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Pitching Tips

In working with young pitchers , make clear that good pitching takes good practice . Pitching skills won't develop by just throwing the ball , but pitchers can learn by throwing at a target , facing a hitter and trying to use a consistent , correct delivery . Break the pitching motion down to six component skills .

GRIPPING THE BALL:Teach your players that holding the ball in their fingertips - as opposed to jamming it into the hand - will help them get good velocity and wrist snap for control . Have your pitchers vary their grips on the seams to experiment with the fastball and change - ups . For example , gripping the with seams causes the pitch to sink ; gripping the ball across the seams makes the pitch appear to rise .

DELIVERY:As with general throws from the field of play , the overhand delivery is the most effective throwing motion for young pitchers . The overhand technique ensures maximum control and puts less strain on young arms .

WINDUP:The pitching motion begins with the windup . Keeping the front part of the ball side foot in contact with the plate side of the pitching rubber , the pitcher shifts the weight to the back leg and takes a backward step

PIVOT:The pivot is the most essential part of the pitching motion . During the pivot , the pitcher keeps the weight balanced and eyes towards the target . The pitcher pivots on the ball of the front (ball side) foot to turn it parallel to the rubber . At this point , the pitcher shifts the weight forward onto the pivot foot and lifts the opposite leg into the air .

STRIDE:From the pivot and leg lift , the pitcher must drive the back foot off the rubber and stride toward the plate with the leg kick . The length of the stride depends on the height of the pitcher and what feels most comfortable . Too long a stride makes the ball go high ; too short a stride makes the ball go low . Have your pitchers experiment to find what works best .

During the striding motion , the stride or the glove side foot remains closed (the stride foot points towards third base for a right handed pitcher ) . The moment before the foot lands , it opens and points towards the plate . When the foot opens , the hips open , which brings the upper body through

The toe and heel of the striding foot should land simultaneously ( although the ball of the foot takes most of the shock ) , lands in the same spot with each pitch and land softly to avoid any jarring in the delivery . The front knee bends so it can absorb the impact of landing with full weight on the front foot . Keeping the knee straight causes undue stress and strain on the front leg.

FOLLOW-THROUGH:A good follow-through is critical for speed, control, and proper fielding position. As the pitcher releases the ball, the wrist snaps after coming over the top. The arm snaps across the body, and, ideally, the pivot,(ball side) foot swings around to a position that squares the pitcher up to the plate. The pitcher's eyes must be on the target in preparation to field any balls hit back to the mound

Advanced pitchers can be concerned with the location of their pitches (for example, outside corner). Young pitchers should simply focus on getting the ball across the plate, in the strike zone. Here are some key points to emphasize with young pitchers:

1. Make sure the catcher is in the crouching position, providing a target (mitt) at all times.

2. Use the legs, not the arm, to shift the weight toward the plate.

3. Be relaxed and in control throughout the pitching motion.

4. Keep your eyes on the target throughout the pitching motion. Don't overthrow.

5. Follow through and be ready to field at the end of the motion..

6. Make the first pitch a strike every time to get ahead of the batter.}

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Proper Care of Young Arms

Make sure that you are adequately warmed up (10 - 15 minutes) before you throw hard. Make sure that you throw with the proper mechanics to decrease the chance of injury to your arm. Make sure you have on a sweat shirt on cold and/or rainy days to keep your arm warm.

Qualities of a Good Pitcher

• The ability to pitch with control. - I don't care how fast you throw, but you must throw strikes. Walks will almost always come back to haunt you! On our team, the players that pitch will be the players that can throw strikes consistently. Make the other team "earn" their way on base. Throw the ball over the plate and let your teammates help you on defense.
• The ability to pitch with confidence and poise - I want you to know that you're going to get them out. I don't want you standing out there hoping you'll get them out.
• The ability to throw hard - At this level, throwing hard is not nearly as important as throwing strikes! It's nice to have a 98 - 100 MPH fastball like Mark Wohlers, but you gotta throw it for strikes!

