Category Archives: Pitching
Don’t Just Put In the Time – Put In the Effort
One of the most common questions coaches get at the end of a lesson or practice session is, “How long and how often should my daughter practice?”
While it’s a legitimate concern – parents want to their daughters get the full benefit and they get a better return on their investment – I tend to think they’re asking the wrong question. Here’s the reason: practicing is not actual time-based; it’s quality-based.
Take two players who are at the same skill level and have been assigned the same drill(s) as “homework:”
- One diligently does the homework, being mindful of her movements and attempting to execute the skill the way she has been taught. She does this for 20 minutes three times before she has her next lesson.
- The other goes out to practice for a half hour three days a week between lessons. But she doesn’t like doing drills because it’s “boring,” so she instead just decides to pitch from full distance or take full swings or field ground balls hit by a partner etc. the whole time.
Which one do you think will show improvement in the aspect that needs the most help as well as in the overall skill?
Player two put in more time – an extra half hour to be exact. If time were the only factor that counted she should do better at the next lesson.
But I will tell you from experience, and bet you dollars to donuts, that player two will be the one who is most likely ready to advance further at the next lesson. She may not have put in as much time, but she put in more effort to solve her biggest issues – the one that is most limiting her.
So if she’s a pitcher who was straightening out her arm on the back side of the circle, she is now far more likely to have a nice elbow bend or “hook” as her arm gets ready to throw the ball. If she is a hitter who was dropping her hands straight to her waist before swinging, she’s far more likely to be keeping them up and turning the bat over to get the ball.
That’s because she mindfully worked at changing what she was doing. She is serious about improving so she put in the effort to make those changes.
Player two, on the other hand, actually put herself further away from her goals by practicing as she did, because all she did was reinforce the poor mechanics she should be trying to move away from.
Yes, she put in the time and could mark it down on a practice sheet, but she didn’t put in the effort. Without the effort to improve, the time is pretty much meaningless.
She would have ended up in exactly the same place at best if she hadn’t practiced at all. And she may have ended up further behind because now those extra reps with the wrong techniques will make it that much more difficult to get her to the right path.
If your daughter is going to spend her valuable time on practicing her softball skills, or anything else for that matter, make sure it’s on something that will help her advance her abilities forward.
Have her make the effort to concentrate specifically on the areas that need improvement rather than spending all her time making full pitches, full swings, etc. and you’ll see faster progress that leads to greater softball success.
P.S. For any parents of my students who may think I’m talking about their daughter, don’t worry. I’m not. It’s a big club. But do keep it in mind as you work with your daughter anyway!
Throw It Like You Know It
So, you’re a fastpitch pitcher and you’ve added a new pitch to your arsenal. You’ve worked weeks, or months, to learn the nuances and perfect it to the point where you throw it pretty reliably in practice.
But then, when you go to trot it out in a game, it turns into a hot mess.
If it’s a drop ball it rolls in like you’re playing bocce ball. Changeups go sailing high and wide, riseballs go over the backstop, and curveballs end up forcing your catcher to lay out after them like a wide receiver catching a pass from the third-string quarterback.
So what happened?
There’s a pretty good chance the problem isn’t from the neck-down; it’s from the neck-up. Because instead of just relaxing and throwing the pitch you practiced, you got nervous that it wasn’t going to work and started tying yourself in knots trying to make sure it did.
How did that work out for you?
That’s why, when you go to introduce a new pitch to your gametime routine, you need to clear your mind of thoughts about it being your first time, you hope it works, it was really bad last time, etc. and just throw it like you know it.
There’s a pretty good chance if you’ve been pitching for a while you don’t think much about throwing your fastball – or whatever your base pitch is. You’ve done it thousands of times by now, and you already know you can do it.
Doesn’t mean it will be perfect every time – no one’s is, not even the high-level pitchers you admire. But you’re not worried because you know if this one doesn’t work quite right the next one will.
Well, it’s the same with a new pitch. Let’s take a changeup.
You told your coach you’ve been working on it and want to throw it this game. You’ve gotten the speed and location to be right in practice but have little to no experience with in games.
When the call comes in, however, your muscles tense, your mouth gets dry, and you start to breathe a little harder and more rapidly.
There’s really no reason for that reaction, however. First of all, hopefully your coach is smart enough to call it in a situation where the outcome doesn’t matter, such as no one on base and you’re ahead in the count 0-2 or 1-2.
At that point, what’s the worst that can happen? You throw a ball and it’s now 1-2 or 2-2. You’ve thrown balls before with the fastball, so why should this particular one be treated any differently?
Oh, but you’re worried you’re going to embarrass yourself by rolling it in or sailing it over your catcher’s head. So what’s the difference here?
The count is still 1-2 or 2-2, just as it would be if you had barely missed the strike zone. No runners advanced, no one walked, a shadow didn’t fall upon the earth, seas didn’t begin to boil, the ground didn’t rupture. no one died. It’s just a ball.
Only now you’ve thrown one in a game, you know a little more what it feels like, and you’ve just taken another step forward in your pitching career. Someday, when throwing a changeup is as natural to you as breathing, you’ll probably laugh about it.
So given all that, why worry about it at all?
