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Start in the post position - feet together, glove shoulder towards home
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The Pivot. Turn your throwing side foot where it is parallel and in contact with the rubber. |
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The balance point. This is sometimes called the Flamingo Drill. The pitcher lifts (not kicks) his front knee towards his back shoulder and comes to rest with that leg hanging in the air. The shoulders are pointed towards the target; the hands are on the "elevator line" between the chin and the belt buckle and are not extended away from the body; the front (stride or landing) knee is at least as high as the belt; the landing foot is inside the stride knee and is even with the post knee; the post leg is slightly bent, with weight on the toes/ball of foot and not the heel. The pitcher should be able to stand in that position for thirty seconds or more without wavering or losing balance. A "flamingo three" where the pitcher reaches balance, holds for a three count, and then throws the ball is good training for this movement. |
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Stride and Release: Pop and Over the Top. Extend your hands in line with the target, and step towards the target line. Bring your hand down (thumb to thigh) and back (ball to sky) to extend the arm, then over the top to the release point. Third, most youth pitchers use their arms and not the large muscles of their legs and hips to power the ball. It's difficult to explain the correct process to kids; I've found that talking about "spinning the hips" or "pushing off" creates problems instead of solving them. The drill I use is as follows: Put the pitcher regulation distance away from a cement block wall. Paint or mark one block as a target. Have the pitcher throw twenty pitches at the target block and keep track of how many hit the proper target. Make sure (1) that he gets his elbow up even with his shoulder by the time his front foot lands and (2) that the pitcher lands on a bent front knee and then bends his back. |
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Most youth pitchers finish their delivery with their arm next to their waist, about belt high. This delivery doesn't get the lower body involved and usually pulls the head outside the target. The finish position shou ld have the throwing hand BELOW and OUTSIDE the landing knee. Our drill for this is Shoulder Head Shoulder -- the pitcher starts in the balance position with shoulders on line to the target (glove shoulder in front, throwing shoulder behind). As his hands break and as his weight goes forward, his head must go straight on line toward the target. (Most young pitcher pull their heads toward the outside to get more power). At the finish, his throwing hand should be as described, with his shoulders again on line (glove shoulder behind, throwing shoulder in front). This drill should be done at half speed from 30' or so. |
Many coaches add a hat or another object on the ground and tell their kids to "pick up the cap" during the follow through. This last is extremely important: most pitcher through HS seem to want to land on a stiff knee. By landing with a bent knee, the hips can turn and fire through, resulting in much more power without losing accuracy. This drill can be done twice each practice and will, over the period of a week or ten days, improve accuracy a good deal.
Two final thoughts. Mechanics involve throwing: i.e., where to place hands and feet and head &c. A pitcher can't think of those things while competing. Of course, practice will make some of this second nature, but so will mental imagery. We have a name for each part of the throwing puzzle, and we call the whole process "I (rock back) am (pivot the plant foot) ready (balance position) to (stride foot lands; arm in loaded postion with elbow even with shoulder) strike (release point) now (follow through position)." We have the kid say the "I am ready to strike now" sentence as he pitches. After a while, he throws in a rhythm to this sentence, and we can talk to him about where his foot was at "ready" instead of going over the balance point. That way, on the mound, he has a formula to rely on instead of a bunch or words or body positions. A further step is to use actual images: one pitcher pretended he needed to reach out to flick a switch (at "strike"/release) to make the catcher's glove explode; another imagined that he was holding some animal up that wanted to jump out and bite the mitt. The rhythm sentence and the mental imagery are extremely effective (once basic mechanics are learned), and kids as young as 8 y.o. can profit from this approach.
Another saying that works is to say Rock, Block, Push, Pop, Over the Top, HOLD. This incorporates the same pitching steps and holds the follow through.
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The best exercise for developing arm strength is the long toss. Throw long flat throws, trying for distance and accuracy. DO NOT throw rainbow throws - these are counterproductive to the pitching motion.
Finally, Always follow the coaches or trainers advice about stretching and icing the arm and elbow. If your arm starts hurting, stop pitching and talk to your coach immediately.
Some people believe in counting pitches, others say that young pitchers can go forever. I like to listen and watch. Kids will tell you when it starts to hurt, or you will see them change their motion because they are not strong enough to continue. Early in the year, 35 pitches is often as many as a young pitcher can throw hard and well. Later in the year 100 pitches is not unreasonable. At 100 pitches, pull 'em. They may think they are fine, but you gotta protect them, even from their own competitive nature (and yours)!
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One way to grip the baseball when preparing to throw a fast ball is to use all four seams. This allows the pitcher to throw the baseball at his or her maximum velocity (fastest) because at the release point the baseball travels straight to the mitt. A lot of pitcher's will use this grip if they try to overpower the hitter. |
Another way to grip the baseball is with two seams. (The horseshoe is into your palm) By using just the two seam grip, the baseball will have a little more movement after I deliver it. I try to move it in or away from the batter, which gives our defense a better opportunity of fielding a ground ball verses well-hit baseball.
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The change-up should be a young pitcher's second pitch because if it can be thrown as a strike it will keep the opposing hitter off-balance when they are thinking fastball. This pitch never puts any stress on the arm so pitchers can throw it as often as they need it. When I throw a change-up I use what we call a Circle-Change. That means I grip the ball, putting the tips of my thumb and index finger together on the side of the ball while my other three fingers are applied toward the top. This allows me to vary the velocity of the pitch and when I am throwing the ball well it tends to sink away from the hitter. |
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copyright © 2003 Coach Jim
