Archive for Pitching
Pitcher Covering Bunts
Posted by: | CommentsBASEBALL DRILL – “Bunt Coverage”
BEHIND THE DRILL: All pitchers need to be prepared to move to field bunts coming directly back to them or down the 1st base or 3rd base line.
SKILL LEVEL: All Levels
DRILL TYPE: Fielding and Pitching Fundamentals
PURPOSE: To help improve a pitcher’s ability to cover bunted balls.
EQUIPMENT: Baseball
PLAYERS: Any number
TIME: 10 minutes
SETUP PROCEDURE:
- Set up your players on the mound.
- Have the pitcher simulate throwing the ball and as they finish their delivery a coach should roll or bunt a ball directly back toward them.
- The pitcher should come off the mound and field the bunt, making a clean throw to first base.
- Repeat this with baseball’s bunted or rolled down the 3rd base line and 1st base line.
- Each player should field 3 balls from the middle, 1st base side and 3rd base side with throws to first.
- You can modify the drill with throws to other bases as needed.
- Rotate players and repeat.
KEY COACHING POINTS:
- Pitcher needs to understand the situation they are currently in and have an idea whether a bunt could take place.
- Make sure the pitcher’s delivery doesn’t but them in a position that makes fielding the ball difficult. Follow good delivery mechanics and the finish will put the player in a good position.
- Teach your players to be quick to the ball but not overly rush the throw as this will cause throwing errors. It’s very important for the player to get to the ball quickly, field the ball and turn with aligned shoulders to throw the runner out. Every situation is different and based on the speed of the runner
Baseball Pitching – Learn Balance Point
Posted by: | CommentsBASEBALL DRILL – “Balance Point”
BEHIND THE DRILL: Balance plays a key role in a pitcher’s accuracy and how effective he can be. When a pitcher completes the leg lift it’s important for him to remain balanced before pressing the foot and entering the stride..
SKILL LEVEL: All Levels
DRILL TYPE: Throwing/Pitching
PURPOSE: This drill is designed to help a pitcher develop good balance during the leg lift.
EQUIPMENT: Nothing specifically required
PLAYERS: Any number of players
TIME: 10 minutes
SETUP PROCEDURE:
- Either use the pitching rubber or drop down pitchers mound. You could also line the players up on a foul line.
- Have your players set up from the stretch.
- On coaches command the player is to begin his “leg lift”.
- The knee should go straight up and once raised the toes should be pointing downward toward the ground.
- The pitcher should make what is called the power-turn by rotating slightly away from the target as the knee comes up.
- Have them hold that position for 10 seconds.
- Then press the foot back down to starting position.
- Repeat this for 15-20 repetitions.
KEY COACHING POINTS:
- This is about developing balance so work the drill very slowly.
- If you have players that cannot hold the position for 10 seconds you will need to have a coach or parent hold them up in the correct position.
- This is about developing muscle memory in the players. It requires a lot of repetitions.
- Most young players will not point the toes toward the ground so make sure you move their toes to the correct position so they can feel it.
- You also must make sure they are completing the power turn by rotating slightly away from the target. This is crucial for developing good velocity when the player moves toward the plate with the ball.
Baseball Drill for Pitchers to Learn the Change-up
Posted by: | CommentsBASEBALL DRILL – “Pitch and Catch – Change-up”
BEHIND THE DRILL: This drill is the same as Pitch and Catch; however the throw is completed with a change-up. How to throw a change-up? Delivery of the pitch is the same as a fast ball but the grip is different. Place the pad of your middle and ring fingers across the seams of the ball about an inch apart. The ball should be held deep in the fingers. Pinky finger should be underneath the ball. The thumb and index finger meet on the side of the ball to form a circle forming an “OK Symbol”.
SKILL LEVEL: All Levels
DRILL TYPE: Throwing/Pitching
PURPOSE: This drill works all phases of the pitching delivery at about 75% power. This will help develop a good solid delivery while limiting injury risk. Change-up is used on this drill.
EQUIPMENT: Nothing specifically required
PLAYERS: Minimum 2 players
TIME: 10 minutes
SETUP PROCEDURE:
- Set up a pitcher and catcher at a distance that your league would normally throw from. This will usually be 46 feet but could change based on age.
- Set up on the mound or if you have more than 2 players set up along the outfield foul line.
- Pitcher should work from the stretch and not the wind-up.
- Throw with 75% effort.
