Pitching Instruction

(contents of this packet come from various sources including Eric Cyr, Pitching coach Merrimack College, various web sites, various pitching books, listening to coaches, working with kids, and paying attention to detail!)

Fundamentals of Pitching:

1.  Small – consistent movements

  1. Goal is to find consistency, the wider the movements, the more you have unnecessary movement, the harder time you will have finding a consistent motion/follow-through/release point
  1. Things to watch for: Rocking, side step, large step back, unnecessary arm movement leading to inconsistent break and follow-through points, landing point

2.  Pitch with the body – not with the arm. This will be reiterated throughout. Many kids run into arm problems because they rely solely on their arm for pitching.

3.  A pitcher is a hunter – he is hunting for strikes – a hunter cannot hit his target if his is moving all over the place, he needs to steady himself and take his shot. A pitcher must do the same. Throughout the delivery process, the head should not move left to right, back and forth – if done properly the head will only move forward once – as you break to the plate – keeping the target focused.

  1. As they get older, you will have your pitchers check their feet then look up. This will expand their vision. However, until they have mastered the rest of the motion, this is not something you should be asking them to do. In the Majors / Junior league is where you can introduce this to a pitcher that has already found consistency in his delivery mechanics.

4.  Body:

  1. As with hitting, hips drive (big muscles pull the little muscles)
  2. Front arm pulls and tucks
  3. Upper body explodes
  4. Pulls the pitching arm through
  5. “Shoulder to Shoulder – heel to the sky”

5.  No tension in the pitching shoulders or chest – watch to make sure they are not over-extending – this is where arm / shoulder problems come from

6.  Watch to make sure they are not dart throwing – make sure they sweep up. Drills will help with this.

7.  Like golf, make sure they don’t rush the ‘back swing’ – sweep up in a controlled pace. Rushing will cause an inconsistent swing up and when the arm momentarily stops to come forward – it will not be in a consistent location. It also creates unnecessary stress. Also, unlike softball, where there is a full wind through motion, baseball pitchers do have a natural stop point before the arm comes forward.

8.  Balance throughout – stay balanced on the mound, stay balanced through your landing position, stay balanced in your follow-through.

9.  Wind-up: Go 6 through 1.

  1. 6 – small step back.
  2. 5 – turn you drive foot setting against the mound for pushing off
  3. 4 – bring leg up – front shoulder facing plate
  4. 3 – Break position – check for balance – check arms – check ball location – check feet – landing foot should not be turned toward the plate yet
  5. 2 – drive – front toe opens – hips come forward – front arm pulls through – chest drives to the target – head comes forward – pitching arm comes through the zone
  6. 1 – release and follow –through

10.  Things to watch for: (6) Small step back – short step - may not even go behind the mound. It is just to get movement. Head should not move. Do not allow side-to-side.

11.  Things to watch for: (5) Turn your base foot. Set it up against the mound – you will need to set this up to drive forward. Head should not move. If they did not go to the side with their back-step, this will help keep the head stationary.

12.  Things to watch for: (4) Leg lift – keep arms stationary - they need to find a comfortable balance position with their arms and keep it consistent. Fastballs come from leg drive. Make sure their leg is up – with thigh parallel to the ground. They should not be ‘tilting’ backward at this point.

13.  Things to watch for: (3) – Break – When they land, Leg drives forward. Balance should remain – head centered facing the target. Toes still pointing towards third(r)/first (l). Hips should be closed (very important!!!) Arms straight to the target – watch for the backswing – make sure there is no ‘stress’ in their chest/shoulders. Should be able to glance up behind them and see the 2 fingers.

  1. Opening the hips early is a big problem with some kids. This is where they lose speed as they try to rush things and open up too early.
  2. Popping the hips is what creates the torque necessary. Big muscles driving the little muscles.
  3. REDUCING INJURY: Hyperabduction…

We discussed the need to remove stress from the shoulders, this is the place where it is likely to occur. Some will try to rotate the shoulders into an unnatural position in order to gain some velocity, or to get ‘on top of the ball’. They believe that getting their pitching arm side elbow up above their shoulders will raise the arm slot. But, this leads to stress within the rotator cuff (hyberabduction). This is incorrect – notice how the elbow is above the shoulder:

This is correct – notice how the elbow is below the shoulder:

Greg Maddux:

(FULL ARTICLE AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT)

14.  Things to watch for (2) – Drive through – Toe turns first – driving the hips open. They should be pulling back with the front side – glove TUCKED – not DRAGGING. When a player drags, it creates an inconsistent twist. Shoulders may fly open, or come out at a different angle each time depending on where the arm drags. It creates a pendulum effect that creates inconsistency in the angles of the shoulders and arm. Pitching arm should come naturally into the zone with this twist and the hand will now face the place and this is where the pitcher then drives with this hand through the zone. The angle will be different from fastball to curve – but should remain the same between a fastball and a change-up.

15.  Things to watch for (1) – Finish – They need to !!! Finish that is. Finish means that they allow the pitching hand side to come through the zone naturally and finish over the thigh. Shoulder aimed at the plate. The heel should come up naturally as they drive their upper body through the zone to the plate. They should be thinking about sticking their chin into the catcher’s mitt. They should NOT be falling off either side of the mound. If this is the case, they will never find consistency and this lack of balance will affect any ability to be consistent with their delivery. The head should be just over the lead foot, with the body bending towards the plate, glove arm tucked back and the front arm swung over the thigh. A small hop to square up with the glove down is the next step (but most will not master this until 12 or greater).

