Crow-Hopping is one of the topics that doesn’t seemed to be talked about a lot, yet, is vitally important to the Health of your arm. When you consider that every single throw that you make for the rest of your life can either be made with optimal support of your legs, core, and the ground – or not – it puts into perspective just how important this aspect of throwing is. Simply put, proper Crow-Hopping is an essential aspect of our throwing philosophy, and that’s why we’ve dedicated an entire section to it (please see the video and links at the end of this section).
The correct way to Crow-Hop is to hop in place off of your back leg – right leg for right handed athletes, left leg for left handed athletes – rather than “shuffle” your feet – for several reasons: 1) it takes stress off of your arm/elbow by optimizing the support from your body – especially your lower half, 2) it encourages optimal hip/glute load, pelvic tilt, and ground forces, 3) it promotes athleticism, 4) it helps you get “taller” for your Pull-Downs, and 5) it best simulates how you throw off the mound.
Though it may seem a bit more “static” to Crow-Hop versus shuffle, you’ll notice that as you gain more distance, your Crow-Hop will also gain more ground or momentum, get more aggressive, and promote more athleticism. Also, though we highly recommend that you Crow-Hop off of your back leg almost exclusively on all of your throws, we actually do recommend that you play with various types of shuffling with your feet for the first 45-90 feet in order to be as athletic and rhythmic as possible…and to diversify your lower body movements.
Though shuffling does serve a great purpose for the first 90 feet or so, once you do get beyond 90 feet, shuffling actually leaves the arm in a vulnerable position because if the lower half moves too quickly, the hip/glute load and pelvic tilt is compromised, a lot of the ground forces can be lost, and the arm is left lagging behind without the optimal support of the body and ground.
This type of dynamic – the arm getting full support of the load, versus lagging behind – can be best understood when thinking about the properties of a wave. One thing that you can clearly feel when you are body surfing is the awesome power of the wave “gathering”, and then the release of the wave’s energy out in front. This sensation is eerily similar to the feeling you get from Crow-Hopping off your back leg.
Just as your body is the beneficiary of the powerful gathering of the wave as you load off of your back leg, the energy that is released out in front is symbolic of your arm also being the beneficiary of this optimal load. Thus, when you Crow-Hop off your back leg, your arm is “along for the ride”. When you shuffle your feet, the arm tends to drag behind and “miss” the optimal support of the wave.
Additionally, Crow-Hopping off of your back leg, as referenced earlier, plays a key role in the Pull-Down phase of throwing. Loading off of your back leg helps you get “taller” as you load, and enables you to get downhill with more leverage and support of your legs, core and ground forces. On the other hand, when you shuffle your feet in the Pull-Down phase, it positions your body to work “uphill”, forcing your arm to work harder because it is much more difficult to get over your front side on flat ground – especially without the optimal support of your legs, core, and ground forces. And this can put a lot of unnecessary pressure on the elbow/shoulder when the arm is having to work harder to “catch up” because the legs, core, and ground forces cannot be engaged nearly as well once the lower half glides forward.
Simply put, it is imperative to load off your back leg when throwing so your legs, core, and ground forces can take the brunt of the throw, rather than your arm. Proper Crow-Hopping is one of the single most important aspects of our throwing philosophy, and plays a vital role in ensuring that your arm is best supported on all throws.
Crow Hop Demo
Randy Sullivan Biomechanical Explanation
- Proper Crow-Hopping – Ben Brewster/Tread Athletics Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alan-jaeger-long-toss-pulldowns-the-best-way-to-crow-hop/id1651688468?i=1000583997711