- Have the catcher show a good target for the pitcher to aim at.
- Have the catcher present the target in the middle of his chest with the pitcher throwing 5 balls to it.
- Have the catcher present the target on the left side of his body with the pitcher throwing 5 balls to it.
- Have the catcher present the target on the right side of his body with the pitcher throwing 5 balls to it.
- The pitcher needs to work on his command by throwing to a target in 3 locations simulating the middle of the plate and the outside edges of the plate.
- Complete 15 repetitions and switch. The pitcher becomes the catcher and vice versa.
KEY COACHING POINTS:
- Make sure the pitcher is only throwing at 75%. This is about developing good accurate throws and not about power.
- Once the pitcher has good control you can modify this drill by increasing the power of the throws up to 100%.
- Review fundamentals of the delivery and ensure the player is working the drill with correct fundamentals.
- Player must remain balanced throughout the delivery so make sure you watch for that.
- Ensure the player is keeping his eyes on target throughout the delivery.
How to Pitch
Posted by: | CommentsPitching
Pitching is very critical to the success of a team as good pitching will usually beat good hitting. Getting prepared is just as important for pitchers as it is for hitters and it’s this training that will drill proper mechanics not to mention it plays a key roll in getting the arm ready for competitive level play and to avoid possible injury.
At the younger age group there are always players that can throw the ball hard enough and accurate enough to get outs regardless of mechanics; but as they get older mechanics take over as the competitions ability levels off. The players with good fundamental pitching mechanics take over and those that don’t have the foundation or at best left behind or worse yet they get injured.
I want to say right now, you as a coach or parent can do a lot of harm to young players if you push them to pitch without proper mechanics. I would even recommend you not just take my word for it either. Get some good advice from a good pitching coaching in your community. There really is no room for error here. Poor mechanics will usually lead to a pitcher being hurt and sometimes very seriously. This is not like breaking an arm or leg that will usually heal just fine. Poor pitching mechanics can lead to very serious elbow and shoulder problems that could disable a player. It’s just not worth it so please commit right now to learn correct fundamental pitching mechanics and drill it into your players or child.
Good mechanics help ensure the pitcher can maximize his velocity and control while reducing the chance of serious injury. I’m providing you with my high level mechanics that I teach young players but this chapter is designed as an overview so I don’t have the time to go into the specific mechanics required to develop a good delivery. Do your research or feel free to email me with any questions you have. My email can be found in the front of this chapter or my website at www.youthbaseballinsider.com.
Last word of advice I have for you is that it’s very important to keep things simple when you are developing a delivery for young players. This will give them the best chance to throw with good velocity and be very consistent with their pitching.
We break down pitching mechanics into 5 phases:
Phase 1: Stance / Setup
Phase 2: Knee Raise / Balance Point
Phase 3: Break
Phase 4: Landing / Power Position
Phase 5: Extension / Follow-Through
A word about the pitching section: There is a lot of information here and I suggest you simply walk yourself or a player through the fundamentals of a good delivery. Break it down in a slow point by point fashion. This will help you understand what you should be doing. You can also email us should you have a question about a particular point and we will be happy to explain it to you.
Continued in our next post…
Baseball Pitching Drill – Balance Point
Posted by: | CommentsBEHIND THE DRILL: Balance plays a key role in a pitcher’s accuracy and how effective he can be. When a pitcher completes the leg lift it’s important for him to remain balanced before pressing the foot and entering the stride..
SKILL LEVEL: All Levels
DRILL TYPE: Throwing/Pitching
PURPOSE: This drill is designed to help a pitcher develop good balance during the leg lift.
EQUIPMENT: Nothing specifically required
PLAYERS: Any number of players
TIME: 10 minutes
SETUP PROCEDURE:
- Either use the pitching rubber or drop down pitchers mound. You could also line the players up on a foul line.
- Have your players set up from the stretch.
- On coaches command the player is to begin his “leg lift”.
- The knee should go straight up and once raised the toes should be pointing downward toward the ground.
- The pitcher should make what is called the power-turn by rotating slightly away from the target as the knee comes up.
- Have them hold that position for 10 seconds.
- Then press the foot back down to starting position.
- Repeat this for 15-20 repetitions.
KEY COACHING POINTS:
- This is about developing balance so work the drill very slowly.
- If you have players that cannot hold the position for 10 seconds you will need to have a coach or parent hold them up in the correct position.