The better approach is to pretend like you’ve been throwing this new pitch for years and just chuck it in there – i.e., throw it like you know it. With a more positive approach like that you’re far more likely to have success, and avoid all the negative outcomes you were worried about originally.
By the way, this concept isn’t just for pitchers. Hitters should apply their new hitting mechanics rather than relying on their old ways.
Slappers, particularly converted righties, should go after their slaps as if they’ve been doing it for years. Fielders should try that new sidearm tilted toss as though it’s been part of their routine all along. And so on.
If you take the “throw it like you know it” approach you’ll find you build your confidence quickly and your game will improve exponentially. You’ll also find you’re having a lot more fun in the process.
Navigating the Maze of Fastpitch Skills Development
People often talk about the “path to greatness” when it comes to fastpitch softball skills development. But when you think about it, it’s not really a path – it’s more of a maze.
Everyone starts out in the same place – at the entrance. Everyone knows the end goal is excellence.
But it’s really not a straight-line journey, i.e., you hire a coach, join a team, or try to try to train your daughter yourself. Instead, the journey can be full of twists, turns, blind alleys, and dead ends.
Go the wrong way and you’re going to spend a lot of your time backtracking or trying to get your bearings again. Get in deep enough and you may never find your way back to a lane that will take you to your goal.
Take pitching for example. There are those who believe it doesn’t really matter what you teach to budding pitchers; they say eventually those pitchers will find their way to the mechanics that will lead to success.
I can tell you wholeheartedly that that is not true. Yes, some can overcome learning “hello elbow” (HE) when they start out, replacing them with more body-friendly internal rotation (IR) mechanics as they mature. They are usually exceptional athletes.
But that is not the case with everyone. I’ve acquired many pitching students who were taught turn the ball back toward second and push it down the back side of the circle who struggled to unlearn that early, sub-optimal teaching.
It can take them months just to learn how to keep the ball facing forward at the top of the circle (and just past it) so they can set themselves up to whip the ball through release. It’s not that they’re bad pitchers or poor athletes.
It’s just that the habit has been so ingrained into them that it’s difficult to break. They essentially got deep into the maze and then have to find their way back to nearly the beginning to get on the right track.
Hitters can have this too. They’re taught to “squish the bug” or “throw their hands/knob of the bat” at the ball or over-use their arms, or some other outdated concept.
Or maybe they’re just allowed to swing the bat however they want because they are big enough and strong enough at the younger ages that the techniques they use really aren’t important.
However they get there, they follow that path thinking they’re on their way, only to discover after their habits become ingrained that it’s been a series of blind alleys once again leading to a dead end. The other players have matched (or surpassed) them in size and strength, and suddenly what made them look like studs when they were young has them seeing more bench time today.
Just like in an actual maze, it’s important to start out in the right direction early. So how do you know which way to go when you’re just starting out so you ensure you don’t waste a whole lot of time and money that you will never recover?
Fortunately, unlike an actual maze there are plenty of signs and guideposts that will help you find the most expedient path to your goal. Some of those include:
- Watch high speed video of what actual high-level players do, then match that up to what potential coaches are teaching. If they’re not closely aligned you probably don’t want to go that way.
- Research the topics that interest you on the Internet. Yes, the Internet has as much bad information (or more) than good, but if you’re really interested in doing what’s right it shouldn’t take you too long to separate the gold from the garbage.
- Ask other parents, especially those whose daughters stand out, about their journey and what their daughter is being taught now They can help you avoid the pitfalls they themselves fell into.
- Try what’s being taught yourself to see if it makes sense. Many people actually seem to miss out on this simple test. See what it feels like to move your body the way it’s being described. Be aware of what you feel and whether it feels natural or forced. The goal is for it to feel natural and easy, because it means you’re working with your body instead of against it.
- Once you’ve gathered the data, think through it carefully to see what makes sense. Don’t just accept what Famous Player A says, because Famous Player A may not have a clue as to what she does on the field. She was probably one of those who found her way to good mechanics DESPITE what she was taught. Yet when it comes to teaching herself, she just goes back to what she was told when she was young because that’s all she consciously knows.
Starting down the wrong path in the beginning, or taking a bad detour along the way isn’t unrecoverable. But it definitely makes achieving one’s playing goals a lot more difficult because there’s going to be a lot of backtracking (and angst) before you can move forward again.
Take the time to determine which path will lead you through the maze of softball skills development more efficiently and you’ll find the entire journey to be a lot more enjoyable.
Maze photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com
Where Have All the Pitchers Gone?
Yes, I know, it sounds like a folk song but it’s a legitimate question. Especially now that we are hot and heavy into the softball tryout season.
If you’re following softball-oriented Facebook groups or forums such as Discuss Fastpitch you’re probably seeing this plea a lot, particularly in the older age groups: Impossibly great team looking for one more bracket pitcher to complete our outstanding roster.
With all the 8-10 year olds jumping into the pitching pool you would think there would be a cornucopia of pitching at every level. It’s not unusual to see box scores on GameChanger that show four or five pitchers each getting an inning of work on a regular basis. And it’s been that way for long before GameChanger existed.
So what happened to all those pitchers?
Well, somewhere along the way they stopped pitching. Or maybe even playing the game entirely.
Sure, some probably found that they just didn’t care for the pressure of being in the circle. And some probably found that they didn’t like all the extra work that goes with being a pitcher. All legit, and to each her own.
