You can read it and see it. But you don't truly understand until you do it.

Sometimes you don't realize what you're being told until years later. WebBall admits that might have been the case with this series of essays by Azam Shah. When his articles were written for us, back in 2001-2002, they definitely went against what was still conventional wisdom at the time. In retrospect, we think that makes this one of the most under-appreciated concept introductions in all of baseball.


Put another way: What you already know may not be what you need to know.

As explained now in our Pitching Introduction and New Mechanics pages, much of what Shah said then is now much better supported by researchers and instructors. In fact, his articles pre-date an important meeting of the minds among pitching gurus in late 2002 backed by intensive computer motion studies. Also, Azam Shah's emphasis on hips pre-dates that event.

At the time of his earliest contributions to WebBall, Azam Shah was a pitching coach for college players during the summer and was involved with the AABC league. Azam has seen 80-year-old men strike out major leaguers, and young arms that can throw 90+ mph who get hammered. Coach Shah more recently coached a Little League World Series team for six months, setting a new record by sending the only team ever to the series without allowing a run.