Pitching tips very focused for youth pitchers. Improve picthing performance and ability to throw safely without injury!
Note that "front foot" means the foot that strides toward the catcher; ie., the left foot for a right handed pitcher
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1 |
Set |
do not step too far out/back with front foot |
this commonly throws a pitcher off balance |
2 |
Foot placement |
Put ball of back foot on the slope of the hole |
Putting it in the bottom impairs rotation |
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Balance |
Stand straight up with the body weight centered on the back foot |
Leaning forward causes the motion to rush and the arm to "catch-up" which hurts the elbow |
3b |
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Pitcher should be able to hold front leg knee up for 10 seconds with complete balance |
This ensures stability and balance and helps prevent"catch-up" |
4 |
Breaking Point |
Hands move apart before front leg moves to plate |
Imagine breaking a board across the knee, but turn the thumbs down |
5a |
Ball Down |
Hand must be on top of the ball as the ball is taken back |
"show the ball to the shortstop" |
5b |
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or, "thumbs to the thigh, ball to the sky" |
5c |
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or, "peace to the world" |
5d |
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or, have the player hold a dumbbell out to the side first with the palm up, and then with the palm down. Player will soon see that there is more strength with the palm down |
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Cocking |
hand should go down toward the back knee, then up |
you can get more velocity than taking it straight back |
6b |
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never let the batter see the ball behind your head |
this is very common and is termed " hyper-abduction" which causes poor control and leads to elbow injury |
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Stride |
Stride straight to the catcher |
swinging open too soon opens the hips and contributes to "catch-up" |
7b |
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swinging front foot across the line toward 3rd base (RHP) causes poor control and pitch location suffers |
7c |
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Shoulders must be closed when front foot strikes |
almost all youth pitchers have shoulder open at footstrike and it takes a LOT of practice to break this habit |
7d |
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pretend shoulders are on a string that is attached from mound to plate |
7e |
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draw a line from center of plant foot to home plate, and front foot should never cross that line in either direction |
7f |
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Lead elbow must point to plate and then tuck |
don't let it fly open as this ruins balance and causes early shoulder opening |
7g |
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Lead foot lands with little toe pointing toward home plate |
and with big toe toward the outer circle around home plate area |
7h |
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Heel down with knee slightly bent |
prevents shock at hip which can block proper hip opening |
8a |
Release |
the last part of the hand that the ball touches (fastball) is the long fingertip |
this improves control and prevents snap rotations of the arm that hurt the elbow |
8b |
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keep the arm loose and relaxed, like a rubber hose |
prevents "short-arming" and improves pitch speed and endurance |
8c |
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push with back foot |
better than dragging the toe, as it can add velocity. Tim Lincecum has perfected this |
| 8d |
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arm slot above 3 o'clock |
looking at the upper arm as the hour hand on a clock from behind for a RHP, the elbow must be above the shoulder |
9a |
Follow through |
fingers should almost scrape the ground |
"pick the grass" |
9b |
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don't kick back leg up |
momentum of your body should pull the leg up without any effort |
9c |
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back leg lands slightly in front of lead leg |
allows proper rotation and landing in "athletic" centered position which helps with fielding |
9d |
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don't fall off to the side (like Francisco Rodriguez - "K-Rod") |
very hard to maintain control, and no possibility of fielding |
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more tips... |
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