But I can’t help but think that the rapid shrinking of the pitching pool might in many cases also be driven by team coaches and parents who are more focused on winning 10U or 12U games or trophies than they are on ensuring their players develop properly.
Take the coach who has 5 pitchers on his/her roster but gives 90% of the innings to the #1 pitcher. Yes, it’s nice to win games and tournaments, but if you’re only really giving one pitcher an opportunity to pitch regularly the others won’t develop.
Then they won’t develop, they’ll fall farther behind, get discouraged by their lack of progress as well as their lack of opportunity, and eventually stop pitching. So now four more are out of the pitcher pool for the future.
Oh, and in the meantime the #1 develops an overuse injury and may end up not pitching either.
Then there are the coaches who set impossible standards for their young, developing pitchers. They tell them in order to pitch they need to “hit their spots” 80% of the time.
Not because it’s necessary – really the only “spots” that are important at the 10U level are ball and strike – but because they heard on TV or read an article that said that’s what college pitchers do. Or because they want to use the vague “hit your spots” as an excuse not to pitch a girl who isn’t going to walk in and dominate every game.
So again, she doesn’t get circle time, falls behind, and eventually gives it up because what’s the point of taking lessons and practicing if you never get to pitch, even in “friendlies” or pool play?
Pitching coaches who say they’re teaching 10 or 12 year olds to throw seven pitches aren’t much help either.
Most 10U and 12U pitchers have enough to do mastering a fastball and and a changeup. Having them work on five other pitches – especially with some of the crazy mechanics I’ve seen them try to use – is a recipe for disaster.
Those pitchers never master their fundamentals. So when the hitters get better all those so-called different pitches turn out to be bullet spin fastballs to different locations that are fairly easy to hit. And then they’re out of the pitching pool because they’re getting hammered all the time.
And the list goes on. If we really want to have more pitchers available at 16U and 18U, parents and coaches have to do more to encourage greater success for more pitchers at the younger levels.
Keep them pitching, keep them developing, and give them opportunities to learn their craft – even when they’re bad at it. Then maybe there won’t be so many teams begging for pitchers or fighting over the same ones at the older levels.
What to Expect When You Become a Pitcher’s Parent
Sooooo…your daughter has decided that she wants to become a pitcher.
Congratulations to her! That’s a big step, especially given the importance of the position in fastpitch softball.
The value of a quality pitcher in softball is roughly the same as the value of a quality quarterback in football. While those roles differ, both can have a huge impact on whether the team wins or loses.
Because of all of that you are excited. You can’t wait to watch your wonderful, softball-loving daughter shine in the circle and feel the glow of admiration from coaches, teammates, and fans alike.
I know. I’ve been there – twice – and have seen those feelings in the eyes and body language of countless students.
But it’s not all sunshine and unicorns, even if your daughter is a tremendous athlete and a start in other aspects of the sport. So now that that decision has been made, let me clue you newbies in on what you’re in for going forward.
Parents of pitchers, current and past, be sure to chime in down in the comments about any aspects I’ve missed. It’s been a while for me.
The Time
You know that thing they call free time? Forget about it for the next 10-15 years, depending on how old your daughter is.
Because it’s a thing of the past.
Becoming even a decent pitcher takes a lot of work, i.e., many hours spent honing the craft. So while other parents gets to unwind at the end of a long, tough work day by collapsing on the couch, perhaps with an adult beverage or two, there is no such paradise waiting for you.
Instead, you will come home, change, maybe grab a quick bite, and then head out to a field, facility, and/or lesson so your daughter can get better. You see, pitching mechanics require a tremendous degree of precision and coordination to execute, and even the slightest variance can mean more walks than strikeouts, or too many hit-by-pitches, or too many balls left too fat in the zone resulting in big hits.
Not to mention there’s always another mile per hour or two to chase. So your “free time” will be spent sitting on a bucket and/or driving somewhere so your daughter has her best chance of succeeding.
The Nerves
Ever see a crowd sitting calmly watching a softball game? Everyone there is relaxed, chatting about the game or their lives, checking their phones for messages, maybe enjoying a snack or two on a lovely evening.
What you won’t see there is the current pitcher’s parent(s). That because the parent(s) are frantically pacing up and down the sidelines, or more likely somewhere behind the outfield fence, living and dying on every pitch.
Remember how I said in the beginning it’s a huge responsibility? As a pitcher’s parent you’re going to feel all the weight of that responsibility, probably much more than your daughter does, and you’re not going to be able to do a danged thing about it.
Except pace. And mumble to yourself. And question every pitch call from your coach as well as the umpire. Then pace some more.
You are basically trapped in a hell of your own making while you try to will your daughter to hit her spots, make the ball spin, or throw as hard in a game as she does in practice.
Eventually she will get there. But then you’ll just stalk up and down the sidelines or outfield fence and fret about the outcome of every pitch anyway. Because that’s what pitcher’s parents do.
The Fighting with Your Daughter
Learning to pitch is a long, arduous process with many ups and downs. As a good parent you want to see your daughter succeed.
Unfortunately, she may not realize how much work it takes, and thus will want to live the same type of life as other girls her age. As if!
So the two of you will fight about whether she can go here or there, or whether she needs to practice first.
