Can a woman teach a pitcher how to improve his pitching?

Pitchers from the Major League to the fathers of youth pitchers think so!

Photo of Angel Borrelli
Angel Borrelli, M.A., CSCS, USAW Sport Kinesiologist

My interest in baseball pitching started with a young MLB draft prospect that was strapped with multiple injuries that were threatening his future.  Helping him get drafted was the most exciting project of my life.
Unfortunately, his career ended too soon.  Injuries while playing professionally caused his lifelong dream to come to an abrupt end.  I vowed to start saving pitchers from having their dreams shattered.  And I will never forget Jared for truly inspiring me…

My knowledge about pitching comes from eating, sleeping, and drinking nothing but pitching for the last twelve years of my twenty-eight years of experience in the field of human movement studies.  I focused my seven years of graduate and post-graduate work on the study of pitching mechanics and pitching injuries.  I’ve worked with hundreds of great pitchers who have allowed me to test out my theories and create new and better ways of training, preserving, and improving their great talent.

What fascinates me now is how easy it is to get great athletes to understand and integrate new information.

What amazes me is how little pitchers actually know about what their body is supposed to be doing during the pitching motion.

What I really do when I work is connect the dots between what I see and what I don’t see.  It is truly an art to see motion so easily, and I am thankful every day for the gift I was given.  See The Game Plan for more information.

Accomplishments that are really special to me:

  1. My First-Pitch Strike Warm-up & Recovery Program for the pitching arm: a program that is so cutting edge every pitcher has to have one. The DVD is available on my Products Page.
  2. Being invited to instruct at the NorCal Baseball 2010 advanced training clinic for pitchers.
  3. Being invited to teach Anatomical Kinesiology at San Francisco State University for Fall, 2009
  4. Published:  Having my first peer-reviewed publication in a scientific journal:  Engineering a Strong Pitching Elbow”
  5. Published:  Writing a great book on the Rotation: How the Pitcher Produces Velocity .  This eBook is available on my Products Page.
  6. Being a guest speaker at the annual Baseball Conference for the National Strength & Conditioning Association in 2001
  7. Published:  Look-It-Up Kinesiology Reference
  8. Getting my Masters Degree…that which made everything else possible.

My Education and Formal Teaching Experience:

Master’s Degree in Exercise Science, San Francisco State University, with my Graduate Project entitled:
“The Contribution of the Lower Body and Rotation to the Pitching Motion”.

Exercise Science includes the following areas of required specialization:

  • Exercise Physiology
  • Anatomy & Structural Kinesiology
  • Biomechanics
  • Sports Medicine
  • Sport Psychology
  • Motor Control

Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, University of Illinois & Governors State University, Chicago, Illinois

My Coaching Credentials:

  • US Olympic Weightlifting coach
  • Strength & Conditioning coach
  • Speed & Agility coach

My formal teaching experience:

  • Instructor, San Francisco State University, Anatomical Kinesiology, Fall, 2009
  • Instructor, JFK University Masters/PhD Sport Psychology Program, 2004
  • Instructor, California State University, East Bay, Certificate Program, 1997-2000
  • Instructor, American College of Sports Medicine, Exercise Psychology, 1999

Extras about me:
I began my study in posture and anatomy by studying bodywork and Rolfing.
I began my interest in nutrition when I was 13…and went on to study Holistic Health.
I’ve been lifting weights since l978 and have been doing Olympic Weightlifting for ten years.
I’ve been a Yankees fan my entire life.