Showing posts with label pitcher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pitcher. Show all posts

Friday, November 26, 2010

5 Reasons to Become a Knuckleball Pitcher

By Robert D Reese

The Knuckleball

Everyone that follows baseball knows this pitch as the erratic "dancing" pitch. It is thrown with the least amount of spin possible so that air can interact with the laces on the ball and push, pull and manipulate the flight of the ball to home plate. This is why major league hitters look absolutely foolish while trying to swing at a knuckler.

What not that many people know is that practically anyone can learn to throw a knuckleball, it just takes patience, dedication and a little bit of a wild side.

5 reasons why YOU should learn to throw a Knuckleball

1. Don't need a Power Arm
Probably the main reason knuckleballers strive to perfect the most difficult pitch to throw. A knuckleball pitcher doesn't try and throw 90+MPH, they rely on the inconsistency of the knuckleballs flight path. They want the pitch to be thrown from anywhere in the 70-80 MPH range. This lets the knuckleball "dance" in the air, so a batter will have to guess what the ball will do, causing plenty of awkward swings, and plenty of laughs.

2. Can have a Long Career
Knuckleballers can have a longer than average career in the Major Leagues. The reason is that they do not have to put as much strain on the ball throwing hard, so the arm does not wear down as easily. Most knuckleballers can pitch well into their 40′s and still be effective. Take Tim Wakefield for example. He is currently 44 years old and still pitching for the Boston Red Sox. He was also named to the American League All Star team in 2009. Not bad for someone over 40 years old.

3. Very Difficult to Hit
A knuckleball is called many things, the dancer, the butterfly, the floater and many more. The reason is because no one knows where the knuckleball will end up, not even the pitcher. Now think about it, you are trying to hit a pitch that is floating and dancing in front of you with a stick that is about 4 inches in width. Not an easy thing to do. That is why pitchers are able to use it as their feature pitch, but it is also a curse because they do not know where the ball will land.

4. Not Everyone Throws One
As a knuckleball pitcher, you are apart of a fraternity of knuckleball pitchers as not many people are able to throw and less are able to master it. Even being able to throw a knuckleball makes you special. Now many people can throw a ball 60-70mph with no spin. Tom Candiotti, one of the great knuckleball pitchers was taken under the great Phil Nekro's wings and taught how to master the pitch. After Candiotti retired, he counseled Tim Wakefield early in his career. R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets is the newest knuckleball pitcher in the majors, and Wakefield help him out so as you can see, you are in a small brotherhood of knuckleballers.

5. Anyone can throw a knuckleball!
The best part of dedicating yourself as a knuckleball pitcher is that ANYONE CAN THROW ONE. Just ask Eri Yoshida, the first female pitcher to play professional baseball.

Take a look at her video here:
http://www.mlbtraining.org/mlb-perspective/5-reasons-to-become-a-knuckleball-pitcher/


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_D_Reese

Monday, November 1, 2010

Baseball Coaching Digest: Teaching Baseball Pitchers the Correct and Proper Stride Leg Mechanics

By Nick Dixon

One of the most common pitching flaws seen in baseball has to do with the motion and action of the pitcher's front leg or stride leg and foot. This article discusses three common baseball pitching flaws associated with the stride leg and foot.

Stride leg movement and landing foot action is an extremely important part of proper pitching mechanics. Here are three common mistakes made by pitchers that can make them suffer the embarrassment of a poor performance on the mound.

"Improper Leg Action from Balance Point to Stride"

The proper, correct and desired motion of the stride leg depends on the game situation and the presence and location of base runners. If there is no one on base the pitcher should go to the balance position, then separate, and then take the leg and foot downward in a "down and Out" or "Landing Plane Motion". This path allows the hands to separate and the throwing arm to get to the desire point with the front foot don and planted before the throwing RM COMES FORWARD.

If there is a runner or multiple runners on base, the pitcher should throw from the stretch and use the glide step to deliver the ball to the plate quicker to deter base runners from stealing.

"Improper Front Foot Landing"

The simplest way to describe a bad front landing is to say that the pitcher is landing the front foot on his heel. The front foot should land flat or on the ball of the foot. Landing on the heel makes the pitcher's delivery inconsistent and his control will suffer.