16.  Shorten the list above when teaching from the stretch. Given the starting position – they pretty much start at the (4) position and the rest of the mechanics follow.

17.  AGE LEVELS:

  1. Goals for 7/8 year olds:
  2. Goal is to get them to be able to understand the stretch position and to learn how to throw a 4 seam fastball.
  3. Focus on 4 seam fastball – grip included
  4. Focus on getting them to understand the stretch position
  5. Do not teach them the windup at this age. Keep it simple
  6. From the stretch – focus on:
  7. Sweep (keep the stress out of their arms and don’t allow them to ‘throw darts’)
  8. Follow-through – show them the finish point
  9. For the more talented – and towards the end of the season, get them focused on getting their leg kick up.
  10. Goals for 9 year olds:
  11. Goal is to improve accuracy, improve mechanics in the stretch and have them focus on hitting a target (high, low, inside, out)
  12. Teach a 2 seam grip – should have some movement – used when you want a lower strike.
  13. Re-enforce the stretch position – don’t focus on windup – this can be done in the next year.
  14. Have them begin long toss throwing as part of a warm-up
  15. Teach them the target drill
  16. Goals for 10-12 year olds:
  17. Introduce the wind-up, teach them when to use it (even though base stealing is not allowed off of the pitcher).
  18. Team them the change-up grip
  19. Teach them the ‘Little League Slider’
  20. Improve accuracy expectations in the target drill
  21. Have pitchers focus on building up long-toss length in warm-ups (more below)
  22. Focus on improvement in fast-ball rotation.

  1. Goals for 13 year olds:
  2. Introduce concept of balks – explain what one is
  3. Explain how to deal with base-runners (holding them on, slide-step)
  4. Teach pitch-outs
  5. Work on arm strength through improving long toss distances
  6. Introduce the curve-ball – coaches should be careful to watch size of players that they are teaching. This should only be done for the better developed/more mature body types.
  7. Regardless, curve-ball usage should be carefully monitored, do not allow them to throw many during practices. 4-5 at a time and not more than 10 a practice at this level. Curve balls take time to develop – one session won’t do it and over use, or improper mechanics, at this age can cause problems.
  8. Goals for 14-16 year olds:
  9. Continue to improve curve ball efficiency
  10. Improve pick-off / slide-step
  11. Work on speed to the plate - deception
  12. With men on – need to modify speeds of delivery to keep runners honest
  13. Continue to build up length of long toss
  14. Improve accuracy in spot drill


Grips

Fastball – key to any type of fastball is rotation. Drills can be done that specifically work on a pitchers ability to improve rotation. Much like skipping a rock on water, you want as many rotations as possible on a fastball.

1.  4 Seam - Proper pitching starts with the right grip on the baseball. Here are 10 common baseball pitching grips and how I threw them.

How to grip a four-seam fastball

To grip the four-seam fastball, place your index and middle fingertips directly on the perpendicular seam of the baseball.

The "horseshoe seam" should face into your ring finger of your throwing hand (as shown in the picture on the left). I call it the horseshoe seam simply because the seam itself looks like the shape of a horseshoe.

Next, place your thumb directly beneath the baseball, resting on the smooth leather (as shown in the picture on the right).

Ideally, you should rest your thumb in the center of the horseshoe seam on the bottom part of the baseball.

Grip this pitch softly, like an egg, in your fingertips. There should be a "gap" or space between the ball and your palm (as shown in the middle picture).

This is the key to throwing a good, hard four-seam fastball with maximal backspin and velocity: A loose grip minimizes "friction" between your hand and the baseball. The less friction, of course, the quicker the baseball can leave your hand.

2.  2 Seam - How to grip a two-seam fastball

A two seam fastball is gripped slightly tighter and deeper in the throwing-hand than the four-seam fastball. This pitch generally is thought of as a "movement pitch" (as opposed to the four-seam fastball, which is primarily thought of as a "straight pitch").

When throwing a two-seam fastball, your index and middle fingers are placed directly on top of the narrow seams of the baseball (as shown in the picture on the left).

Next, place your thumb directly on the bottom side of the baseball and on the smooth leather in between the narrow seams (as shown in the picture on the right).

Again, a two seamer is gripped a little firmer than the four seamer. A firm grip causes friction, which causes the baseball to change direction, usually "backing up" -- or running in -- to the throwing hand side of the plate. It also slightly reduces the speed of the pitch, which is why most two-seamers register about 1 to 3 mph slower than four-seam fastballs.

You can throw a two-seam fastball to the throwing-hand side of the plate and a four seam fastball to the glove-hand side of the plate. In other words, throw two-seamers inside to right-handed batters and four-seamers away.

3.  How to throw a Little League Slider:

This is not a well-known pitch but can be effective for an advanced pitcher in the Majors. The pitcher should have good command of a two-seam and be comfortable with a change-up.

I was not able to find pictures of this pitch – but it is fairly easy to explain.

Have the pitcher grab the ball with a two-seam grip. Then have them slide their middle and index fingers together so that they are close together and in-between the seams. Then have the pitcher slide the thumb off of the seams. It is thrown like a two-seam fastball, but should have some movement down as it approaches the plate.

It is a good pitch to learn as it enables them to get used to changing speeds.

4.  How to grip a three-finger changeup (This is the change-up that should be used from 10 through 14/15. If you have a tall pitcher – or one with long fingers, they should move on to the Circle Change.)