Mastering The Most Effective Pitch In Baseball, The Rest Is Easy...Once You Learn Why

In my last post I talked a little about playing catch, and how it could help you to be a better pitcher.

Over the past year I have talked with a lot of coaches, parents, players, and I came up with a couple questions that I would like to discuss.

The first one is what I believe is the most important part of pitching.

Today the topic is not about mechanics. It's about learning the importance of location, and why it is the most important part of the foundation of pitching.

Pitching is not about just throwing the ball in the square and having a strike called. That would be like saying batting is just walking up to the plate and swinging at everything (dirt balls, past balls, balls behind you). You could say that is extreme, but in fact very similar to my point.
 
When you start to learn to pitch, I want you to think about just three types of pitches. Just three. Fastball down the middle at the knees, fastball outside corner at the knees, and fastball inside at the knees. That's it.

 

      

        



 The grip I want to talk about is the two seam fastball. Before we start we need to understand that two seam fastballs are like finger prints. Every pitcher will have their own unique two seam fastball. But where you want the pitch, will be identical, and helps for a repeated outcome.

Here is a fun little test.  During your next bullpen, I want you to have your catcher set up in those three positions. Throw fifteen pitches, five down the middle, five on the outside corner, and five on the inside corner.

 Here are the rules, from simple to advanced, and how to move to the next level for a solid foundation of the most important part of pitching.

• Level #1 - Throw the two seam fastball at the knees. Be honest with yourself, don't take the easy route of it was close enough. You owe it to yourself to get better every time you pick up a ball and throw it.
• Level #2 - Throw five two seam fastballs down the middle, five to the outside, and five to the inside. The pitch only counts if it is at the proper location and knee high. Ex. pitch down the middle crosses over the inside or outside corner. Pitch is three inches above or below the center of the catchers knees.
• Level #3 - Command is in the zone, control is where you want it in the zone!
• Level #4 - To advance to the next level, you have to have the ability to hit the zone four out of five times on all three pitches.
• Level #5 - Take away the middle and throw seven pitches on the outside corner and seven on the inside corner. Take your last pitch and throw it to the side you missed. If you didn't miss, throw to the side you are most confident in.
• Level #6 - Outside corners become the black part of the plate.  Pitches that count are three inches in both directions from the black. Three inches knee high in the white over the plate and three inches knee high off the plate outside black.)
• Level #7 - Alternate every other pitch, and in unique order, until you can locate the two seam fastball where ever you want, whenever you want, every time it is called in both practice and game situations.

The fastball is the foundation of every pitch a pitcher will throw. Master the ability to throw it to the highest level before you begin to think about throwing any other type of pitch.

 If you are having trouble locating, it could be for several reasons.

1. If your ball has movement, and you are missing to the right. Learn to aim to the left and let the ball work for you. Don't try to work the ball. Learn to trust and use its movement. 
2. The best time to learn feel, location, and timing is while playing catch. Start pinpointing areas of your partner to throw to and hit that location. Hint: The ball down will move more than the ball up. Ex. pitch at the knees v.s. pitch at the belt.
3. Yes it is O.K. to throw a two seam in long toss.  By doing so, you can actually see how much movement you have, and it can help you to get a feel of how to throw it to get the movement you want (where your body is and what you feel).
4. Use the same momentum and explosion as you do in long toss when you get back to 60 feet. Learn your movement and release point for location and action that fits you.

The sooner you can master the skill of locating your fastball, and not making mistakes, the easier pitching will become.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Challenge yourself to be the best you can be at locating your fastball before you think about adding another pitch.

A two seam fastball can resemble the pitches that most people want to throw before they master the fastball in reverse. A slider, a curve, or a slurve (hybrid of both, breaks down and across).  The only difference is which way they break. Right and left, into or away, from a right handed batter.

Velocity is not a factor in this in any way, shape, or form.  I don't care about velocity at all in this process.  Just the location of the pitch! Yes, in time you will get bigger, stronger, throw harder, and the rotation on the ball will increase and will create more movement.  This is not a physics discussion. Learn the foundation before anything else.  Just like velocity, maximum movement will come in time, don't rush it.

Ask yourself if good velocity and speed really matter if you can't throw quality strike. Better yet, if you throw 100 mph, but can't throw a strike, or hit the broad side of a barn with a fastball, does it really matter?

Yes, throwing hard might work at the younger levels, and you can make more mistakes early on. But as you get older, and the hitters become more disciplined, the guys who can't throw strikes become less effective than the guys that can consistently locate their pitches.

Velocity will come with age and strength. Don't rush the basics, or skip steps, to become a solid pitcher! Build and master this foundation, then take the basics and apply it to every pitch you throw. Start with the fastball, then the change up. It can be the next most effective pitch using the same foundation.

This is a whole other topic as far as disrupting timing, and getting hitters off balance.  As I said, just the tip of the iceberg.

Food for thought, this is also the beginning to throwing pitches to get a desired outcome from location. Ex. low and away on black, pitch to contact with a runner on first, wanting a ground ball for a double play, and which side of the field.  Learn to throw the pitches for the outcome that you want.

Remember, in order to control the outcome of the play, learn to locate your pitch to get the desired outcome. Every pitch has a reason. Learn why you are throwing to each location and what works best for you in order to be as successful as you can be. Challenge yourself to learn more, get better everyday, take those extra steps that others are not willing too, go that extra mile, make that extra effort, and be GREAT!!!!

 IN GREATNESS, CLOSE ENOUGH DOESN'T COUNT!!!!