Posts Tagged ‘Pitching’
June 15th, 2010 | 
Author: It’s great to go to the mound, fully rested, and have your entire arsenal ready and able to dice up a lineup. Unfortunately, few of us take the mound under such utopian circumstances, and we pitchers usually toe the bump with less-than-perfect stuff. Less-than-perfect is standard; however some of those days, you just plain suck. But, you just can’t give up when your curve won’t bite, your changeup doesn’t change, and your fastball has the life of a 35-year old playing World of Warcraft in his parent’s basement. So how do you go out and win when you haven’t got much? Read the rest of this entry »
This is my first season pitching within a true 5-man rotation. In college and summer ball, there often are too many off-days to make the rotation stable. Weekend series in college mean that starters generally pitch once a week, giving ample time for physical and skill work in between outings.
But in the professional season, off-days are few and far between, and the rotation gives each starter 4 days to prepare for his next outing. Everyone is different in what he needs to prepare, but I’ll share my own preparation schedule that I feel gives me the best chance to succeed and stay strong throughout the season. Read the rest of this entry »
Some of the best philosophical and psychological writings on sport come from the ancient masters of Asian martial arts. One of my favorite books is The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman,
and it was written by a Zen monk named Takuan Soho in the 1600s. The lessons one can learn from this short (about 90 pages) book are applicable to all sports, especially those with a highly mental aspect that can cause a physical lapse in times of pressure (fighting sports, baseball pitching and hitting, golf, football kicking, etc.). While this book is short and in many parts very straightforward, it isn’t something most people would pick up and get much out of. Philosophy readings are difficult, and this is no exception, so most athletes are not going to find this an easy read while sitting in the clubhouse. But, I’m here to give you the Americanized version that you can take out onto the field with you today… Read the rest of this entry »
Starting pitchers are given plenty of time between outings to build a scouting report and game plan for facing their opponent. Our season started last week, which meant we had to figure out what our opposing hitters had on the fly. As an expansion team, we didn’t have scouting reports already laid out for us, so we were faced with assessing all of the hitters ourselves.
So as the pitchers leaned on the railing, watching the games, we bounced ideas off each other and our pitching coach about each hitter. Some of the things discussed were: Read the rest of this entry »
I arrived in Normal, Illinois on May 3rd for spring training for my first season of Independent professional baseball. I had pressure on me because I knew I had to perform well and outcompete a staff of more experienced pitchers, but I didn’t realize it would be maybe the two most stressful weeks of my life. Why was it so hard? Because I really, really, really didn’t want to go home, and it felt, at times, like certain things were out of my control.
Here’s how Independent ball works, and why it can be harder than affiliated ball to keep your job: Read the rest of this entry »
If you watch a major league baseball game, pay close attention to the velocity differentials of each pitcher’s offerings. As I am writing this, I am currrently watching Brian Duensing of the Twins throw a 92 mph fastball and an 80mph curve. Duensing throws what coaches would refer to as a pro curve. What is the difference between and pro and amateur curve, you ask? Speed and, subsequently, deception. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a drill that I have been doing for about 9 years now. I learned it from my friend Duane Rhine, who taught me the curveball that got me into college. My hammer was the only reason my 78-81 arm ever saw the mound as a freshman, and this drill helps tremendously to get the spin and consistent release down.
The point of the bucket? Well, that’s your “strike” release point. Don’t expect the ball to break at such low velocity; just work on getting tight spin from your grip and follow through. Learn to nail that bucket on a consistent basis and you will have no trouble spotting up that curve in game situations. It’s all about repetition with proper mechanics.
Applying the deliberate practice principles to your throwing
In my last post, I talked about the deliberate practice principles laid out in the book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.
To refresh, deliberate practice involves
- Working on a specific aspect of performance
- High repetition
- Continuously available feedback
- Highly demanding mentally
- Isn’t (usually) much fun
In this post I’m going to talk mainly about the third piece of the puzzle, focusing primarily on how it relates to improving throwing mechanics and velocity.