You will also fight about mechanics. Because you heard one thing at her last lesson and she heard another. Or you’ve been checking the Internet for advice again and want her to try whatever tip or trick you just learned.
You will fight about what happened during the game. Did she try hard enough? Did she give up too many walks? Why did she throw a changeup to a hitter who clearly couldn’t hit her faster pitches? Why didn’t she throw home to force the runner there instead of throwing to first base and letting the run score?
And so on, and so on.
Fathers and daughters in particular will fight, because that’s just natural in human dynamics. The good new is, as tough as it can be, better to be fighting about pitching than who she was with or what she was doing last night.
Oh, and if you are also her team coach as well as practice catcher, get ready for many storm clouds ahead. It’s gonna be a rough ride.
The Money
So, you thought softball was expensive before your daughter declared she wanted to be a pitcher? Those will quickly become the good old days.
It starts with lessons of course. They aren’t cheap, and they have to be done frequently to get anywhere. Like once a week or once every other week (for a longer period of time) if you want her to gain competence quickly.
You will also need the ubiquitous bucket to carry balls and a glove in, as well as to sit on during lessons (hence the term “bucket dad” or “bucket mom”). It’s not required, but unless you’re a former catcher or someone who does a lot of squats normally you’re probably going to appreciate it quickly.
Then, as your little pitcher gets better, you’re going to start needing to purchase special equipment. It starts with a catcher’s mitt because your hand can’t take it when she starts popping the glove.
Then, as she learns to throw changeups and drops, you’ll probably want a pair of shin guards, and maybe a paid of shoes with steel toes. As speed picks up and movement gets sharper, you’ll probably need a catcher’s helmet too, so at that point you may as well get a chest protector as well.
As she gets better she will be sought after by better teams that play more often and travel farther to do it. Now you’re looking at thousands more dollars for the summer alone.
Eventually what started out as a nice little diversion ends up costing as much as a decent boat. But that’s ok, because you won’t have time to enjoy a boat even if you bought one.
The Heartbreak
It’s hard to watch your child struggle at anything, much less fail. But softball is a game built on failure, and nowhere is it more painful than when your daughter is having a tough time pitching.
Sure, it’s hard to watch your daughter strike out too. But that probably only happens maybe two or three times a game. But if she’s throwing balls and hitting batters when she should be throwing strikes, or serving up meatballs like she’s working at Olive Garden, it can be devastating to her – and to you.
Basically, a pitcher’s parent tends to live and die on every pitch. Especially during a tight game or one against a major rival.
So you may find yourself dying dozens of times during a game, and even a hundred or more on the weekend. And that’s just you.
Seeing the pain on her face during or after the game is tough to take. Yet you’re probably going to have to live with that pain for a while until she gets more experienced. If you’re not ready it can come as quite a shock.
Worth It?
So yes, the struggle is real. Which begs the question, “Is it worth it?”
That’s a decision you’ll ultimately have to make. Maybe your daughter will try it, realize how hard it is (and/or how much work it really takes) and opt out.
That’s ok. The team needs a center fielder too.
But if it’s something she really wants to pursue, in my opinion the answer is yes. Because she will learn how to overcome obstacles galore and the two of you will spend plenty of quality time together (when you’re not arguing). Probably much more than you would have otherwise.
Not to mention there’s nothing like the joy in your daughter’s face when she strikes out her first batter, retires the side in a close game, pitches her to team to a championship, and earns an MVP medal or game ball for her outstanding performance.
So if one day your daughter announces that she would like to be a pitcher, it’s ok to celebrate. But be aware of what you’re getting into and strap yourself in.
Because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
The First Rule of Changeups
Whether you have seen the movie or not, I think most people have heard that the first rule of Fight Club is that you never talk about fight club.
This quote came to mind a few days ago while I was working with a new student on developing her changeup. As I watched her it hit me: the first rule of changeups is that they can never LOOK like changeups – at least until you release the ball. After that, they’d better!
What do I mean by they can never look like changeups? Basically, you don’t want to have to do anything with your approach, your body, or anything else to make a changeup work.
The changeup should always look like it’s going to be a fastball until the ball is on its way, when suddenly the hitter realizes (hopefully too late) that the pitch they thought was coming is not the pitch that’s actually coming.
Yet people teach crazy and self-defeating stuff about the changeup all the time. So to help those of you who are just getting into it, here are some things you definitely don’t want or need to do to make a changeup work.
Using Strange Grips
This is something I see all the time. I’ll ask a new student who says she throws a changeup to show it to me, and the first thing she does is start tucking a knuckle or two, or go into a “circle change” grip where you hold the ball with the middle through little fingers while the thumb and first finger make a circle.
All of that is not only unnecessary but it’s actually counter-productive. What makes a changeup work is that it surprises the hitter.
If you go into some crazy grip that is easily spotted from the coaching box, or worse yet from the batter’s box, the only surprise that’s going to happen is you being surprised at how quickly that pitch leaves the ballpark.
If you really want to disguise the change you should be able to use your fastball grip to throw the changeup. Because, and I will say it loud for the people in the back, it’s not the grip that makes a pitch work; it’s how the pitch is thrown.
If you have a well-designed changeup you’ll be able to use your fastball grip, maybe with a slight modification such as sliding the thumb over a little, and still take the right amount of speed off.
