Drills For Good Throwing & Pitching Mechanics

Drills for good Throwing & Pitching Mechanics

Drills

 Wrist flick drill  Trunk rotation  Dowel Drill  One Knee Drill  Straddle Drill  Slide Step Drill  Hip Rotation Drill  Hip Rotation Balance Drill.  Assisted Balance Drill.  Balance Drill.  Pitch Location Drills.  Pitching Fundamentals

Wrist Flick Drill: Aim: To Use the wrist, create correct point of release.  Athletic Stance – Square to target.  Elbow above shoulder.  Throwing hand up and vertical.  1. Wrist/hand to shoulder. 2. Wrist out to release.  Extension on release – loose wrist  This drill can be performed with the Dowel.

Trunk Rotation: Aim: To make the body work in Unison.  Athletic Stance – Square to target.  Take left knee to inside right knee (Reverse for LH), rotate hips with body.  Glove side elbow pointed out, glove in.  Both elbows above shoulders.  Chin stays online to target.

Dowel Drill: Aim: Focus on correct mechanics.  Athletic Stance.  Rotate upper-body 90°.  Break hands bringing to cocked position.  Elbows above shoulders.  Rotate hips, lead with elbow.  Release (snap) high.  Follow through, through target. One Knee Drill: Aim: To improve weight transfer and focus upper-body.  Glove side knee forward at 120°, throwing side knee 90°.  Good separation of lower and upper-body.  60% of body weight on back-side.  Take chest to glove – chest over front knee.  Transfer weight to front side – over front leg.  Chin stays on line to target.

Straddle Drill: Aim: To focus correct alignment and stride.  Wide Leg position – Straddle.  Weight back 60-40.  A wrong straddle length is a short one.  Weight transfer then forwards.  Finish partial fielding position.  Chin online – hips headlights to target.

3 Key Areas to Pitching: 1. Balance Position 2. Load Position 3. Explode Position

Pitching Fundamentals:  Ball back – weight back.  Ball forward – weight forward.  75-80% effort with good co-ordination.  Peak at release.  Develop your own feel.  Hand first – Pulls shoulder through.  Stride foot heel inline with instep pivot leg.

Slide Step: Aim: Direction and forward shift.  Focus upper body with “Trunk Rotation Drill”.  Stretch Position – Hands at waist – palm faces body.  Slide step to target – Don’t pick up the leg, just left the stride foot slightly and glide it to target.  Stride foot should be slightly closed.

Hip Rotation Drill: Aim: To produce correct hip rotation in the pitching motion.  Stand pivot foot parallel to & touch rubber.  Stride foot inline with instep and slightly closed.  From set position – cocked position and throw.  Keep pivot foot where it is.  Turn pivot foot over, turning hips right to target, hips are headlight to target.  Spend hips before bringing leg through.

Hip Rotation Balance Drill: Aim: To produce correct hip rotation in the pitching motion.  Stride foot inline with instep and slightly closed.  Pivot foot at leg distance on chair.  Instep side of foot flat on chair.  Start with hands at waist – Break hands – cocked position and throw.  Pivot foot turns right over – hips turned right to target.  KEEP PIVOT FOOT ON CHAIR!

Assisted Balance Drill: Aim: To break down the stride mechanic.  Stride leg on front edge of chair.  Pick-up stride leg.  Go to plate.  Hand pulls shoulder through.

Balance Drill: Aim: To develop speed and control.  1. Lift and Pause.  2. Lift and stride. No Pause  TWO main strides: 1. Take leg from lift straight to foot strike - stride out. 2. Up-down, glide to stride to foot strike, more control.

Pitch Location Drills: Developing Location: Drill 1:  From 45 feet facing catcher in the square position, see “Dowel Drill”, “Trunk Rotation”.  Throw to catcher.

Drill 2:  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Slide drill – Rotate hip – Start from load position.

Drill 3:  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Hip Rotation Drill.

Drill 4:  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Hip Rotation Balance Drill.  KEEP PIVOT FOOT ON CHAIR!

Drill 5:  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Assisted Balance Drill.

Drill 6:  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Balance Drill.

NOTE: Alternatively all these drills can be done against a wall or screen. This takes away the notion of having to hit a team-mate and focuses the athlete just on the mechanics of the throw. Drill 7: Aim: To NOT throw strikes – Improve location.  From 45 feet - Throw to catcher.  Catcher sets up targets:  Low and inside, mid inside, high inside, low and away, mid away, high away, high over.

Coaching points:  Don’t look at target to long: Focus when you break hands.  Don’t watch the ball.  Keep your chin, eyes on target once you have picked it up until finished motion.

Pitching Fundamentals:

The Wind-Up:  Practice against a wall.  Right foot in-front of rubber.  Left back.  Both hands in-front.  Rocker step.  Break hands when knee is up.  Fastball: Palm directly behind ball.

Change up:  Premature pronation.  Pronate from back behind head.

Breaking Ball:  Supinate - Curve Ball  Pronate – Sinker.

Pitching Absolutes:  Release – Straight line, shoulders, wrist, elbows etc.  Release close to HP as you can.  Turn right foot to HP when striding reduces throwing across the body.  Don’t look to HP until separate hands.  Pitches slow down 10 to 12 times by the time the ball gets to the plate.

Breaking Ball Absolutes:  Gravity causes downward movement.  Give the ball more opportunity to break.  Increase distance of pronation – Start at the coil position, behind head.

Pitching Errors and Corrections:  Throwing high and inside – Hold towards plate longer, stay closed longer. Use a marker in practice to indicate where to open.  Fastball with no movement, Possibly throwing too hard, Dropping fingers under ball – Ease back slightly, keep fingers on top of the ball.  Leaning – Everything should be vertical, kicking out will cause lean, keep leg in. Keep head and shoulders level.