- This is about developing muscle memory in the players. It requires a lot of repetitions.
- Most young players will not point the toes toward the ground so make sure you move their toes to the correct position so they can feel it.
- You also must make sure they are completing the power turn by rotating slightly away from the target. This is crucial for developing good velocity when the player moves toward the plate with the ball.
Baseball Workouts for Pitchers
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a guest post by one of my readers.
Baseball is a very unique sport in which the control of the game emanates from one position: the pitcher. The pitcher controls the tempo of the game, and in many cases will dictate the score of the game, depending on how effective he is. There are a number of great baseball workouts for pitchers that can help in teaching a pitcher how to effectively control a game.
In that vein, baseball workouts for pitchers can include both physical and emotional drills that will enable a pitcher to effectively know what to throw to every hitter, and how to throw it.
From a physical standpoint, workout programs should be developed that emphasize four different areas of the body: Arms, shoulders, legs and abs. In order to develop great velocity, each must work in concert with each other.
Once a workout plan has been developed and implemented, baseball workouts for pitchers can be developed to learn how to use each part of the body in unison in order to stress a proper throwing motion with the right mechanics in place. For instance, if not pushing off the mound properly with the legs and just using the upper body to initiate velocity, the throwing shoulder will burn out very quickly.
Every good set of baseball workouts for pitchers should absolutely stress the ability to throw pitches for strikes. When using the legs, abs, shoulders and arms in concert with each other, better command is much easier to obtain. After a lousy pitching outing, many professional baseball pitchers will look at video to determine whether or not their mechanics were right. In many cases they were not, so they work with their coaches to determine corrective action.
Baseball workouts for pitchers should absolutely employ the use of video for the same exact reason. Once a proper throwing motion has been established, constant repetition and monitoring is required in order to retain that same motion every time out on the mound. For instance, a pitcher may have been wild because his lead shoulder was flailing out instead of being properly aligned toward the plate. Monitoring through video can easily correct this problem.
Baseball workouts for pitchers should also include stamina building exercises. Itís the dream of every pitcher to throw a complete game, and without proper stamina, especially on a hot day, they can break down quite easily and stray from good sound pitching mechanics.
Baseball workouts for pitchers require proper gym time, proper throwing time and the use of video monitoring in order to be effective. Understanding how to harness your power to use effectively against every hitter will allow you to better control the outcome of each and every game in which you pitch.
Baseball workouts for pitchers
Posted by: | CommentsBaseball is a very unique sport in which the control of the game emanates from one position: the pitcher. The pitcher controls the tempo of the game, and in many cases will dictate the score of the game, depending on how effective he is. There are a number of great baseball workouts for pitchers that can help in teaching a pitcher how to effectively control a game.
In that vein, baseball workouts for pitchers can include both physical and emotional drills that will enable a pitcher to effectively know what to throw to every hitter, and how to throw it.
From a physical standpoint, workout programs should be developed that emphasize four different areas of the body: Arms, shoulders, legs and abs. In order to develop great velocity, each must work in concert with each other.
Once a workout plan has been developed and implemented, baseball workouts for pitchers can be developed to learn how to use each part of the body in unison in order to stress a proper throwing motion with the right mechanics in place. For instance, if not pushing off the mound properly with the legs and just using the upper body to initiate velocity, the throwing shoulder will burn out very quickly.
Every good set of baseball workouts for pitchers should absolutely stress the ability to throw pitches for strikes. When using the legs, abs, shoulders and arms in concert with each other, better command is much easier to obtain. After a lousy pitching outing, many professional baseball pitchers will look at video to determine whether or not their mechanics were right. In many cases they weren’t, so they work with their coaches to determine corrective action.
Baseball workouts for pitchers should absolutely employ the use of video for the same exact reason. Once a proper throwing motion has been established, constant repetition and monitoring is required in order to retain that same motion every time out on the mound. For instance, a pitcher may have been wild because his lead shoulder was flailing out instead of being properly aligned toward the plate. Monitoring through video can easily correct this problem.
Baseball workouts for pitchers should also include stamina building exercises. It’s the dream of every pitcher to throw a complete game, and without proper stamina, especially on a hot day, they can break down quite easily and stray from good sound pitching mechanics.
Baseball workouts for pitchers require proper gym time, proper throwing time and the use of video monitoring in order to be effective. Understanding how to harness your power to use effectively against every hitter will allow you to better control the outcome of each and every game in which you pitch.