Slowing Down Your Arm or Body
This is another one that is pretty obvious to the hitter, the coaching staff, the players on the bench, and even people just cutting through the park to get to the pickleball courts.
If you have to slow your arm down to throw a changeup, you’re not throwing a changeup. You’re throwing a weak fastball.
Think of a changeup as being the polar opposite of most people’s experiences hitting off a pitching machine fed by a human. The human slowly brings the ball down to the chute to put it in, maybe fumbles with it a bit, then the ball shoots out at 65 mph or whatever speed the coach thinks will help hitters hit better. (Spoiler alert: setting the machine too high actually hurts your hitters.)
The reason machines are so hard to hit off of is that the visual cues of the arm don’t match the speed of the pitch. Because if you actually threw the ball with that arm motion it would go about three feet away at a speed of 5 mph.
A great changeup turns that model on its head. The arm and body speed indicate a pitch coming in at whatever the pitcher’s top speed has been.
But because of the way it’s released, the ball itself actually comes out much slower. The mismatch between the arm speed and ball speed upset the hitter’s timing and either gets her to swing way too early (and perhaps screw herself into the ground) or freezes her in place while her brain tries to figure out the discrepancy,
Either way, the hitter is left wondering what happened – and now has something new to worry about at the plate because she doesn’t want to be fooled again.
Making a Face or Changing Body Language
This is something that often happens prior to the pitch.
Maybe the pitcher has developed a habit of sticking her tongue out before she throws a change. Maybe she changes where she stands on the pitching rubber or does a different glove snap or alters their windup or has some other little “cheat” that helps her throw the pitch.
All of these things can send a SnapChat to the hitter that a changeup is about to happen.
Smart pitchers will video themselves throwing fastballs and changeups , especially in-game, to see if anything they’re doing is giving away the pitch that’s about to be thrown. If there isn’t, great.
But if there is, they need to work at it until they’re not giving it away anymore. The pitcher’s chief weapon when throwing a changeup is the element of surprise.
They need to make sure they’re maintaining it until the ball is actually on its way.
Keep the Secret
A changeup that everyone knows is coming is not going to be very effective. And given today’s hot bats it can be downright dangerous for the pitcher.
Remember that the first rule of throwing a changeup is that it can’t look like you’re going to throw a changeup and y
Posting Up Properly Is Key to a Dynamic Drop Ball
Of all the movement pitches (i.e., anything that isn’t a flat fastball or changeup), the one with the highest reward v lowest risk is the drop ball.
At worst, if a drop ball doesn’t drop it’s still a low fastball. Low pitches are generally tougher to hit hard than higher ones, which is why many coaches love to the work the bottom of the strike zone.
I’ve sometimes used a drop ball that isn’t dropping to help solve the problem of a pitcher throwing fastballs that are rising out of the zone. Pitches don’t always have to “work” to work.
At best, if it doesn’t cause a hitter to swing and miss entirely it will often result in a weak ground ball. As long as you have a solid infield that should mean a lot of relatively easy outs and a low-scoring game.
Compare that to a curve or screw that doesn’t curve or screw, remaining flat and easy to hit. Or a riseball that doesn’t “rise” and ends up sitting in the power zone of a good hitter. All of those will get you in a whole heap o’ trouble.
if you’re going to throw a drop ball, though, you really do want it to work. Ideally it should come in flat, around thigh-high or just above the knees, until it’s a few feet from the plate – at which point it dives for the ground as if it hit the top of a frame and got deflected down.
Making that happen, however, is easier said than done. As any pitcher who has tried it can tell you.
One of the big keys you’ll hear to throwing an effective drop ball is to move your weight forward at release, sometimes referred to as “posting up.” This move essentially has the pitcher standing more vertical (straight up and down) at release rather than being tilted slightly backward.
One reason for posting up is to change the release angle of the pitch. If the ball is coming out flat, or moving upward only a degree or two out of the hand, it stands a much better chance of actually dropping suddenly versus a pitch with a higher angle of release.
Why does the release angle matter? The short answer is because you’re working WITH gravity instead of trying to fight it.
(If you’re curious as to what actually makes the drop ball drop, check out the explanation at the end of this post. For the rest of you, I won’t bore you with those details here.)
For most drops, the other key is to release the ball a little earlier than you would a fastball – basically at the back of the back leg instead of between the legs. Posting up will naturally move your release back to this point.
Try this: stand with your feet at a 45 degree angle to where you want to “throw” your imaginary pitch and your weight distributed evenly on both feet. See where your arm hangs.
It’s probably slightly in front of your back leg.
Now shift your weight so 95% or more is on your front foot, and you’re just using your back foot for balance. If you kept it relaxed your arm is likely hanging a little further back relative to your body.
Without even trying you shifted your release point back some.
Getting the feel of this position when you’re going full speed can be difficult. Many pitchers will tend to throw and then post up afterwards. Luckily I have a drill for that.
In the video below, Karsyn is standing completely on her front foot while leaving her back foot toe-down for balance. You can check this by having the pitcher lift her back foot off the ground then settle it it back down on top of the toe.
Now she throws with a full circle motion, focusing on a quick release. (While we’re demonstrating a pronation/peel drop here, it also works with a rollover drop release, as long as you’re not encouraging a release out in front of the body as some do.)
