Pitching can be a confusing skill for pitchers and for coaches, so let’s
simplify it all.
Instead of thinking about a
million different mechanics, learn 4 qualities that every pitcher needs.
I saw a stat from this year’s WCWS that was shocking - 52%...
The Pitching and Hitting Summits, held every August in Tampa, are for
College Coaches, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get all of the incredible information
shared by the top coaches in the country.
Here’s how you can get the
coaching knowledge, skills, drills...
You see them on TV coaching
the BEST college teams in the nation. Here’s your chance to sit at the table
and learn from these innovative, creative and superstar coaches at the Pitching
and Hitting Summits!
College coaches – don’t miss out on the...
Miss too much on an inside or outside target and it can spell disaster.
Learn a great way to practice these locations.
Here’s a simple and yet
powerful way for pitchers to practice their inside and outside pitches.
Anytime you can make your words...
Looking for a challenging pitching workout that combines control,
pressure and fun. I’ve got one for you.
A perfect pitching workout
for this part of the season.
This time of year workouts can get boring and routine. It can be
difficult to create new workouts...
Looking to help your pitchers with
their zone control. Then grab Clyde & some paint.
Helping your pitchers see where their pitching zones are is easier than you might think.
Pitching zones are
imaginary things that kind of float in the air, are critical...
Struggling players ask questions all the time, so make sure they’re the right kind.
Questions fall into two categories - and only one is helpful.
You’ve all heard them before – questions players ask when they’re struggling. Questions such as “what’s wrong...
The riseball’s a killer pitch, so here’s an innovative way to keep it
lower, longer.
Use this easy drill to make those riseball’s more effective.
Riseballs are a great pitch, unless your pitcher
throws 'em too high and nobody swings. That’s pretty common when...
Looking for a way to mix a pitching
workout into a live scrimmage situation, then try this.
The pitching pyramid scrimmage workout is a great way to blend a
pitching workout into a live scrimmage.
Your pitchers pitch in games against real hitters yet
spend...
Could
your pitchers stand to have more break or velocity on the ball? If so, you might be
surprised to discover what will help them get it.
Discover
a very powerful and simple way to make your pitchers better.
Whose pitchers couldn't benefit from having...
Because something is
difficult does that also make it complicated?
Many of us think that pitching must
be complicated because it’s hard to do. See why I disagree.
There’s no
question that pitching is difficult. Pitching for 7 innings, against
incredible bat technology, ever-shrinking strike zones,...
True or false – pitchers don’t need more break on their pitches, they need their pitches to break later.
You might know the answer, but do you know how to practice it?
For years, pitchers have grown up hearing they’ve got to get more break on their pitches, that you can never have enough jump on a ball. And while lots of movement isn’t a bad thing, it is harmful for pitchers to only think about the amount of movement instead of considering when the movement happens.
Most pitchers, in their obsessive quest to “get more break on the pitch” simply make the pitch break sooner – as in almost immediately out of their hand – causing the batter to easily determine where the pitch will, or won’t, end up. The less able a batter is at predicting where a pitch will end up, the less able they are to time it up and hit it squarely.
This concept of not allowing the batter to predict where the pitch ends up is where “the tunnel” comes in. Because a swing takes time, the batter must start their swing before the pitch gets to the plate. Technically, the batter must start her swing when the ball is about 2/3 of the way to the plate in order to have enough time to execute her swing.
As a result, where the ball is at this 2/3rd-of-the-way-to-home-plate-point either helps the batter better predict where it will be when it crosses the plate…or it won’t. As you can imagine, the more predictable the pitch-path is at this 2/3 point, the easier it will be for the batter to hit it.
Our job as pitching coaches is to train our pitchers to have their pitches more AFTER they pass the decision zone (the 2/3rd’s point). As long as the pitch breaks after this point, it doesn’t have to break much for it to end up in a point other than where the batter created her swing to go. Make sense?
Since our mind works in pictures, it’s hard to imagine this 2/3 point, so I call it “the tunnel”.
To practice this concept, I place 2 nets in the bullpen;
Have your pitchers start on the pitching rubber throwing to the closer net. They’ll throw their pitch (any type of pitch), hard, into the net. Then they’ll grab another ball and move over to the next rubber and throw that same pitch into the net at homeplate. The idea is to have focus more on where the pitch passes through the tunnel instead of simply trying to make the pitch a strike down at the plate.
By the way, this tunnel concept is the reason you’ll see great hitters in softball and baseball swing at pitches in the dirt or out of the strike zone. When they had to start their swing, that same pitch was in a sweet spot for that hitter as it passed through the tunnel…it just ended at a different spot.
If you’re wanting more terrific pitching instruction including drills, techniques and workouts – check out our Pitching Summit Vault!