Why Mechanics Are King
Every athlete wants to throw harder. That’s the universal goal. But when you strip everything down, throwing velocity and overall performance come from two main silos: general physical capacity and mechanical efficiency.
Sport performance at its core is comprised of an athletes ability to express force in the context of their sport. Given this, it is vital to both have the capacity to produce that force, then to translate it into the environment of said sport.
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Building the Engine
General physical capacity is your foundation. It’s how strong, powerful, mobile, and elastic you are. Think of it as the horsepower under the hood.
If you want to throw 95 mph, you need to build the 95 mph body. That means you have to be strong enough to produce that level of force, powerful enough to apply it fast, and mobile enough to move through the ranges that high-level throwers access.
But while this type of training builds your potential, it doesn’t automatically make you a better thrower. Baseball isn’t a weight room sport and you can’t squat a fastball.
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The Transfer Problem
The goal of strength, power, and mobility capacity is to create potential energy. But what determines how well that energy shows up on the field is mechanical efficiency — how effectively your body sequences and transfers that energy into the baseball.
You can have the capacity to throw 100 mph, but if your mechanics only let you transfer 80 mph of that energy, the other 20 doesn’t matter.
That’s what separates great throwers from athletes who are just great movers in the gym. Mechanics are what bridge the gap between force production and force application.
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A Simple Example
Think about LeBron James. One of the most gifted athletes on the planet — elite strength, power, and explosiveness. But if you gave him a baseball, he wouldn’t come close to touching triple digits.
Why? Because while he’s a phenomenal athlete, he hasn’t developed the specific skill or mechanical efficiency needed to transfer his athletic ability into the baseball throw. The context is different. The energy system is different. The sequencing is different.
That’s why mechanics are king. They are the interface between general athleticism and sport-specific output.
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Mechanical Efficiency in Action
Let’s take Seranthony Domínguez as an example. He’s a great illustration of what efficient sequencing looks like. His body moves like a single, continuous loop of energy — no pauses, no leaks.
He’s able to hold spinal tension moving forward, get deep into horizontal abduction, and time his block perfectly. The result? Mid-to-upper-90s velocity that looks effortless because every ounce of energy he creates is transferred directly to the baseball.
That’s what elite mechanical efficiency looks like.
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The Bottom Line
Strength, power and mobility give you horsepower. Mechanics decide how much of it makes it to the wheels.
Both silos matter — you can’t have one without the other. However, if your goal is performance on the field, mechanics win every time. Because strength without skill is just potential energy waiting to be wasted.
And in a sport where inches and milliseconds separate the good from the great, that difference matters.