With a couple of pitches you should start seeing the ball come in flat, or slightly upward, then drop as if rolling off the proverbial table. Getting the feel from this position is pretty easy.
Just be sure the pitcher is throwing with a fast arm circle, i.e., at her regular fastball/drop ball speed. Otherwise, if the pitch is too slow, yes it will drop but it’s more of what I call a “gravity drop.”
That’s not what we’re looking for. We want a pitch that is about the same speed as the fastball (+/- a couple of mph) but has a dynamic drop to it at the end.
If you have a pitcher who is struggling to get the ball to drop, or is throwing it straight down into the ground, give this drill a try. I call it the Best Drop Ball Drill in the World, and once you do it you may call it that as well.
Why Drop Balls Drop
Ok, as promised, here’s the basic explanation of the physics of why a drop ball drops suddenly.
There are two key concepts here. The first is Bernoulli’s Principle, which is the same reason airplanes fly (only upside down as you will see).
In the case of the ball, the movement through the air and the spin direction of the ball (ideally straight over the top, or 12:00 to 6:00) creates a difference in the air pressure on the top of the ball versus the bottom.
Because the air has to travel a longer distance on the bottom versus the top (because of the forward spin) there is less air pressure on the bottom of the ball. When this difference is great enough the high pressure on the top will push the ball down and it will drop like a rock.
This pressure difference is aided by the seams and the Magnus Effect.
The seams help increase the effect of ball’s spin on creating a pressure differential. The higher the seams the more the airflow gets increase over the top and interrupted on the bottom.
The Magnus Effect build on Bernoulli’s Principle by incorporating the effect of the ball spinning (as well as the orientation of the axis).
Bernoulli’s Principle basically looks at the effect of a static object moving through the air (or in actuality liquid but let’s stay with air) and its spin axis. The faster the ball spins, the more of a pressure difference is created and therefore the greater the movement.
If the spin axis is perpendicular to the direction of travel (i.e., the spin axis is on the exact side of the ball as it moves forward) it has its greatest efficiency and thus will create the best ball movement.
Now you know.
Efficiency Is the Secret Sauce to Improving Performance
Everyone is always looking for that one magical drill, or technique, or exercise, or something else that will help them improve their level of performance in games.
Building strength is often where players and coaches turn when they don’t know what else to do. And yes, you can definitely drive some level of improvement through strength or speed and agility training. But often the results don’t match the expectations – or at least the hopes.
That’s because there’s another element to the whole process: efficiency, or the ability to improve output without increasing the level of input.
Take a look at these two illustrations. The first one shows a player whose mechanics are inefficient, such as a hitter who only uses her arms or a pitcher who pushes the ball through release with a forced wrist snap.
Let’s say she is working hard but not seeing the results. Increasing her input is only going to raise her performance slightly, because the rather flat relationship between input and output remains the same.
When you have high efficiency, however, as seen in this chart, the difference between input and output is much greater
Both players are putting in the same level of effort. But the second is getting much more out of it. In fact, while the first player’s performance is below the midline of the chart, the second player’s performance is already above it.
Which means if player one wants to reach the same level she is going to have to somehow double her input. Yet if player two only increases her input a little more, her output goes to the top of the chart.
Now, all of the objects and their placement here are arbitrary; they’re not based on a specific set of numbers but rather just an illustration of the principle. But the correlation is real.
It’s essentially a great example of the coaching phrase “Work smarter, not harder.”
When you are inefficient, increasing your effort (strength building, practice time, and so forth) even to a significant level often only results in a small, incremental improvement in overall performance. If you are highly efficient, however, the effect of putting in even a little extra effort is multiplied and you can make significant gains toward your performance goals.
Think of it this way: if you were running a 100 meter dash race with a prize of the latest, greatest smartphone would you rather be on the starting line with everyone else or 10 meters ahead of the pack? I know which one I’d choose.
Being more efficient through mechanics that are proven to be superior gives you that head start on the race to the top. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll stay there – you still have to keep working or the less efficient players could pass you eventually – but having a head start is definitely a significant advantage in anything where there’s competition for success.
That’s why it’s important for players, coaches, and parents to understand what efficient mechanics are for every skill – hitting, pitching, throwing, fielding, base running. There are plenty of great resources out there that can point the way, starting with where you are right now on Life in the Fastpitch Lane.
For pitchers you might want to also check out Rick Pauly’s Pauly Girl Fastpitch website as well as Keeley Byrnes’ Key Fundamentals Softball blog. The Discuss Fastpitch Forum is also a great resource for a wide variety of topics.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have some great content (along with a lot of not-so-great content so you need to be discerning about who and what you follow).
If you’re not sure if you’re using efficient mechanics right now, a great way to check is to watch high-level college and pro games to see what those players do, and compare it to what you (or your daughter/player) is being taught. If you don’t see the same things, you’re probably not learning efficient mechanics.
All you need is a smartphone and a TV and you can capture your own clips. Throw them in some sort of video analysis software and you are ready to spend hours upon hours going down the rabbit hole. But at least you’ll be informed.
The bottom line is working harder always works better when you work smarter too. Focus on improving your efficiency rather than just your input and you’ll see your output rise dramatically.