"Improper Front Leg Mechanics"

A young pitcher should be taught to stride toward home plate. The pitcher's front foot should land with the toes pointed in the vicinity of the plate. When striding toward home plate the pitcher should not land on a stiff rigid leg with their knee locked. This can cause a "pole vaulting" action and a whip like action that is a dangerous pitching flaw that can injure a player's arm over time. Pitchers have to learn to land with their front knee slightly bent, but to firm the bent leg up during the pitching motion. When the stride foot lands the knee should be bent. The lead leg must stiffen up as the pitcher's weight comes forward. This stiffening action gives the pitcher leverage or resistance to work against in creating arm whip and velocity.

I hope that you found this article to be informative and useful. Please visit the Youth Baseball Digest Blog, Baseball Coaching Digest Blog, and the Baseball Coaching Digest for more free baseball articles, baseball tips, and free baseball drills. Good luck to you and your team. Have a great day, Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Dixon

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The 3 R's of Pitching

By Rick Harig

Realize the basic premise that the pitcher has the advantage. This is the foundation for a successful pitcher. Hitting a baseball is said to be the hardest thing to do in all of sport. The pitcher needs to remember that. "If the swing by a right-hand batter is seven milliseconds (.007) too late, the squarely hit ball will sail foul past first base." - Robert Adair, a Yale physicist who has studied the science of baseball, referring to a 90mph fastball.

Recognize when you, as the pitcher, lose your focus. How do you avoid a big inning? You avoid it by recognizing that you have been taken out of your game and only then can you adjust and refocus to the task at hand. Many pitching plans include some avoidance of "the big inning". It is easy to talk about, but after one of these "big innings" takes place, the pitcher usually only understands it when reflecting back on it after the game and on the chaos that surrounded him while it was going on. The pitcher needs a thought-stopping cue from himself to help recognize that he has lost his focus. It is important to do this so he can pitch in the present and not in the past. The thought stopping cue could be as simple as "STOP", or "play in the now".

Refocus to the task at hand. Once the pitcher "snaps out of it" and concentrates on the present, then he can pitch to his potential and win the situation. The pitcher who analyzes and frets on how all those guys got on base will not be able to refocus into the present to do the job. A routine or mental cue can help with focus. The pitcher needs to let it flow and let the right side of the brain take over. He can only do this if the mind in clear and free of distracting thoughts. Here is an example of how a pitcher can get back into the now by letting his left brain guide him and set his right brain up for the actual pitch. Use the dirt circle of the mound as the positive / negative ground. Whenever he catches himself being negative he goes into the grass. At that time, he can tell himself anything he wants, he can worry about all the runners, the errors and walks that got them there, whatever he wants. However, the second he gets back onto the dirt he is positive and ready to get the next guy out! A routine like this combined with some proper breathing can get the pitcher to stay in a positive, non-distracting mode. Hopefully he spends most of his time in the dirt and stays in the now.

Every pitcher needs a plan. There is not one pitcher in the history of baseball that has gone through his career, let alone a season, or even a game, without adversity. No matter how good a pitcher is he will face dilemmas in games that he needs to have a plan for. It is too easy to say, "Be a bulldog, go get them". Sure successful pitchers have bulldog characteristics and competitive success models built in that they do not even know about, but there is no need to analyze that. It is the pitcher's past experiences, successes, and failures that have given him those built in characteristics. It is the future challenges that the pitcher will face as he progresses to higher levels of competition in his career that he needs the above to help advance his success rate.

Rick Harig
Copyright 2009
Cognitive Advantage Program
http://www.play-in-the-now.com


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Harig

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Drills For Little League Pitchers in the Bull Pen

By John R Di Nicola

The Bull Pen is where you can get the most done working with your young pitchers. Here they are working on their wind up and delivery. The pitchers will go through this station while the team is working on infield outfield practices. Once you have had a practice or two you can determine how much time you will allot for this station. You most likely will not get all the pitchers completed. Also your pitchers will be playing a position so you will have to schedule stations with that in mind.

You will most likely have to schedule several practices with pitchers and catchers only before the season starts. You can get so much more accomplished by working solely with the pitchers. Listed below are drills you can do in the bull pen and the actual field.

1. Wind up and from the Stretch - Mechanics

* This is the most important part for the young pitcher. Unless you get real lucky and have a pitcher who has pitched before you basically will be starting from scratch. To help the young pitcher feel comfortable you might want them to pitch from the stretch. History has shown they tend have better control when pitching out the stretch. A big factor that at the 7,8, and 9 year old level there seem to be a lot of base runners so they spend most of the time in the stretch position.

