A Quick Way to Pitch Faster
By: Cindy Bristow
The one thing we can all
agree on, when it comes to pitching is that all of our pitchers want to
get faster! You might be surprised to discover that there is a pretty quick
way for any pitcher to get faster.
If you’ve been around pitchers
for more than 5 seconds you know how obsessed they are with speed. It seems
like enough is never enough when it comes to a pitcher and her speed so
check out some great advice you can give your pitchers that will greatly
increase their speed.
Increasing a pitcher’s speed
is possible with a refinement of her mechanics but only to a certain degree.
All pitchers have a ceiling on their speed – a level where, no matter how
perfect they get their fundamentals, they’ll never throw faster. While
this ceiling never seems to be high enough when you’re talking to the pitcher,
what’s really important is that getting faster isn’t the key to a pitcher’s
success.
From a hitter’s point of
view, hitting fast pitching simply requires timing. Hitters eventually
time fast pitching and when they do they hit balls even farther since the
pitcher is supplying most of the power. But, if a pitcher really wants
to get faster AND throw the hitter’s timing off – then she needs to master
her Change Up! Because of this the Change Up is possibly the most important
pitch a pitcher can have!
While most pitchers think
they have a change up, they seem to constantly be in search of a new one.
For some reason they think since the pitch goes slower that the learning
curve should be less. Maybe that’s why pitchers are constantly searching
for a new way to throw this pitch instead of simply putting in the time
to practice the chance up they have.
Let’s really look at the
change up right now – either the Backhand or Palm Forward type doesn’t
matter – and discover 4 Keys to Pitching Faster. First of all your pitcher
should Experiment. If your pitcher is still struggling to find the best
change up for her she should try all the different types and see which
one she can throw the slowest. Having control doesn’t matter during this
phase since the pitcher is only experimenting to see which type of change
up she can throw slowly – not perfectly. What’s important when picking
a changeup is that your pitcher be able to pitch the ball slower.
Now, if your pitcher already
has a change up but it isn’t what it needs to be, for whatever reason,
then let’s look at 4 issues that are critical to the change up:
-
The Speed – The speed for the
change up obviously needs to be s-l-o-w, and it’s the grip and release
that create the slow speed. So if your pitcher’s change up is too fast
then check to make sure that the ball is deep in your pitcher’s hand, and
that she’s got the brakes of her hand on the ball. The picture on the right
shows a pitcher’s hand and how the long part of the fingers and the palm
are the Brakes (B) and the pads or snapping part of the fingers are the
Speed (S) parts. When a pitcher throws a change up – either the backhand
or the palm forward – she needs to keep the brakes on the ball to help
slow it down. With the back of the hand change up pitchers will often get
too much speed on the pitch if they wait too long to turn their hand. Pitchers
should turn their hand backwards at the top of their arm swing instead
of waiting to turn it as they release the ball.
-
Distance – Distance is the other
problem with the change up, and yet it’s probably the easiest problem to
fix. While grip and release are the things that make a change up go slow,
fastball hand speed at release is what a pitcher must achieve to get fastball
distance on the pitch. Too many pitchers slow down when releasing the ball
in order to try and make the ball go slow and as a result, they end up
losing distance on the pitch. Hand speed at release is distance on a change
up so if your pitcher’s change up is falling short in the dirt then get
her to explode her hand through the release point.
-
Accuracy – Change up accuracy
is a lot like fastball accuracy, basically the ball goes where the pitcher’s
palm is pointing at release. With that in mind the Back of Hand change
up pitchers will need to take their fingers to the glove on the follow
through and the Palm Forward pitchers will need to shove their palm at
the catcher. In addition, here are some other tips for helping the accuracy
of your pitcher’s change up: Follow through to the glove vs stopping at
the release point, For the Palm Forward change up keep the fingers stiff
until the catcher catches the ball, PRACTICE! – in fact, make at least
one day a week Change up day, and finally alternate change ups in with
the faster pitches instead of just throwing millions of changeups in a
row. Have your pitchers throw a fast pitch, followed by a change up, then
fast, then change, then fast, then change. Work with your pitchers to alternate
their change up with each of their other pitches continually throughout
the week.
-
Tipping the Pitch – Finally,
it’s vital when throwing a changeup that the pitcher not tip her change
up, or do anything to let the opponents know it’s coming. The most common
ways that pitchers tip their change ups include: Taking too long to grip
the pitch, struggling to grip the pitch, gripping the pitch outside of
the glove, slowing down the stride (this is really common so watch for
this in all pitchers), and finally slowing down the arm swing.
Having a dependable change up
is the quickest way for a pitcher to get faster and to disrupt the timing,
balance and confidence of the opposing hitters. Learn to dominate your
Change Up and you’ll be on your way to dominating the batters, and to pitching
faster!