Pitching Tips and Tricks

K

Start out in the "K" position. This is the position your body is in when you have taken your stride toward the plate, your glove hand is pointing toward the target and your ball hand is at its highest point. If you look at the body from the third base side, it resembles the letter "K". As you bring your ball hand around toward the release point, push off the pitching rubber with your trail foot violently so it squares your body to the target. This does a couple of different things. First it adds some power to your release and secondly, it squares your body to the target making it easier to be more consistent. Try this drill.

OFF SPEED PITCHING

Teaching your pitcher to throw Off-Speed.

If a pitcher throws every pitch at the same speed, no matter how fast that is, she gets pounded by the third inning. Batters rely and depend on timing the pitcher's motions to make that big decision - when to pull the trigger and start their swing. To be a successful pitcher, you must take that
advantage away form the batters.

One tactic a winning pitcher will use is to throw off-speed pitches. Many pitchers will throw a certain pitch for an off-speed pitch and that is all. I have found it is effective to throw all of your different pitches at
different speeds, from one pitch to the next.

Let's take the fast ball, the pitch you throw with your fast ball grip. That same fast ball can be thrown at say, 55, 45 and 40mph. Now your one single fast ball can be disguised to look like three different pitches. That same
fast ball, thrown at a different speed, from one pitch to the next, forces the batter to have to stop and decide exactly when to start her swing.

This is the best way I have ever found to train a pitcher to throw one pitch at different speeds (an off-speed pitch). It will require a solid concrete wall, a piece of chalk and a tape measure.

Find a concrete or foundation brick wall (preferably with no windows). A handball court wall is ideal. DO NOT USE A STUCCO WALL - a stucco wall is only around 1 inch thick and will be damaged.

Draw a strike zone on the wall with chalk, the strike zone representing the pitcher's height. Now draw a line across the box dividing the zone into top and bottom halves. For this drill, the pitcher should only throw to the top half of the zone.

Have the pitcher throw at the top half of the zone at 100 percent full speed. Have her keep throwing and backing up to the point the ball just reaches her without hitting the ground. Draw a line on the ground where she starts that pitch. Now we have established the 100 percent mark.

Next, measure the distance from the wall to the point of what would be the regulation throwing distance for the pitcher's level of play, then subtract two feet. Draw a line at that point. You want the distance to be from the rubber to where the batter would hit the
ball, usually around two feet in front of the back tip of home plate. Now, have the pitcher throw her slowest change-up several times and draw a line at an average distance where the ball comes back and hits the ground. Now we
have established the 40 per cent mark. (The percentage is not accurate but I will use this as an estimate for argument's sake).

Now measure the distance between the 40 percent mark and the 100 percent mark. Divide that distance into three equal parts and draw a line at what would be the 60 percent and 80 percent distances. Now have the pitcher
return to the 100 percent mark and throw from there.

Have the pitcher throw her fast ball, the pitch she throws with her fast ball grip. Have the pitcher gently put on the brakes at the end of the wind-up so the ball only returns as far as the 60 percent mark. Have her practice that until she can consistently throw it to where the ball comes off the wall and lands on, or very near, the 60 percent line. It will not take long for her to figure this out, as she will catch on to this quickly. It is important to continue keeping the wind-up at 100 percent full speed, but gently slow it down at the last moment.

Once she is consistent at 60 percent, have her do the same thing and have the ball return to the 80 percent mark by again applying the brakes to the last bit of the wind-up. Have her practice throwing at that speed until she can consistently come down on, or very near, the 80 percent line.

Then have her throw to the different lines on command. Have her throw a pitch at 100 percent, then 60 percent, 100 percent, 80 percent, 80 percent, 60 percent, 60 percent, 100 percent, 60 percent, etc. Once she can do this and come pretty close to the correct speed/line, she is ready to try it on the batters.

When one pitch is a different rate of speed then the last pitch - and there are seldom two pitches in a row the same speed - the batters have greater difficulty deciding when to swing. They will have to depend on watching the ball travel from the pitcher's hand to determine exactly how fast it is
coming. Forcing them to do that reduces the amount of time they have available to around 40 percent of normal.

You can also divide the distance between the 40 percent and 100 percent lines into two equal parts and establish 40 percent, 70 percent and 100 percent distances. This will give the pitcher two speeds available for any
particular pitch. Again, the 100 percent distance will be accurate, the others are estimated distances.

MICKEY MOUSE
The only true way to get accuracy is to have the pitcher throw pitches, pitches and more pitches. She has to throw 100 to 150 pitches every night, PERIOD!! If she is not willing to sacrifice this time and effort, find another pitcher. Enough said here!!

Ok that was a bit harsh. I use an inflatable toy in pitching practice a lot. The one I use is an inflatable Mickey Mouse. It is the kind with sand in the bottom of it so it stays upright. If the ball hits it (which with young players is often) the ball drops straight down and does not deflect to the catcher (me). I set Mickey in the batters box and call for inside drop balls (peel drop) and inside fastballs.

It works Great!! There is one drawback. Every now and then, the pitchers hit Mickey on purpose. You can count on replacing Mickey about twice a season, but at about $5.00, it is a great tool!
 

PITCHER INJURIES

Injuries are part of the game, but in a pitcher they are inevitable. When a pitcher is experiencing soreness or pain stop immediately! The pain is almost always due to a mechanical flaw in their motion. This pain may also be caused by a muscle imbalance. This is especially true in younger pitchers (12-15).

I have spoken to a lot of coaches who have had players experience this injury. If it is not treated promptly, it will lead to a long rehab time and possibly something more serious. As a coach, it is your responsibility to find that flaw and eliminate it. This is a difficult task, but a necessity. You cannot have your pitcher throwing pitches that cause damage to her arm or elbow. If you cannot locate the problem, ask one of your assistant coaches to watch or take your pitcher to another coach. They may be able to see something you cannot! Remember, this game is for the players! Do not let pride stand in the way of producing a Great Athlete.