Feedback and throwing mechanics:
To start, you’re probably wondering why “throwing mechanics” and not “pitching mechanics.” Paul Nyman of SETPRO was the first to make the clear distinction between these two activities. Pitching is about doing everything you can do get the batter out, whereas throwing refers to the specific movement patterns/sequences that your body goes through to apply force to the ball. When you hear people talking about posting leg position or hand break timing or whatever, what they are really referring to is a player’s throwing mechanics.
Feedback is particularly under-appreciated when it comes to players and velocity development. When was the last time your pitching coach brought a radar gun to your team’s bullpen sessions? I can tell you that, in my experience, at the high school level and below this form of feedback is almost nonexistent.
So how do you make sure that you’re applying the continuous feedback principle and aren’t wasting your practice time on empty repetitions? Here are a couple ideas…
Grip strength is critically important, and I have been harping on it for some time. EVERYONE can use increased grip strength, and the implications it has on throwing harder, swinging harder and preventing injury are huge. Grip, or hand strength can be classified in many different ways, but today we are going to focus on just open and closed hand strength, the differences between them and their implications for pitchers and hitters.
Closed Hand Strength
This is just what it sounds like, holding things with a closed fist. This is the most important type of strength for a hitter to have, as gripping the bat is done with closed fists. This isn’t meant to be groundbreaking info, but I want you to see the carryover from the weight room to the field for both pitchers and hitters.
Closed hands gripping a bat
I jotted down notes about my bullpen or general throwing sessions from months 7-9.5 of my recovery. I discovered it while cleaning my place. I’m just rewriting what I had down, so I may or may not be able to clarify if you have any questions.
March 22 – Good, not sore
March 24 – Good, not sore
March 26 – 7 months – Good, not sore
March 28 – 15 Changeups; good, but not perfect
March 30 – 10 changeups, discomfort on 1/3 of them
April 1 – 3/4 speed; no changes, no pain, 66-71 mph. felt ok, not perfect next day
April 3 – felt good, not perfect; 45 pitches @ 3/4 (speed)
April 6 – 1st two digits had pain when pressure applied
April 9 – mid to upper 70s, little pain; felt good after 4 days off prior
April 17 – no pain! 65 pitches at 3/4
April 19 – long tossed to 240 no pain
April 21 – felt good. into low 80s maybe
April 23 – gun read 75-77. TIRED! but no pain
April 25 – 8 months – Hit 81, consistent 76-79 50/30 pitches
April 28 – long toss to 270, 45 pitches at 85%
April 30 – 30 + 45 vs hitters. 82-84. Felt good
May 2 – VERY tired from April 30. Arm achy and slight pain, very dead. threw 70 at 2/3 speed
May 4 – flat ground, 15 curves at 50 ft. pain still, arm not recovered from previous.
May 7 – Hard pen, felt good. 80 pitches at 90%
May 9 – good long toss, felt great.
May 11 – 100% from mound, 100% changes, 50% curves (15). felt good, no pain, but knotted up on forearm after.
May 14 – 100% fast + cu, no curves. Still knot in forearm but no pain
May 16 – 45 fast-curve-change, 75-75-50% respectively. less tightness, no knot next day.
May 18 – Light pen, 30 curves
May 20 – In game, 28 pitches. 30 curves beforehand. Bicep Dead, big knot afterward. No throw 21-24.
May 25 – In game 35 pitches, no knot after, felt good
May 27 – 70 pitch pen, 30 90% curves, felt good, bicep better
May 29 – 50 pitch, 70%, curves getting sharper!
May 31 – 60 in game; arm felt slow, but great after. 55 fb/ 5 curves. No tightness at all.
June 2 – Long toss, hard but not too many throws. Need to get intensity up and let go. Felt good next morning.
June 4 – Bullpen 20 max effort, 85-90. Arm felt achy, some occasional pain twinges, and very dead. Decent next day. Fatigue in bicep/tricep still, but not terrible.
Thats the whole log. Wish I had done more of that during it all, but I was more interested in getting after it than writing it all down. Hindsight…