Baseball Drills |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Well it has been a long time since the last edition of the newsletter and I hope that you're doing well and having a good season.
I was watching my youngest son play the other day against the best team in the league. In the first inning one of the players from the opposing team hit a popup back to our pitcher. As the ball was coming down one of the players from their bench yelled out "You suck", to our pitcher who was about to catch the ball. It didn't affect the play as the pitcher made the catch, but what I found interesting was the acceptance of this type of behavior from the coaches on the opposing team. They didn't blink when this was yelled out. These are 9 and 10 year old kids and obviously the idea of "winning with class" is lost on this group of coaches. In this age when many pro players feel they must talk trash and show up their opponent with each good play they make, it's important for youth coaches to teach kids not only how to play the game but how to play it with class. Without an opponent, there is no game. Showing respect to the other team, coaches, umpires, and parents is an important lesson that goes beyond the baseball field. Be a team that other teams respect and like playing because of the way your players play the game and how they behave. If you can teach your teams to win and play with class, you'll be teaching them what it truly means to be a winner.
Until next time,
Don Edlin
QCBaseball.com
"Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time."
--- Lou Brock
Solid pitching mechanics take a lot of work to say the least. For most young pitchers a big problem is their inability to get their bodies working for them. Using the body properly can increase velocity and take pressure off the arm. I'm not going to try and cover the entire pitching motion in this newsletter so I'll focus on the position of the body as the front foot lands. So much time is spent getting a pitcher to the balance point and you can see the follow through, but having the body in the proper position as the front foot lands is critical to developing velocity and control. If you watch a big league game and watch the position of the pitcher as the front foot lands you'll see that he is in a power pitching position. What does that mean? Well I'll define in it a couple of ways.
As coaches, we want to emphasize with our pitchers the need to develop their entire pitching motion, and as we are talking about here, the need to get in a "power position" as the front foot lands.
It's important to realize that a player has to work hard at using his body. Most pitchers are used to focusing on their throwing arm. They pull their throwing arm forward to throw and the rest of the body does what it does. We need to change their idea about that and try to get them to see the arm motion as a result of doing other things properly. The National Pitching Association recently did a study on pitching velocity and they found that rotational momentum provided by the hips and shoulders accounted for a larger percentage of generated velocity than the directional momentum provided by the legs driving towards home plate.
Pitching like hitting is a combination of weight shift and rotation. When a pitcher lands in the "power position" he has a few things going for him that will help increase velocity, and decrease pressure on the arm...if he learns how to use them. When a pitcher strides he's transferring his weight from the balanced position over his back leg, to his front leg as he delivers the ball. Most pitchers naturally shift their weight to some degree and it's pretty natural for them to do so. What is often left out is the benefit they would get from proper rotation. If the foot lands and the hips are closed, the pitcher is in the proper position to use his legs and hips to help generate body rotation that will help propel the throwing arm forward. The same can be said for the shoulders. If they are closed, they are in a position to also help with the rotation. You can kind of think of the throwing motion as a whip. The legs, hips, and shoulders land closed and when fired, provide the rotation that gets the arm going towards home plate. The throwing arm is like the end of the whip that is following the body motion toward the plate with a great deal of rotation.
There are a number of drills that you can use to help the pitcher get the feeling for using their shoulders and hips, here are a couple.
It takes time and practice for a pitcher to get comfortable using their body to initiate the throw and generate rotation. Pitchers need to work with these drills or others on a regular basis to increase velocity and take pressure off the arm.
I'm happy to be able to provide a guest article this month from the National Pitching Association.
By Tom House, NPA Head Pitching Coach
Pitchers are constantly faced with strategic choices. With every pitch, the pitcher has to decide what pitch to throw and where in the strike zone to throw it. With the ability to throw multiple pitches and knowledge of the pitch percentages, a pitcher can maximize his effectiveness on the mound.
For any pitcher to have a complete set of choices he must have command of three pitches: a fastball, a breaking ball (curve/slider), and a change-up/splitter. And he must be able to ‘locate' each of these pitches in four different locations: low-inside, high-inside, low-outside, high-outside. Three pitches and four locations calcualtes to 12 different possibilities from the mound.
The best hitters in baseball are successful only a third of the time. When the pitcher has command, that is, when the pitcher is able to 'get ahead' in the count and 'hit his spot' with his pitch, the pitcher will win more than 80% of the time. So, what is the most important pitch? The most important pitch is: the next pitch! All great pitchers have learned to pitch one pitch at a time. Strategy happens between pitches and constantly changes with each new count. During a pitch, the target is all the pitcher thinks about or sees.
