Kershaw Like Curveball? Get One Now!
April 11, 2013
Are You a Strikeout Pitcher?
April 23, 2013
So you want to be a winning pitcher?
Well, pitching is a mental game of chess. Warren Spahn once said that “hitting is all about timing and pitching is all about upsetting timing.” If you want to win more games and strike more hitters out it is time to get smarter.
Most pitchers think that throwing harder is the solution to success on the mound.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to throw hard; in fact your off speed pitches will move more when you do, but, there are plenty of great pitchers (even in the major leagues) that can’t throw harder than 90. In fact the average pitcher in the Majors throws 92 right now.
What about Greg Maddux? He says “when pitchers get in a jam they just try to throw harder; I just try to locate better.”
So what is the secret to winning more games as a pitcher? Warren Spahn said it right when he said that pitching is upsetting timing. When you can keep the hitters off balance and keep the ball down, then you are forcing a ton of ground balls and pop ups. The occasional strikeouts are just bonuses and will happen when you continue to keep the hitters guessing.
Last year Verlander pitched a no hit game. Did you know he threw a no hit game with only 4 strikeouts? If you were to go to mlb.com and look at the highlights of his no hitter, you would see that he was able to force a ton of grouders and pop ups. Why was he so successful? Because he kept the hitters guessing and kept them off balance (upsetting their timing)
There are three key ingredients to improving your chances of winning, they are location, change of speed and movement. Now that is a winning combination.
How do you do that?
First of all master the control of your fastball hitting the corners. Second, learn how to control a good changeup (I prefer the Circle or C-changes because they move more). You will be surprised how far you can make it in Baseball with just those two pitches if you master control with them.
Adding a great curveball or slider to a change and fastball will greatly increase your chances of winning. when you can throw three pitches at any time for strikes in any situation you will dominate because those hitters literally won’t know what’s coming.
If you are looking to dominate on the mound this year and want to learn how to pitch smarter and add more movement to your pitches we recommend our pitching mechanics and our pitching grips DVD.
As always make it a great day,
