Overall Efficiency Grade: 63.00

Mobility, Flexibility & Stability Screening

Ethan is a neutral mover.

He failed the pelvic tilt test.  He also struggled with pelvic disassociation.  His torso disassociation was good.

He passed the full overhead squat showing good thoracic flexion and extension along with hip and ankle mobility.  Thoracic rotational capabilities are neutral at 45 degrees to the right and 50 degrees to the left.

Shoulder internal and external rotation is normal for a right handed thrower.  His external rotation did change in his hitting posture which indicates a scapular deficiency that may limit external rotation during the swing. Shoulder flexion is good.

We were able to get 3-4 fingers under both scaps.  He also had trouble elevating his left arm during the reach, roll and lift test.  Scap work should be a focus of his strength plan.

Ethan is neutral bordering on loose in his scap retraction at 5″ on both sides.

His right leg was the limiting factor in his toe touch. Right side single leg balance was excellent, but left side was poor at only 3 seconds.  Address ankle stability on the left side.  Glute bridge test was passed, but Ethan reported a hamstring feel during the screen.  Added glute strength can help this athlete.  There was also a slight core instability during his left leg glute bridge test.

Ethan was neutral at  40-45 degrees in his hip rotation in all directions with left external rotation being an outlier in the loose category at 70 degrees.  Side bend was good to both sides at 55 degrees right and 50 degrees left.

All wrist and cervical screens were passed.

Force Plate Jumps

Ethan has a significant right leg imbalance in the “danger” stage.  The bias ranged from 16-19% per jump. Counter movement jumps were balanced against the squat – pause jumps at 334% BW for CMJ and SJ. This gives him freedom in a loading mechanism preference.

Force Plate Swings

Below is video of the swing analysis. I will walk you through this matched up with video.

Ethan loads into his whole foot but still creates an adequate amount of back leg loading force at 96% BW. He holds force into the ground very well in his positive move. He creates his hip counter rotation during that forward move but his back foot is externally rotated out so his torque number is slightly lower at 33 Nm of torque. Ethan’s preferred method of creating speed is horizontal and torque force. He tested at 112 Nm of torque force. Horizontal force was excellent at 61% of BW although both could be higher if he had more of an aggressive interaction with the ground with his front heel. Z axis vertical force had a slower rate of force production and the vertical numbers were lower than the horizontal and torque forces at 141% BW. X-axis timing was excellent which reduces his TTI.

KVEST Sequencing & Rotational Speeds

The 3d readings are on kinematic sequencing and rotational speeds.

Ethan creates good turn speeds but can add to it still, as well as adjustability, with more of a scapular load. Turns the bat well, gets on plane early, and creates good barrel whip. Hip rotational speeds are at 850 deg/sec which rates as “elite” on Real Speed graph. Energy transfer to the core was “elite” at over 1150 deg/second. Lead arm values lag though because after his scap load, his hands push out away from the body relaxing the muscles around the scap and making it release early.   Holding the scap longer will give him additional adjustability. Wrist speeds are still good at 1800 deg/sec.

Bat Sensor Data

Ethan’s bat speed was average at 64-70mph. Rotational acceleration was low at at 2 to 5G’s. This measures the tightness of the turn which is largely due to the effectiveness and timing of the scap load. Since he releases the scap early, he loses the tightness in his upper back and slows rotation of the bat, which is why speeds are lower despite hip turn and core turn having high speeds. Time to impact was average at 160 milliseconds. Attack angles to the ball were good at 7-12 degrees. From the graphic below, you can see he cuts his bat out of the zone early, manually manipulating his hands.

Summary & Recommendations

• Hold the scap load longer for consistent sequencing and better rotational gains.

• Continue to work unilateral leg lifts with strength and conditioning.

• More aggressive front heel interaction with the ground with the front heel.

• Turn back foot straight for better torque force in back leg.