Make every Pitch better - Instantly!
Let’s remove velocity out of the equation. Why are some pitchers better than others? A quick answer, for an individual pitcher, could be the number of different pitches and/or quality of those various pitches. Eliminate off speed pitches from the equation now. Why are some pitchers better than others? You may say arm slot, movement, spin rate, ability to hide the ball, angle or release point. Get rid of those ideas as well and what are we left with? Mental capacity and capability? Heart? Let’s forget those as well. Boil it down to fastball command and start from there. We can have a significant difference in pitchers of equal capability with mastering fastball command. But what does that look like and how can we achieve this – instantly?
When I was pitching in AA Birmingham for the Chicago White Sox, we had a 10 am game that catered to local elementary school kids. As a player, when you are used to evening games, getting done late, and sleeping in until 11 am, that early wake up and pre game prep becomes very challenging. And forget getting to bed early the night before, your body is on an internal clock and is not used to going to sleep until very late. My point is, those early morning games were a nightmare for the starting pitcher whose day they fell on. Well this day, it was my turn.
Pre game warmup was routine but inefficient. Bullpen was terrible, I couldn’t find the zone with any pitch, especially my off speed pitches which were change up, slider, and curve ball. I started the game with fastballs as I traditionally did. I liked establishing it early. It was working so I kept with it. I kept with it so much that I threw the entire game with nothing but fastballs, and I got the win. What does this mean?
Well, it could be that the other team was as tired as me, but in reality, it says that well located fastballs alone are hard to hit and you can be successful at even the professional level with one well commanded pitch. Now how much more successful could you be at the amatuer level! Now, here is where we can make every pitcher better, instantly. So let’s dive in.
The key words above are “well commanded”. Meaning, locating. Consistent location is tough for young pitchers. It’s tough for many professional pitchers. Watch highlights and nearly every home run is a mid thigh high, mid plate pitch. The next key word is “consistent”, or consistency. We need to teach every pitcher to create a consistent and repeated delivery. This will increase the rate of repeating the pitch and throwing where the catcher actually sets up.
Step one is training balance. Don’t skip this paragraph because balance is boring. This cannot be overlooked and cannot be assumed to be proficient in your athletes. Train it intentionally. It doesn’t need to be an additional task at practice but can be incorporated into every practice and pre game. In dynamic warm up add single leg stretching of the quads or hamstrings. In a running warm up add single leg bounds or side hops with a pause on one foot to establish balance.
In pre game throwing start balanced on the back foot and finishing balanced on the lead foot as the back foot naturally comes forward. Have them hold on your command. In the weight room train single leg movements like single leg RDL, do shoulder exercises or arm training balanced on one leg. Add a Bosu ball and do single leg movements or lifts balanced on one leg. Do a single leg med ball slam off a stability pad. You get what I am saying. It’s easy to add to any situation and extremely beneficial. Balance is the first step in repeating consistent movements. The added bonus is that when we focus on balance we strengthen stabilizer muscles in the feet, ankles, knees, hips, core, and this protects from injury and enhances the ability of the muscles to gain strength.
Step two is to repeatedly train simple and small movements in the pitching delivery. Start from the ground up. For example, work on leg lift path and position and achieving balance point one. Then work on the lead leg path with hand separation timing. Add a tape line off the balls of the back foot towards the target and repeat landing on the line. Work from balance one and focus on posture as well as load on the back leg. Break the delivery into small pieces and master each little component. This makes teaching very easy and learning for pitchers inevitable. Repeat them daily. Pick one or two things and do them 100 times a day before the next practice. Watch what happens. A pitcher is an athlete and they will learn and adapt. These mastered movements will become part of their delivery and it will be ingrained naturally and permanently. We do this with the entire delivery and all the pieces will come together at the individual athlete’s personal pace, which is the best way an individual will absorb teaching.
Step three is giving your pitchers a very simple identity. Tell them that they are a pitcher that attacks the strike zone, attacks it down, and pitches to contact. Attacking the zone and pitching to contact will teach them to not pitch to miss bats. When we pitch to miss bats we avoid hitters and pitch around them. This is not aggressive pitching, it is pitching defensively which will not end up being successful. When we tell them to pitch down we teach that pitching down promotes ground balls. Ground ball pitchers will always be successful. Plus a ground ball is the easiest way to get two quick outs and out of jams and more importantly, avoid big innings! The added bonus to a pitcher with an identity is it breeds confidence. A pitcher who knows what they want to do and how to do it will have greater belief in themself. Don’t forget to tell your catchers to set up on the plate with a low target!
Our last simple step to creating better pitchers instantly is to limit allowing pitchers to throw multiple pitches and make them master one at a time. Fastball command first. Be able to confidently throw fastballs to selected locations on a consistent basis. All the things above, plus proper mechanics that we teach in all of our pitching courses, will enable fastball command. Don’t rush through this. Next will be to master a change up. Do not let a pitcher throw a breaking ball until these are mastered. There are multiple ways to throw a changeup so every pitcher can find a comfortable one to throw, I will do another blog as well as video on the change up and the grips pitchers can use. There is a changeup for every pitcher.
Be diligent with your pitchers and encourage these basic points. Watch what happens instantly, and watch what happens over a season. You will be amazed and you pitchers will be forever grateful.
1 thought on “Make every pitcher better – Instantly!”
Great article!
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