to give athletes answers. It's to build an environment where the correct movement becomes the path of least resistance.

Constraints, implements, targets, structure the task so the wrong solution stops working.

Then use external cues as feedback — not instruction.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

The moment you give an athlete an internal cue, you've redirected his nervous system away from solving a movement problem, toward managing a checklist.

One of the most overlooked mistakes in coaching isn't mechanical, It's neurological.🧵

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

The alternative isn't to just throw. It's designing a specific external outcome and letting the body organize around it.

External focus, attention on the target, the ball, the result, consistently produces more automatic, efficient movement than internal cuing. Less noise and higher output.

The body organizes itself around the task. Not the instruction.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Mobility, Stability, Strength - The Progression Behind Skill Development

https://t.co/Tja3kwHCex

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Mobility gives the delivery access to the positions.

Stability gives it the structure to hold and transfer through them. Strength gives it the capacity to drive from them.

The physical foundation doesn't replace the skill work. It's what makes the skill work possible.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

When a pitcher can't get into the positions the skill side is asking for, the instinct is to add more cues, more constraints, more reps.

Often, the answer isn't a better cue, the body just can’t physically get there.

[Samuel Midgette @Midgette_28]

Strength is the third layer, and the one most people want to start with.

A pitcher's strength capacity sets his ceiling. Not because bigger muscles mean more arm speed, but because a stronger athlete has a stronger engine. This allows us to produce more force, and move through the chain faster.

The arm is not the engine. The arm is the end of the chain.