Posted on Tue, Apr 28, 2009
If you have decided to go on with pitching at either the rec level or the travel/club level you will need to workout often. Depending on your age, 2 to 3 times a week should do it for rec and school levels starting 2 months before tryouts. You will need 4-5 workouts a week for serious travel/club ball starting 3 months before the season. If you live in a warm location you should pitch all year taking 2 weeks off around Christmas and another 2 weeks at the end of your season. When the season is in full swing, if you get a start a week, you can cut your practices down but always have at least two. Here is how to make them fun:
Week one: select the amount of time you should practice and begin. Have your catcher count the number of pitches you throw in the time you selected. Let's say you picked one hour (not including warm up and warm downs) and threw 75 pitches.
Week two: Throw 75 pitches no matter how long it takes but don't try to rush. Have your catcher keep a count of the strikes. Let's say in 75 pitches you threw 43 strikes.
Week three: You will throw 43 strikes in practice no matter how long it takes. As soon as you do your done. Have your catcher keep track of the time it takes you to do this.
Week four: Play 21 outs. Pretend there is a batter, (sometimes left handed) and let your catcher mix up your pitches keeping ball and strike counts. The catcher is the ump for the calls. When you have 21 strike outs you're done no matter how long it takes. Have your catcher keep track of the time it takes you to do this. CAUTION, this is where arguments can start. If you work a batter to a full count and throw a pitch that you think is a strike and your catcher thinks is a ball it can get testy. So always start this workout with 2 "take overs". You can use the take over to re pitch the full count and that will stop the argument about the last pitch.
Week five: Repeat week one being sure that the time you select is right for your needs and level. It should be at least as long as the time you used in week 3. Have your catcher count the number of pitches you throw in the time you selected. Let's say you picked one hour (not including warm up and warm downs) and threw 79 pitches.
Week six: Throw 79 pitches no matter how long it takes but don't try to rush. Have your catcher keep a count of the strikes. Let's say in 79 pitches you threw 51 strikes.
Week seven: You will throw 51 strikes in practice no matter how long it takes. As soon as you do, your done. Have your catcher keep track of the time it takes you to do this.
Week eight: Play 21 outs. Recall at how long it took you to get 21 outs in week 4 and try to do better. Have your catcher keep track of the total pitches you needed to get the 21 outs. The next time you have a 21 out practice week you will want to try to throw fewer pitches to get the outs.
Week nine and on: Just keep repeating these 4 week cycles adjusting the numbers as you go. THE END OF EVERY PRACTICE: Throw 5 fast balls to your catcher letting them know that one of these will be a change up. It can be the first or any other of the five. The catcher's job is to call the pitch before it leaves your hand. If they can, your change is not good enough and needs special practice. Now throw a fastball strike with your eyes closed. Take 5 try's, your done when the first strike is thrown or you get to 5 attempts. Soon you will be able to throw a strike in the first or second pitch, eyes closed, every practice, believe it or not.
COMMENTS:
Week one: Pitchers have a tendency to work slowly when it is a timed practice without a lot of attention to effectiveness and the strike zone.
Week two: Pitchers tend to work fast when the practice is a pitch count, without a lot of attention to effectiveness and the strike zone.
Week three: Pitchers will try very hard to get into the strike zone if the length of practice is the strike count
Week four: Pitchers will treat it like a game and will want the pitch selection to be their "OUT" pitch when the count is 2-2. Even in practice, pitchers do not like to walk batters pretend of not.
Practice end: A change up is not a slow pitch. It is an illusion of a fast pitch. The pitcher must do EVERYTHING the same for the illusion to work. A good change will even fool an ump. We often throw our change in the strike zone to get the call. When the pitcher realizes they can throw strikes with their eyes closed it will no longer be a problem intentionally taking a batter to 3-0. Confidence in their own ability is built right here. Each of these weeks has a flaw in its way of addressing a practice. Can you guess what the flaw is for each week? The flaws are canceled out by differences in the other 3 weeks. Questions please!!!!!
Posted on Mon, Apr 06, 2009
Practice is the place to build your advantage over the competition. The better your practice is, the more of an advantage you will have. So, practicing a lot should do it, right? Not necessarily! Many long term pitchers have lackluster, boring practices that succeed only in burning up time. In fact, practice pushes more athletics away from pitching than any other factor. Additionally, most young pitchers have a family member catch them. Sooner or later a disagreement will occur. If this happens often enough the whole family is effected. When we worked on pitching, practice was 5 days a week and there were weekend games. A typical practice including warm up and warm down, along with travel to and from the practice site cost about 2 hours each day. I live in So Cal so weather allowed me to practice outside most of the time. The only real break would be if we had rain. When that happened we would go to a batting cage and buy an hour there. That made the workout about a half an hour shorter. Overall that is about 600 hours (including game time) a year, about 30,000 practice pitches annually. Here are comments for pitchers of all levels to consider starting with rookies.
BEGINNING ROOKIE PITCHERS: If you think you may want to pitch, start at least 4 months before your season begins. The most important part of beginning as a pitcher is to ask yourself HONESTLY if you want to invest time into the position. Ask those that know you if they think you have the temperament. Think about the local organization for the sport; is it active enough to be worth your investment in time and energy. Are you OK medically; asthma, allergy's, endurance, size and vision need to be within workable guidelines. If all is fine then it is time to find a good pitching coach and take a beginner's lesson. Practice 3 days a week for about a 1/2 hour, working on motion and accuracy only. Do it in a private, well lighted area if possible and be sure to use the ball you will be throwing if you continue as a pitcher. Once you have the motion to a point where you don't have to think about it, take your next lesson. Continue on the 3 day schedule, a 1/2 hour each time plus warm up and warm down. Take another lesson and repeat the practice schedule. After one month it's time to decide if this MIGHT be for you. Ask your pitching coach to give you an honest and realistic evaluation. Do they think you are talented enough to make pitching a career? If they say yes, ask your self the same question listed in the beginning again. Also ask your family if they are willing to help you with your commitment. If you decide to continue you have graduated into the novice pitcher class. Things will begin to change now. Check with us next week fore the next installment for practices. If you have any comments put them here and we will respond.