Our Pitching Philosophy

1. We want to make the batter swing the bat - The best hitters in the world only get a hit 3 out of 10 times at bat. That means they make an out 7 out of every 10 times they bat! So, as a pitcher, the odds are with you if you throw it over the plate and make the batter swing the bat. Now, throwing it over the plate doesn't mean belt high, straight as a string. We'll talk about changing speeds, different pitches, and all that other stuff but we want the batter to swing the bat. The one thing I want to stress to our pitchers is that they don't have to win the game all by themselves. We have eight other guys out there playing defense whose job it is to help the pitcher.

• • We want to throw first pitch strikes - It puts the batter on the defensive.
  • You lose games by walking people - if the lead off batter in an inning walks he will score over 50 % of the time!
  • You don't try to make the hitter miss until he has two strikes - once you get two strikes on him you can try to get him to expand his strike zone and chase a bad pitch.

1. Pitch to our strengths - If you're a fastball pitcher, when the count is 3-2, I want you throwing your best fastball. If you're a breaking ball pitcher, I want you throwing your best breaking ball when the game is on the line. If you get beat, I want you to get beat with your best pitch.
2. Work early in the count (we'd like to average 3 1/2 pitches a batter). I don't want a lot of 3-2 counts. The fewer pitches you throw to each batter, it stands to reason, the more batters you can pitch to in a game.
3. Work to advantage counts (first pitch strikes) - The batter is on the defensive when the count is 0-2 or 1-2. He will often expand his strike zone and swing at pitches that are not strikes. He will, in effect, get himself out for you!
4. If we lose the advantage (fall behind 2-0 or 3-1), we call that Challenge Time - throw the ball right down the middle and let your defense bail you out. We don't want to walk people!

Pitching Goals

As a pitcher you should work on at least one of these every time you throw a baseball.

Our "pitching goals":

1. Sound delivery/mechanics - you cannot throw strikes consistently if you do not have sound mechanics. You also risk arm injury if you throw with bad mechanics
2. Location - To be a successful pitcher you have to be able to locate the ball. Inside/outside, up and down
3. Change speeds - You don't throw every pitch the same speed. You put a little more on, you take a little off. It keeps the batter off stride. There is an old adage about hitting that says: Hitting is all about timing. Pitching is all about disrupting the hitters timing. You disrupt a hitters timing by changing speeds
4. Field your position - You can win yourself a lot of ball games if you can field your position.

Three Components to Any Pitch

There are three components to any pitch. They are:

1. Location (most important) Your fastball may not be 100 MPH, but if it's on the corner at the knee, it's hard for any batter to hit it.
2. Movement (second most important) It doesn't matter how hard you throw it, if your pitch is as straight as a string, good hitter will hit it. It's the late movement on pitches that makes hitters miss
3. Velocity (least important, but nice to have!) OK, I'll admit it's nice to be able to throw hard enough to throw the ball by hitters, but velocity is the least important of the three components to any pitch.

Key Points of Pitching Mechanics

by: Rick Hatcher, Former Pitching Coach, University of South Carolina

1. Foot Position on the Pitching Rubber

• • Right handed pitchers should be on the right side of the rubber.
  • Left handed pitchers should be on the left side of the rubber.
  • Heels of your feet should be on top of the rubber and about 6-8 inches apart.
  • Balls of your feet should be in front of the rubber.

1. Signal Receiving Position

• • The ball should be placed in a preset position in your glove
  • Knees should be slightly bent and in a comfortable position.
  • Feet should be about 6-8 inches apart.
  • Fingers on the ball should be pointed straight out from the belly button.

1. First Movement of the Windup

• • Take a short 6 inch rocker step back and slightly to the side of the rubber.
  • Weight should be on the ball of your rocker step foot. Do not let your heel touch the ground. This causes improper weight transfer.
  • Head should remain over the pivot foot.
  • Your hands should move up to your chin or slightly above your eyes.

1. Shoulder Turn - Pivot Foot Placement

• • Turn your front shoulder to your target as you place your pivot foot in front of the rubber.
  • The knee should be slightly bent over your pivot foot.
  • Your back leg should be bent slightly from start to finish.

1. Balance Point - THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF MECHANICS !

• • Lift your knee, not your foot, up and back to the mid-point of your body.
  • The leg should be belt high and parallel to the ground.
  • The lower part of the leg should be relaxed.
  • Your toe should be slightly lower than the heel of the foot.
  • Your elbows should be pointed down to the ground (45 degree angle).