Why Telling a Pitcher to “Slow Down” to Throw Strikes Is Counterproductive
I wrote recently about things coaches should never say. But after talking to some parents and pitching coaches lately, I think the old standby of coaches telling pitchers who are struggling to throw strikes to slow down their motions requires its own blog post.
While I know the coaches are just trying to be helpful, telling a pitcher to slow down in order to produce more strikes is counter productive on several levels. Let’s look at a few.
What they’ve practiced
I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that no pitcher who is going to a pitching coach is being trained to throw slowly. The name of the game is FASTPITCH softball, so no matter what they’re teaching (and we can certainly debate on what the proper pitching mechanics are) pitching coaches are sincerely trying to get their student to throw with as much speed as they can.
At least if they want to keep those students.
That means they’ve been working on a developing a specific set of mechanics that they can execute quickly. After all, slow movements mean slow pitches.
So if you’re asking a pitcher to slow her movements down, you’re totally taking her away from what she’s being trained to do. In other words, you’ve now made it like she’s never had a pitching lesson and is just guess at what to do.
Fastpitch pitching requires a certain rhythm and flow. It’s a complex series of movements in all three planes of motion that require precise timing to do well.
Telling a pitcher to slow her motion down takes her away from all of that and actually makes it harder for her to do what you want her to do – throw strikes.
Basic physics
The longer it takes for a pitcher to go through her motion and deliver the ball, the more opportunity there is for something to go wrong. It’s basic physics, coming out of Newton’s laws of motion.
If you apply enough force to an object in a particular direction, it will tend to continue moving in that direction unless some other force acts on it. As it moves it has momentum.
In a weightless vacuum, like in space, a small amount of effort will have that object going straight forever. But fastpitch softball isn’t played in a weightless vacuum.
So the pitcher has to apply enough force to overcome the friction of the air, any wind currents, and especially gravity.
Then there’s the path of the arm and position of the hand. If the hand and arm are moving all over the place it will be difficult to send the ball in a particular, desired direction. It becomes kind of a guess for the pitcher.
If the arm is going faster, however, its momentum will eliminate a lot of the wobbling and make it easier to throw the ball in the desired direction. Not easy, mind you, but easier than just pushing the ball out slowly.
Then it’s a matter of making sure the hand and arm are on-line at the time of release and that the release occurs at the proper time (not too early or too late).
Think about a bowling ball. If you roll it slowly, you are at the mercy of the lanes and how warped or slick they are. The ball will kind of meander back and forth along the path of least resistance until runs out of lane or hits the gutter.
But if you roll it quickly, it will overcome most if not all of the issues with the lane and take a direct path to wherever you sent it. Good or bad.
Player development
Look on the website of any program or even individual team and they will all profess that they are dedicated to player development. Uh huh.
Just once I’d like to see an honest website that says, “We are totally focused on winning as many tournaments as we can and will do whatever it takes, no matter what the consequences are or who suffers for it, to achieve this mission.”
But let’s assume the coach actually does want to help all of his/her players develop. That means letting them work at the top of their games, outside their comfort level, to develop the skills they’ll need to continue advancing in the sport.
In the case of pitchers, that means letting them throw hard so they can learn how to do so under pressure.
Ok, you say, but if the pitcher is walking everyone how do the rest of the players develop?
I agree they don’t. So if you want to stop the walks, don’t tell the pitcher to slow down her motion. Pull her and put someone else in.
If all you want is strikes, even if they’re slow and easy to hit, you can pretty much put in anyone. They can then come in and lob the ball toward the plate, and will likely give you the strikes you want.
Doing it that way isn’t that hard. And it might even be a thrill for that girl who has always wanted to pitch but never got the opportunity (because she hasn’t actually worked at it).
In the meantime, the pitcher will learn a lesson that she needs to work more at her craft so she can throw hard strikes with a fast motion if she wants more circle time.
Ok, you say, but I don’t want to pull her because she’s our best pitcher.
Not today. Otherwise you wouldn’t be telling her to slow her motion down.
Take her out and put in someone who can give you what you want – which will ultimately allow your best pitcher to continue developing. That will be best in the long run for her, and for the team.
Everybody wins
Telling a pitcher to slow down her motion to throw strikes is not the way to produce the results you want. It’s far more likely to make her pitches worse while taking her further away from her goal of becoming a quality pitcher you can rely on.
Instead, encourage pitchers to keep their energy high and trust their mechanics. You’re more likely to get strikes out of them that way (assuming they’ve been working at learning how to pitch).
And if they still don’t it’s time for a circle visit.
Tell them it’s not their day, put someone else in, and then tell them to keep working because you’re going to give them another chance. It could be the biggest benefit you ever offer that pitcher.
Photo by Song Kaiyue on Pexels.com
Brrrr It’s Cold; Take Advantage of It
As I write this we are not only in the beginning of the Christmas/New Year holiday vortex but also an actual polar vortex. Winter Storm Elliott is hammering much of the U.S., including parts that aren’t used to it, with snow, gale force winds, and bitter cold of the type that makes you run right back inside as soon as you feel it.
It’s so bad where I live that the facility I usually work out of has been closed for the last couple of days. No sense having people risk their health and/or their lives just to come to a lesson when there are no important games on the immediate horizon.
So does that mean all softball-related activities must come to a dead stop? Hardly.
