Youth Pitchers Need Help!

Hey guys,

I'm late again.  I'm finding myself to be very untimely with my posts lately.  Just like everyone, I'm getting into the heat of the high school baseball season.  It's fun to watch and much can be taken from it.  In the past week, I've had the fortune of seeing a top recruited pitcher throw, and work with a ten-year-old kid on his pitching.  And it was actually funny how similar their flaws were.  Both of the pitchers were all over the place (with the high school kid throwing 90mph though).  Many times they'd miss up and in, up and in, up and in.  Pretty soon I wanted to get out there and coach the kid on the mound, and I did coach the player I was giving a lesson.  It made me realize that two things I thought were so elementary, falling off and following through, are nothing of the sort.  Which leads me to this week's post.  Here are two drills that you MUST do with pitchers of every age.

1. The Line Drill- In some way create a line on the ground extending from the middle of your body outwards about eight feet.  Make sure that as you go through your pitching motion you consistently stay on this line.  It will help you to work in and around the strike zone more consistently.

2. The Tim Lincecum Drill- You want to stop missing high?  FINISH!!!  You want to put more velocity on your ball and less stress on your arm?  FINISH!!!  It is astounding how many pitchers will not get their back legs up and over and flatten their backs.  It's pure laziness and if you don't do it pitching you will never be successful.  Sure there are alway exceptions, but do you really want to take the chance of being an exception?  Here is what you should look like:

Look at that perfect follow through.  Notice that his back is flat and his leg is traveling up and over and, shockingly enough, will land on the imaginary line that we just talked about.  To do this drill put an object on the ground and as you go through your pitching motion, pick the object up off the ground.

Forgive me for getting a little fired up in this post, but it's frustrating to watch a top recruit throw 40% strikes, because of improper coaching.  The bottom line is work in line and follow through and you will see your pitching success become much greater than whatever it is now.  If you are already good, you'll be better.  Give these drills a try and let me know what you think.

Tip of the Day: Place more emphasis on throwing first pitch strikes.  It isn't talked about enough.  Getting ahead gives you many more things to play with in the at bat and will, in the long run, give you a better chance to win.  This is something that everybody has heard and accepts as truth, but nobody is forcing the issue.  I say it's time to start forcing it.

Until Next Time!