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What Baseball Pitchers Can Teach You About Your Transition

Published: March 2, 2026

Most comparisons between golf and baseball involve analysis of a baseball hitter's mechanics, but you can learn just as much watching the throwing motion.

For example, if you're already familiar with the RST, you understand that a pitcher's weight shift helps provide power generation, just as it does in the golf swing mechanics.

What you may not have noticed, though, is how important the golf transition concept of "separation" is to a major league fireballer — and how this same principle drives elite performance in an AI swing analyzer.

Tim Lincecum, who pitches for the San Francisco Giants, may demonstrate this concept better than any other pitcher.

His ability to generate incredible clubhead speed — or in his case, pitch velocity — despite his slight build speaks to the effectiveness of his uncanny separation and trail-side loading. (It's no wonder he's called "The Freak!")

Since many golfers grew up playing baseball, we're hoping this unique perspective on hip-to-shoulder separation and the free video analysis of the two power pitchers below may just ring true with those of you who may still be struggling to master it. You can explore similar separation mechanics and how they translate to your own game through the GOAT Drill system.

In the analysis video below, you'll see how a "lower-body-then-upper-body"-focused motion helped the hall of famer Walter Johnson routinely break catcher's hands thanks to ridiculous fastball velocities produced by elite kinematic sequencing.

His mechanics also enabled him to pitch his entire career without ever missing a start due to injury — a direct result of his efficient trail-side loading and lead-side stabilization.

Johnson's motion will be compared to modern-day phenom Stephen Strasburg, who relies less on his core rotation and more on his arm — and who is finally back to pitching after undergoing "Tommy John" surgery on his throwing elbow.

Watch the video now and you might soon create ridiculous speeds of your own (on a tee box rather than a mound, though!) — and apply the same separation and sequencing principles to your golf swing power.

baseball and golf separationTwo-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum shows tremendous separation, as his hips are facing the target and almost 90 degrees more open than his shoulders.

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