Learning different baseball pitches is one of the best things you can do if you want to make pitching one of your career choices.  If all you have is a tremendous fastball in your repertoire, you will eventually get crushed even if you have outstanding control.  Which pitch do you learn after a fastball?

Well you have many options here.

The first pitch I would recommend you learn to throw, once your fastball mechanics are up to par, is a good change-up.  A split finger fastball is a changeup; you hold it like a fastball with split fingers.  This pitch is a very effective pitch once you know how to grip the ball properly and you don’t twist the ball at release.  This can be a dangerous pitch if you don’t know what you are doing, so make sure you get proper pitching instruction before you attempt this pitch.

I teach this pitch because it is easy for pitchers to learn while they learn an additional pitch like the circle change.  The circle change fools so many hitters if you use it in the right count and your arm speed doesn’t vary from your fastball arm speed or arm slot.  You point the “circle” where you are throwing the ball.

Click here to learn more about how to throw different baseball pitches.

There is a pitching mechanics myth out there that is just killing velocity and placing undue stress on young throwing arms.  It is the idea of staying tall; who knows where that rumor started but it is one of the fallacies of pitching that is taught time and time again.  The idea of staying tall is to manipulate the trajectory of the ball and stay on top of it.  This will affect the natural arm slot of any pitcher.  I throw three-quarter arm slot like many other pitchers.

If you are coaching a young pitcher who has a natural arm slot of three quarters and you are telling him to throw over the top of the ball and stay tall, or telling him that he needs to throw at a 90 degree angle; you are not helping that pitcher.  You will hold him back from reaching his true potential on the mound.

So why do coaches favor staying tall?  They think it helps fool the hitter because the ball has a better chance of creating a downward plane on the ball making it more difficult for the hitter to see the ball.  Myth!  What coaches and parents need to be concerned about is how far the pitcher is striding and their release point.   If a pitcher is trying to stay tall they jeopardize their pitching mechanics usually by dropping their front shoulder down, raising (unnaturally) their throwing arm to high in an arm slot that is not natural to them.

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Why do some pitchers have more movement on their fastballs than others?  That is a common question and there are many variables as to why.  Some of it has to do with the arm slots and different throwing motions pitchers have.  However, I want to talk about something you can control regardless of your arm slot.  Simply put, we don’t want to change your natural arm slot for anything; especially trying to find a certain rotation on the ball.

In Pitching Grips 101 we talk about the movement and grip of the cut fastball.  With a cut fastball you simply hold the baseball just like a regular fastball just slightly off center.  Getting the baseball to run and have more movement is very similar, just messing with the way you grip the pitch.  Don’t hesitate experimenting with different pressure points on the ball.  Put more pressure on your middle finger and you will find the ball will dive more than it does run.  If you put more pressure on your index finger the ball will of course run.  The point is, don’t be afraid to experiment and find out what works best for you.  More importantly, don’t manipulate your pitching mechanics to try and find movement on the baseball.  You will be more prone to injury if you do and you will lack control anyway.Gain control of your curveball and other baseball pitches by clicking here!

It is very common for parents and coaches to ask me about what pitching workouts are going to help their son (pitcher) have a stronger arm.  This is the wrong question to ask.  They only want to know and they are asking a sincere question, so please don’t think I am speaking down on anyone for asking a simple question wanting a professional opinion.  But many people still think that to throw harder you need a stronger arm and that is simply not where a pitcher generates power.  If you were to have a contest to see who would throw the farthest and one contestant couldn’t take a stride, the other could, who do you think would win?  The person only using their arm or the person who could use their entire body to throw?  The answer of course is obvious.  So why then do we want a “stronger arm” when we should condition our entire body to work together mechanically as a driving force to produce velocity?

If we are so concerned about arm strength, what part of the arm would you consider working out the most?  What part of the arm would help produce the most momentum to generate the arm speed for a more explosive fastball?  bicep, tricep, forearm who knows?  Nobody knows because that is simply not what your focus should be to increase pitching velocity.  You need to explode toward home plate and you can’t do that focusing solely on arm strength.

If you really want to make a difference on the mound this year videotape your bullpens.  Once you know what correct pitching mechanics look like, you will be amazed at what you’ll find when you watch yourself pitch; paying close attention to each frame.  This is one of the most enjoyable activities I do with my pitching students. It is incredible to pin point what changes you need to make to increase velocity and control.  It isn’t difficult to find a handful of things you will need to work on once you watch each phase of the throwing motion frame by frame.  The most important thing you can do this year, if you already haven’t; is learn proper mechanics.  You will be amazed how much more velocity and command you will have on each one of your pitches. Your curveball will move much sharper when you understand not only how to keep your momentum moving toward home plate, but the proper grip and release of the pitch; all part of mechanics.  You will be much more confident on the mound with better pitching mechanics because your arm will be relieved of the pressure you have been placing on it for years and you will generate the “right kind of momentum” when you throw. Once you know the importance of proper mechanics and what to look for, it is very beneficial to record yourself at least every month to monitor your progress.  Don’t limit recording just to bullpens, have someone record your games.  You will find during stressful game situations you may alter your mechanics; you want to be aware of the fact that that could happen.  You may find your pitching mechanics are better from the stretch than from the windup and so on.Give yourself a head start this year and click here.