2. Locations

* This is the only time when you can really work on their control. You give them five places to look at while they are in their wind up and delivery.

1) The catcher right shoulder 2) Right Knee 3) Left shoulder 4) Left Knee 5) catcher's mask.
They first throw 10 pitches to catcher's mask. You instruct them to reach out and pull the catcher's mask off. Show them the index finger and middle finger out in front with arm extended and snap them down as to pull down when releasing the ball.

* Have them throw 5 pitches to each of the other locations. Once they are in the ready position they should pick up one of the locations and keep their eye's focused on the location till after the release of the ball.

* In time you should see improvement, However if a player is not improving with his control you to redirect him back to a position and try and find another pitcher.
Organizing your Practice

Set up your schedule and rotate your days you do the drills. You will find that some of the drills they will pick up quicker than others. The biggest thing is you cannot have marathon practices. By keeping the practices short and crisp you will keep players motivated. I found if you have a practice schedule and post it, will show the players approximately how long each drill will be and what to expect.

Practice makes perfect.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. If you would like further information on this topic or other information you can EMail me at:jdinicola@easypitching.com
You can follow us on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/easypitching
Web site:http://www.easypitching.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_R_Di_Nicola

Monday, July 27, 2009

Winning Workouts For Pitchers!

By Dan Gazaway

Growing up I was obsessed with Baseball. Just like every other kid, I knew I was going to play major league Baseball. My parents must have spent over $20,000 just on my education about pitching mechanics; that is no exaggeration. As a youth I was always tall so my parents and other high school coaches always tried to get me to play other sports, but I was never all that interested. Baseball was my game and Pitching was what I did best.

When I was involved in little league baseball I pitched the majority of the time. In my mind, pitching was the only thing worth pursuing and it consumed the majority of my time. I don't regret a minute of it because of what I do for a living now. I was simply intrigued by every aspect of the game. Particularly pitching, where, at the early age of 10 I dedicated a lot of my time learning about pitching mechanics and pitching specific workout routines.

One year, I believe I was in Junior High at the time; I was studying the way Nolan Ryan threw the baseball. I became more intrigued in the way he was working out. I started doing light dumbbell workouts and elastic cord workout programs the way Nolan did them. At the end of that year I must have tried every pitching specific routine available at the time. There was only one problem; I didn't have the time to keep up with all of them at once.

Every pitcher should have a regular workout program. However, you have to pick and choose which workouts are going to be best for you or you will find yourself being overwhelmed with all you have to accomplish. Make sure when you get involved with a new workout program you find a great workout partner. A great partner will be there for you to help you be consistent with your workouts and ensure you are on pace to reach your goals.

Training partners are also good at keeping you motivated when times get tough. I still train with somebody who lifts more than I do or seems to train harder that I do. I love the competition that brings. My point is to find a pitching specific workout routine that works best for you and then find a training buddy that will inspire you to stick with it.

Learn how to throw a baseball with proper pitching mechanics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Gazaway

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Becoming a Mound Magician

By Nate Barnett
I remember being a twelve year old pitcher and trying to strike every hitter out by throwing hard fastballs by everyone. I carried this same mentality into high school with some success. But, it wasn't until I pitched in college that it was clearly communicated to me why throwing a good change up as well as changing the speeds of my fastball was so important. At first, I was quite nervous with the prospect of throwing a slower pitch. I had a tough time with the fact that I would be taking speed off of pitches to produce positive results. Once I began to change velocities, however, pitching got much more fun.

So what makes Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, and Mariano Rivera so effective as pitchers? They change speeds, angles, and create movement on most all of their pitches. The goal of a pitcher should always be to mess with the balance and timing of a hitter by changing speeds. This doesn't mean that pitchers should be less aggressive while throwing a fastball; it simply means that all fastballs thrown should not be at 100% effort. There are a lot of pitchers who throw with great velocity. But, few have mastered the ability to change speeds like Greg Maddux and Jamie Moyer have.

You don't need a blistering fastball to compete as a pitcher. You do, however, need to create the illusion of a blistering fastball by keeping hitters off balance. Learn a good change up; it will be one of the best investments of time you make as a pitcher.

Nate Barnett and his business partner, Dan Gazaway are owners of the The Pitching Academy, a pitching information website designed to improve your on the mound performance as a pitcher.

The Pitching Academy contains information, products, training, free articles, and more on pitching, pitching workouts, pitching mechanics, different baseball pitching grips, and much more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett