Today. Right now. I want you to think about a lot of things depending on how many years you have been pitching.
Pitching is a progression. You can’t learn it all at once. You can’t fix it all at once. Like a child that learns how to walk, run, and sprint. I have used this analogy before but I think it is very important to understand.
The progression of a child from crawling to sprinting.
- Crawl
- Scoot
- Wobble with help walking
- Walking by themselves, usually lead by the head and the body catching up
- Speed walking, body under control better and can move faster
- Jogging, a fast controlled walk
- Running, at first only one speed is known, other speeds are found
- Sprinting, max effort found, all levels of effort and intensity under control
I won’t go into if the child grows up and becomes an Olympic sprinter. Some of those progressions might include thins such as.
- Form
- Strength
- Conditioning
- Programs
- Nutrition
- Practice
- Competition
There are more, I know I didn’t list all of them. I am in no way a Sprinting coach.
The point I want to make is the progression that you choose to take will greatly impact your success as a pitcher!
The first thing you learn how to do when playing baseball is how to throw a fastball. You don’t learn how to play catch throwing sliders, curves, or knuckle balls. You might have learned the two seam fastball, or you might have learned the four seam fastball but it was probably one of the two.
This is the first step in your progression to becoming a pitcher. So let me ask you what the next step is. If you thought it was beginning with being on a mound you skipped a step. The ability to play catch correctly, and with both the two seam, and four seam should be your next step. You might say what do you mean play catch correctly. Well if you ever coached a young team, and I have even seen this at the 14u and above level, some coaches might jokingly call it “FETCH”. A lot of throws that fly over, or wide of the players back and forth. They spend about the same amount of time getting the ball as they do throwing it. In some cases this is a slight exaggeration, in others I feel your pain. If you would like to read a little about catch here is a link to a article I wrote on the subject.
http://klinetotalpitching.blogspot.com/2014/10/pitching-is-as-easy-as-catchwhen-you.html
I have a couple other topics as well. Learning what to be doing while playing catch is very important if you want to be a pitcher. You are supposed to be the most accurate guy on the team. Every time you pick a ball up and throw it work on the ability to locate your two seam and your four seam. Learn how to control and use your body to throw, don’t just use your arm.
PROGRESSION OF THROWING, THINGS TO LEARN AND THINK ABOUT
Learning the foundation of how to play catch
- Footwork, stepping in the direction of your target
- When to break your hands
- Glove front side up, firm front side
- Weight shifting from back to forward
- Arm arch, ready to throw when foot strikes
- Releasing the baseball and getting out front
- Being directional, through the target, all energy straight
- Throw the ball to a specific target, ex head, chest, belt, shoulders, or hips
- Over time spreading out and being able to throw the ball farther and accurately
Learn to do these things correctly, and it will make pitching a lot easier. Don’t worry about velocity when you are first starting off. You will throw harder every year just because you will get bigger and stronger naturally. As you become more and more proficient at your mechanics, make sure your still working on location of your throws. Don’t get into velocity matches, some kids will throw harder because they mature earlier, are bigger, stronger, or maybe started before you did. Learn yourself, that is the most important thing if you really want to be a pitcher, no one else matters but you.
THROWING FROM THE MOUND, PITCHING PROGRESSION FOR 2 AND 4 SEAM FASTBALLS
- 45 foot mound
- Start with the stretch, runners can’t steal for the first couple years. This is your foundation, build it strong!
- Throw both the two and four seam fastballs in the zone for strikes, 8/10
- Split the plate up into three parts. Inside, middle, and away. Learn to throw both pitches in all three areas, on command 8/10 times
- Start to work the ball down in the zone and see how good you can get at location, random calls to location 8/10 times, all three areas of the plate
- Take away the middle of the plate and work on only the inside and outside part of the plate
- Every pitch you learn to throw after this should come off of your fastball. Ex. Change up.
- After you can locate both pitches both sides of the plate, learn a change up
- Use the same technique with your change up as you did your fastball
- Learn from how you get hit. Ground balls are good, deep fly balls are bad, usually means your ball is up in the zone, keep working on getting your pitches to the bottom of the zone.
- Don’t focus too much on strike outs, if they happen great, but it takes more pitches to strike a guy out than it does to get a guy out.
Don’t worry about velocity when you first start pitching, it’s a progression. You have three different distances to throw from when you pitch. The game gets bigger as you get bigger:
45 feet, 50 feet, 60.6”, things are going to change and there is a slight relearning process every time you advance to a level, and age group.
Learn to be accurate from the stretch and the wind up.
Once you reach the level where the runners can steal, the game changes a little bit. You have to be a little quicker to the plate out of the stretch. That’s why it is important to have a solid foundation, so you don’t lose control of your body and the ability to throw the pitch in a quality location.
I know some of you are asking yourself, “What about the breaking ball? What about a slide step?” Well what about them. If you can’t locate your fastball and changeup you are skipping steps of your progression. So you learn a breaking ball, and hitters at a young age are just learning how to hit a fastball. Even then you can get everyone out using nothing but a fastball but it’s easier to throw a pitch most kids can’t hit when they start. A looping breaking ball for success early won’t help you with success later on. Pay your dues early to become successful. Don’t be afraid to fail, you will have to in order to succeed down the road. On average pitchers lose velocity, and leave the ball up using a slide step early, it also affects their throwing motion, putting more stress on the body.
This is just the beginning. As you get bigger, stronger, older, you will play at higher levels where the foundation can make the difference between making a team, or even continuing to play baseball, and it doesn’t end here. You still have progressions to make in:
- MECHANICS
- PHILOSOPHY
- FIELDING
- PITCHING LOCATION FOR OUTCOMES, EX. GROUND-BALL DOUBLE PLAY.
- KNOWING SITUATIONS ON THE FIELD, WHERE TO BE
- THE BATTING LINE UP AND WHERE TO PITCH EACH BATTER
- NUTRITION
- STRENGTH
- CONDITIONING
- WHAT A SWING SHOWS YOU
- FOCUS
- CONCENTRATION
- PREPARATION
- ARM CARE
The list goes on and on. Don’t try it to learn it all in one day or year. Listen to the game it will tell you what you need to do. Make sure you are not skipping progressions that could make the difference in how good you can really be. The only person that can tell you that and be right or wrong is YOU!!!! Challenge yourself to get better every day. Make goals, reach them, achieve them, then go bigger each time.