In picking a strategy, the pitcher has to decide the type of pitch and the location of the pitch. He will have to consider the abilities of the batter and the count. For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume that we don't have information about the batter and will think mainly about the type of pitch, the location and the count.
Pitchers learn early in their careers that it is better to stay ahead of the batter in the count. Most think that the throwing a first-pitch strike is the most important pitch in baseball. Certainly, it is important to get ahead of the batter quickly.
However, the first pitch strike may not be the most important pitch. Let's take a look at some of the rules that should guide pitching strategy.
It is hard for hitters, especially young hitters to hit the curve ball. Don't fall in love with the breaking ball too early. Not only is it harder on the arm but few pitchers can be successful long term relying primarily on the breaking ball. The most successful pitchers throw:
The old adage that Babe Ruth is dead seems like good advice. Throwing strikes is the key to becoming a good pitcher at every level. The best pitchers can throw three pitches to two locations-for strikes.
Using the right strategy can help a pitcher win even when he doesn't have his best stuff. Get ahead, stay ahead, be aggressive, don't waste pitches, throw the high percentage pitch even if the batter thinks it's coming. And if you can throw a first pitch strike, get the lead-off batter out in every inning and retire the side without any runs after your team has scored, your pitching staff will win more than two-thirds of their games.
Obviously winning two thirds of the games will make any team a force to be reckoned with. And while that may be a lofty goal, knowing how to utilize strategy on the mound will increase your chances of getting closer and closer to that goal. Good luck!
Reprinted by permission of the National Pitching Association
www.nationalpitching.com
It gets more difficult and happens less often as players get older, but in youth baseball a wild pitch or passed ball often presents a great opportunity to score a runner from third. In one game this year our 11-12 year old team won a game 5-4, scoring four of our five runs on passed balls, three of them with two outs. I watch many youth baseball games and I'm amazed at how many scoring opportunities are missed because players don't take an aggressive lead and aren't prepared for the ball to get away from the catcher.
It can be a difficult decision for a player to decide whether to try and score or not on a passed ball. That hesitation is often what takes away the opportunity. The first thing I try to do is take the pressure of making that decision away from the player. Our philosophy is that we're going on a passed ball until we see that we can't make it. The player is to look to score on every opportunity and as the third base coach I will help him in determining when NOT to go. Obviously there are situations where we are going to be more conservative, but I can handle those on a case by case basis from the third base box. I try to get my players to expect a passed ball on every pitch. I find it's much easier to stop a player from going home than it is to get them started. Communication is essential from the third base coach and needs to happen on each pitch. Once a player gets to third base I remind them of the situation and I let them know how aggressive we're going to be in trying to get home on a passed ball. In situations where I want to be really aggressive I remind them on each pitch to anticipate a passed ball and to be aggressive in taking their lead.
Pressure on the Coach
Being aggressive on passed balls will put pressure on the third base coach in knowing when to have a player go home and when to stay. If you're not confident in making that decision then it may be tough for you. What I have found is that you will pick it up quicker than the kids because you're there every inning. No matter what player is on third you'll be learning when you can score and when it's better to stay. It takes practice and you'll probably have some kids thrown out at home, but you'll also score some much needed runs during the season.
At practice put a pitcher on the mound with a catcher behind the plate and
runners at third. Take the third base coaching box as you would during the game. Instruct the pitcher to throw pitches and every couple throw one in the dirt. This is good practice for the catcher on trying to block the ball; the pitcher on covering home; the runner on being aggressive; and for you in making a decision on when to go. Run this drill at a couple of practices and you and your players will be more confident in these situations during a game.
What to Look For at the Field
One of the most important things you can do is find out how the ball comes off the backstop. Some that have wood will bounce right back to the catcher and make it difficult to advance. Others will bounce to the sides or stop dead at the fence. Try to find out what the ball does before the game. This will help you make quick decisions as the ball gets by the catcher.
Older Players
Older players must take more responsibility in determining when to go as being too aggressive on a ball handled by the catcher can lead to an easy out at third. For older players it's important for them to watch the trajectory of the pitch to look for opportunities. When they read the pitch as one that's going to hit the dirt, they can be more aggressive in taking a secondary lead and reading the opportunity. Here is a drill you can use to help develop that skill: Pitch Trajectory
© QCBaseball.com, 2006. All rights reserved.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Featured Product
