Baseball Pitching: Throw Faster in a Few Days?
March 25, 2013
Curveball Classified As Nasty?
March 25, 2013
Attention Coaches! Do your pitchers really know how to throw good off-speed pitches? Pitches that have incredible movement? Pitches that win ball games?
We all know that the best of teams can be beat if you have a handful of pitchers on your team that can throw a great breaking ball or changeup.
Look at Greg Maddux for example, he wasn’t overpowering at all. When most pitchers get in a bind they just try and throw the ball by the batter; not Greg Maddux. He knew what his job was. His job was to keep the hitters off balance, so when he would get in a bind he would locate better and change speeds. Heck, I think his fastball at the major league level looked like a changeup to most hitters. Think about that!
What I wanted to write about today has everything to do with teaching your pitchers how to throw off-speed pitches correctly.
As I mentioned last week, Baseball is taught by people with the greatest intentions, but those same people teach their pitchers techniques and strategies that are not only ineffective, but can cause some serious damage to their throwing arms.
Here are a few things to avoid when teaching pitchers off-speed pitches.
#1 Avoid changing their arm slot in any way
#2 Don’t teach them to violently pull down on the ball (karate chop!)
#3 Don’t teach your pitchers to spin the ball in any way
#4 Don’t teach pitchers to twist their wrist to add more rotation
#5 Avoid having your pitchers “slow down” their delivery to throw a changeup
#6 Don’t teach them to grip the ball tight in the palm of their hand
I’m sure you have heard of many of these “pitching tips” out there.
Unfortunately I hear most of them daily. No wonder so many pitchers struggle with arm problems. Is it any wonder why they can’t throw a good off speed pitch?
Today we want to do you a favor and teach you parents and coaches how to inform your pitchers how to throw nasty off speed pitches while keeping their arm healthy.
Help your pitchers understand mechanics as they relate to off speed pitches.
https://www.thepitchingacademy.com/disc-two-pitching-grips-pitching-workouts/