In fact, times like this offer the perfect opportunity to really dig into mechanics and the mental game to work on the little things that can make a huge difference in a player’s overall performance.
It’s like when a player comes to a lesson and says they are feeling a little ill, or tired, or have an injury. I light up – not at their misfortune but at the chance to go deeper in aspects of the game that they might not want to spend so much time on ordinarily.
Not because it’s not necessary, but because it can be really boring to them. When it’s all they can do, however, those things become a lot more interesting.
So while it’s bitterly cold or snowy and you’re stuck at home (or even if it’s bright, sunny, and balmy for that matter) here are a few things to work on that don’t require a cage, a bat, a regular softball, or even much space.
Quick Pitching Release
I have yet to meet a pitcher who doesn’t want to be faster (including a few pretty famous ones). While speed alone isn’t everything, the more you have the better everything else seems to go. And the better you can get by until you can improve other aspects of your game.
One of the keys to speed is the ability to transfer as much of the energy the pitcher has generated through leg drive as possible into the ball. That requires a lightning-quick yet relaxed pronation of the forearm at release.
Building that pronation doesn’t require a lot of space or fancy equipment. You can:
- Throw a rolled up pair of socks into a wall or mirror
- Throw a plyo ball, foam ball, or regular ball into a net
- Walk around the house practicing releases, Ks, and full circles with nothing in your hand
- Perform various exercises (such as squeezing a stress ball) to build your grip strength
Focusing on that one little bit can pay huge dividends the next time you go to pitch at a full distance.
Leg/Body Drive and Timing Off the Rubber
Don’t worry non-pitchers, we’re getting to you. But this is another area that’s often under-trained when pitchers are left on their own.
A lot of pitchers have trouble generating effective leg/body drive off the pitching rubber. After they load they will start to reach forward with their stride (glove-side) leg while essentially standing on the drive (throwing-side) leg.
This type of movement is inefficient, even if it’s done quickly. To generate the kind of energy needed to throw hard you have to get the hips driving forward before the stride leg has gone out fully.
In other words, pitchers have to learn to use their legs together instead of one at a time. Fortunately, this is the same type of leg action used when you skip (or for you multi-sport athletes go for a layup).
Find a few feet of space and skip. Feel how the legs are working. Then try doing the same thing but adding a pitching motion to it.
Take video so you can see if you’re truly getting some spring in your step or if you’re just standing on the pitching rubber as the stride leg goes out.
You can also just stand on the ball of the foot of your drive leg, push forward, then “catch” yourself with your stride leg. This should all occur in a quick, short motion rather than trying to get out far.
Feel the legs working together, then start extending it until you can do it full speed, just as you would in a game.
Swing Mechanics
You probably know from endless hours of lessons what you’re supposed to do at each phase of the swing. But are you actually doing those things?
Here’s a way to find out. Set yourself up in front of a full-length mirror and watch yourself take a swing. If space is limited substitute a curling iron or a short pool noodle for the bat.
Go through it slowly and see what position your body is in at each phase. Check to see that you are:
- Getting positive movement forward
- Leading with your hips
- Getting separation between your hips and shoulders
- Keeping your hands up instead of dropping them to launch the bat
- Driving your back side around your front side
Do it slowly, over and over, checking each aspect. Then do it a little faster, then a little faster, each time checking all those aspects.
While this doesn’t do much for your timing, it ensures that if you are on time you’ll greatly increase your chances of hitting the ball hard.
Ball Transfers
While this applies to any position, it especially applies to catchers. The faster you can transfer the ball from your glove to your throwing hand, the sooner you can get the ball on its way so you can throw out even the fastest of rabbits.
This is a skill that can be practiced in a bedroom or living room.
Start out barehanded, with the ball in your glove hand. Then transfer it to your throwing hand by slamming it from one to the other.
Then add a glove, doing the same thing. Do it over and over, each time trying to go a little faster.
Before you know it you’ll be able to move that ball from one hand to the other with the best of them.
Mental Game
Ask any coach or player how important the mental game is and they’ll likely tell you it’s hugely important. Then ask them what percentage of their practice time is spent on the mental game and, if they’re honest, they will probably tell you little or none.
That’s because physical practice seems like practice. Mental game practice feels like you missed something you should have been working on.
This is your chance. While you’re stuck inside, do some visualization, seeing yourself making great plays or slamming great hits.
Work on your positive self-talk. A kind word from yourself at the right time can work wonders.
Look online for various stress-relieving techniques you can use during a game. Examples include:
- Squeezing a stress ball or other device
- Grabbing a handful of dirt, squeezing it tightly, then throwing it away
- Inhaling deeply through your nose and blowing the air out slowly through your mouth
- Washing your hands with water
- Creating a pre-pitch routine or ritual
Turn on loud music or a talking podcast then try to do something unrelated such as a reading or math problems. It’s amazing what this exercise can do for your ability to focus.
Time invested now in your mental game can pay big dividends when it’s actually time to play.
No Justification Needed
Really, these things aren’t just for bad weather. They are things you should be doing any time if you want to get better.
But bad weather provides the perfect opportunity because there is little else you can do.
Don’t waste this chance. Get on it now and you’ll find you’re than much farther ahead in your goals once you hit the field again.
Photo by Ir Solyanaya on Pexels.com
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 