Velocity V.S. Control/Location

I'm not saying that velocity isn't important. It is part of the equation in the long term goal of pitching.

The point I want to get across is as you get older, stronger, and pitch more. No matter what, your velocity will increase. You want proof. The first time a pitcher ever throws a pitch, clock him on a radar gun. Ten years later have the same kid throw a pitch off the mound and clock it. It doesn't even matter if he is still playing baseball or not his velocity will have improved simply by size, strength, and momentum.

When we think about pitching and velocity, we have a ton of variables that change from the time we play in Little League and the time we are seniors in high school. Size, height, weight, mechanics, distance to the mound, just to name a few.

Now let’s think about location, the strike zone, and the difference between just throwing strikes, and having command and control.

Think of a strike zone. How many changes are made between Little league and high school varsity baseball. Yes, the strike zone gets a little smaller, depending on the home plate umpire. But the first thing you ever learn is a fastball, and the strike zone. Why don't we master that first?

Location is talked about a lot, but there is a difference between just throwing the ball in the strike zone, v.s. command and control of the strike zone. Command or Control is throwing the baseball where you want it in the strike zone. The more control you have the better you are on locating the fastball.

This is the first step in becoming a pitcher. It should be the first thing that we learn and try to master. Learn what it takes and throw the ball to location.

The reason this is so important and often overlooked is unlike the strike zone, kids of all ages are not similar. Some mature faster than others. So the first thing kids try to compete with is speed. The ability to locate the fast ball early can save you a lot of head and heart ache.

In Pitching every pitch comes off of your fastball. The change up, slider, curve, split, cutter, every pitch that you will learn down the road have slight differences, but if you can locate your fastball it will become easier to learn and locate these pitches as well.

I hope I don't offend anyone, but these are my thoughts about pitching from a youth level, to the high school level.

This is a long path to pitching. I believe there are progressive steps to become a very good pitcher and have the ability to play college and beyond.  The most important part of pitching development is not how many trophies you got in Little League. Its can you make it to the next level. There are a lot of baseball players who don't make it to high school baseball.

The first two pitches I personally believe a pitcher should not only throw, but learn how to locate, are the four seam fastball and the two seam fastball. This is for a couple reasons. Find out if your four seam is straight, and does your two seam have movement. Yes they are both fastballs, but no they are not the same pitch in the long run. Depending on arm slot, the two pitches will have different movement, and can be used in two different ways.

After you learn how to locate both of these pitches, and by locate I mean have control to throw it where you want it almost every time, and in the lower part of the strike zone, on and off the corners. This is your foundation, your base; it’s what everything is built off of. It is very important in pitching.

This is where most arguments come in about pitching. What is the second pitch I should learn?

Lots of kids learn pitching backwards. Meaning velocity with the fastball and breaking ball first. The problem I have seen a lot with kids between the ages of eleven and seventeen is they all ask to be shown how to throw a breaking ball, which i believe is the third pitch you should learn, yet they can't locate a four seam or a two seam fastball, or their change up. The change up is the second pitch I think is the most important to learn.

Ask yourself these questions.

• What good is a breaking ball if you can't throw strikes?
• How does a breaking ball help if you can’t reach two strikes because they are hitting your mistakes?
• Are you cheating yourself of truly learning how to become successful?
• Are you taking the easy road that leads to a cliff?

Well, the first question I think can answer itself. If you can't throw strikes to begin with you don't deserve to be throwing a breaking ball.

If all your doing is throwing the ball in the zone hitters will hit your mistakes, and hard. The older you get the harder your mistakes get hit.

With young hitters, they can adjust to a fastball mistake down the middle and belt high. The quickest way for a young pitcher to see strike outs, and success is by throwing a breaking ball. The problem is they start to rely on it to get batters out more than their fastball. True every pitcher loves to strike people out, but it takes at least three pitches, sometimes more if some are fouled off. If you’re locating your fastball at the knees and on the corners and not belt high down the middle, odds are you will get a ground ball before you reach three pitches. Yes you can strike plenty of batters out with a fastball when you learn how to use it correctly. Location can help you throw fewer pitches. Some batters swing at the first pitch, we have all seen the two batter up and two batters down in two pitches, usually followed by the take sign.

As a pitching coach, and as a pitcher myself, I have seen and met a lot of pitchers who eventually don't make the cut for a team even though they say they throw five of more pitches.

The problem they ran into is they kept leaning other ways to cheat themselves from long term success by finding other pitches to try to get the quick way out front of other pitchers. They have five pitches and can’t locate a single one of them. They never took the time to master each pitch at a time for success.

If you talk to any coach from high school and beyond and they have any idea about pitching and winning, and they have two players of equal talent, but one throws two miles per hour faster, but isn't very accurate, and the other one has control of two or more pitches. The second pitcher is going to win every time.

When you’re taking progressive steps to becoming a pitcher, take the right ones. Crawl before you walk, walk before you jog, jog before you run, and run before you sprint.

In Pitching terms.

1. Crawl/ Play catch with four seam and two seam
2. Walk/ Pitch with the four seam and two seam
3. Jog/ Throw both fastballs for strikes in the zone
4. Run/ Locate both fastballs in areas of the strike zone. Middle, Outside, and Inside.
5. Sprint/ Locate both fastballs low in the strike zone, at the knees, on and off the corners of the plate.
6. Repeat all steps when it comes to learning the change up, then later on with the breaking pitch.

Learn to locate your fastball, and learn where to throw it to get ground balls. Make this priority number one.

Next learn your change up, and location. See what combinations get you ground balls and strike outs. Speed the hips up and slow them down. Learn how to use both sides of the plate to be successful.

When you get older and you’re going through high school, your body will make the most changes, and velocity will really start to show.  Getting bigger, stronger and having the proper mechanics will do absolute wonders for your velocity.

If you have already build the solid foundation by throwing your fastball and changeup, learning a true breaking ball, not the loopy one that is taught in Little League. I mean the hard one that breaks three feet from the plate and drops off the table.

You will have a huge head start over most pitchers, and the batters will have to look for three pitches that you can throw for strikes. Instead of the batters sitting back waiting for a mistake, you will be able to attack a batter and control the game.