1. Front Shoulder

• • Shoulder should be pointed to your target.
  • The chin should be over or slightly in front of the shoulder.

1. Hand Separation - Ball out of the Glove

• • Hands should separate between the belt and chest.
  • Movement of the ball out of the glove should be the first movement. Nothing goes forward until the hands separate.
  • Take the ball back and up with your hand, not your elbow, to the top of the throwing circle.

1. Arm Extension

• • Start arm action back with your throwing hand, concentrating on the thumb pointing down and the fingers pointing back towards second base.
  • The elbow should work with the throwing hand.
  • Throwing hand should be in a position above your back shoulder with the fingers pointing up to the sky in centerfield. You can think of your index and long fingers of your throwing hand like fangs of a snake. You want the fangs pointed away from you so you don't get bit!

1. Front Side Actions

• • The front arm should be strong and firm throughout the delivery.
  • The lead elbow is slightly bent and points toward home plate.
  • The front arm determines the speed for the pitch.
  • The glove should be in a semi-tucked position at the point of release.

1. Hips

• • Your hips are your power
  • The pivot will drive the back hip, the back hip will drive the front hip to the plate, and the hips will turn the landing foot.
  • The pivot foot is the key to when you open your hips.

1. Landing Foot

• • You should land with a slightly bent front knee.
  • The foot should land flat on the ground, toe and heel should touch together.
  • The stride should be approx. 5 shoe lengths from the front edge of the rubber.
  • Keep your weight back as long as possible when you land on your stride foot.

1. Throwing Arm Extension

• • You must have a relaxed grip and wrist; allow your throwing arm, hand, and wrist to go completely through the delivery.
  • The hand must extend to the target, then the head follows the hand down, then the back side creates the follow through.
  • Be "long" in front. Be a rifle, not a pistol.

The 3 Basic Pitches

1. Fastball

• • 4-Seam Grip - Grip the ball across all four seams. Excellent pitch to throw hard, up in the strike zone.
  • 2-Seam Grip - Grip the ball along the two short seams of the ball. This produces a sinking pitch. Use this grip to keep the fastball down and get a little move movement on the pitch.

1. Change up -

• • Circle Change up - Grip the ball by making the O.K. sign with your thumb and index finger. Place the middle and ring finger on the seams and let the pinkie finger rest on the outside of the baseball. Use the same throwing motion that you use throwing the fastball so you don't tip off the pitch.
  • Choke Change up - If your hands are too small to throw the circle change. The choke change is an excellent pitch. Grip the ball with a 3-fingered grip with the ball pushed back in the palm. Use the same throwing motion that you use throwing the fastball so you don't tip off the pitch.

1. Curve - There are a couple of different ways to grip the curve ball. Grip the ball along the seam of the "horseshoe". Put most of the pressure on the middle finger. The wrist is snapped down and when the ball is released, it comes over the index finger. When thrown properly, the ball breaks down (and away) from a right-handed batter when thrown by a right-handed pitcher.

From The Baseball World Instructional Series of tapes

From The Pitching Edge Video by Tom House

Tarp Drill :Develops ball control.

Tie a large piece of tarp on a section of the backstop. Place a target on the tarp(outline a strike zone) in paint or tape. Place a home plate in front of the strike zone. From two-thirds or regulation distance, a pitcher throws pitches at the strike zone on the tarp. After throwing 20 balls, they collect the balls and start over. Have the pitchers deliver half of the pitches form the stretch.

As your pitchers' control improves, divide the strike zone into sections and challenge them to deliver their pitches to the different sections. Pitchers can also work on their pick-off moves into the tarp.

Control Drill :Develops awareness of the strike zone.

Pitchers and catchers stand at regulation distance from each other. The catcher stands behind home plate, and a batter stands in the batter's box. The batter should alternate between a left and right-handed batting stance after every five pitches, but not take any swings. The catcher calls balls and strikes. Have the batter wear a helmet in this practice situation .This game like drill will help your pitchers develop a consistent pitching motion, get a good feel for the strike zone, and get use to pitching with a player in the batter's box.