I would imagine you’ve heard of the need to work on your core to be a good baseball player.  I’m reasonably sure you’ve seen some baseball drills designed to improve your core.  I’m also failry certain that you haven’t been applying that knowledge to your game as much as you should be.  Why can I write this with high certainty?  Because most athletes are the same, they look for the easiest way to get the highest return.  Unfortunatley that only works for a short while.  Competition gets more fierce after you get through high school.

If core strengthening baseball drills are boring to you, you might consider throwing some variety into the mix.  What do I mean?

Stable Environments:  These types of strengthening baseball drills are your typical sit-ups, lunges, and push-ups.  The ground that you use is not moving, therefore it’s “stable”.  These exercises resemble little of what athletes encounter in any given performance where their bodies are twisting and turning in many different directions.

Unstable Environments:  These types of exercises allow unpredictable movement to occur while you work out which force the body to adapt.  The advantage is that ALL parts of a muscle or group of muscles begin to be worked.  Doing pushups on baseballs, swinging an ax, and changing direction abruptly are all example of unstable environments.  If you’re truly looking to spice up your baseball drills in the core department, you must mix this type of workout into your routine.

Barry Lovelace is the best I know for teaching this style of core strengthening.  We’ve included him on our website and have spent hours understanding his philosophy of core strength.  In short, he’s the man when it comes to your core.  Check out his Core Power for Baseball.

Do you want to increase your velocity?  Everybody raises their ears when they hear they can throw faster using proper pitching mechanics as well as developing a workout around explosive movements.  Many of you have been reading our most recent blogs on boosting your velocity.  In order for that to happen you have to boost your momentum.  Many pitchers, when they first come to see me, have difficulty exploding toward home plate.  Therefore, they lack velocity or they are using more of their arm than they should.  To help any pitcher achieve their full potential on the mound, they have to be explosive.  I love plyometric exercises for this very reason.  Full body plyometrics are great because you use your entire body to generate momentum somewhere, whether it is jumping higher or exploding to foot strike etc.  You will train your muscles (fast twitch) to be more explosive; which is what most athletes, particularly pitchers need. 

I recently finished p90x.  A 90 day program that really gets you into shape and is designed to get you ripped in 90 days.  Did it work for me, yes and no. No because I skipped a few workouts.  I will blame that one on my 3 month old daughter who made it difficult to wake up that early in the morning everyday to work up a sweat.  The point I want to make is that p90x has an awesome plyometric workout for anyone, but I would recommend that workout for any pitcher who wants to generate more power.

Looking for a great core workout to boost your pitching performance? click here!

It surprises me how many pitchers don’t know much about core strength training.  They also don’t understand the important role core strength plays in their overall athletic ability.  If you’re a pitcher and you ignore your core, you will not become the pitcher you want to be. 

Your core is comprised of 30 different muscles between your hips and rib cage.  Many athletes think that basic crunches are going to be the solution to their weak mid section.  This is simply not the case because your core connects your lower and upper body so it can function as one entire unit.  You cannot function or hardly move without engaging your core.  So, it makes perfect sense to not only understand the important role your core plays in your overall pitching ability, but learning the exercises that are going to help you strengthen every muscle in your core.A strong core will also help you avoid all types of pitching injuries including lower back injuries that tend to stick around for years if you don’t know how to take care of it.  To make the best of your core strength training click here!

Most of the athletes we work with on a regular basis express a desire to play baseball at a higher level.  Here is a brief list of characteristics of those who play baseball at higher level.  Run a check on your own game, what could you improve?

1.  Be willing to come early and stay late working on your skills

2.  Have a burning desire to work on your physical game as well as your mental game.

3.  Find good coaching.  Don’t leave coaching up to chance.  Seek out those who are specialists in the areas you need to develop.

4.  Play good competition.  There is no substitute for playing baseball at the highest level you can find at your age level.

5.  Ask questions and understand your game.  Those who don’t know how to solve their own mechanics problems are at a massive disadvantage at higher levels of baseball.

There is no secret that pitching is a highly emotional and mental position.  I would say that 90%+ of the pitching drills around have to do with the physical part of the act of pitching.  The other portion is spent on the mental side of the activity.  This is the part I see lacking in many pitchers.  One of the toughest components of pitching to master is what goes on in the head.  It’s unseen, tough to correct, and can go haywire fast if the mental game is not monitored.  Here are a couple thoughts on how to break an outing into smaller chucks to relieve pitching anxiety.

1.  Instead of looking at the entire outing to determine if you were successful or unsuccessful, begin to look at the details and clues within each at bat.  After each inning run through a quick mental checklist of how many good pitches and pitch/location choices you have make.  Do this because you shouldn’t expect a good result from a poor pitch location or pitch choice.  This will begin to reveal areas you need to improve upon next inning.

2. Many of the problems pitchers get into are created in their head as their perceived success is based on results only.  You can’t control results, only the choices you make.  Therefore, stay out of thinking about “what if” scenarios and stay focused on the present.  Likewise, leave the past alone, it’s over with, and cannot be changed.  If you find yourself going down the path of future or past thinking, step off the mound, take a deep breath and then focus on the job at hand.