All About Pitching

8 Steps To Poweful Little League Pitching Mechanics

How can parents of Little League pitchers best insure that their sons have a successful and fun season this year. I have a few suggestions. Keep pitching mechanics simple, practice often and use a video camera to improve.

The other suggestion, not related to performance improvement, is to lower expectations and don't focus on results but improvement. After all pitching is a learned skill like golf. It takes lots of prudent practice.

Keeping Little League pitching mechanics simple is much more difficult today because instructors and coaches break down the pitching delivery into small pieces that only serve to complicate Little League pitching mechanics. This breaking down of the delivery into small parts using pitching drills is what I believe reduces velocity and control and forces the pitcher to think much too much about how to throw the ball instead of learning naturlaly where to throw it.

The result is the pitcher ends up with slow movements and hesitations which not only kill velocity but control as well.

Throwing a baseball is a natural action…having been around for a few thousand years or so. That being the case shouldn't we keep it more natural by keeping it more simple? Shouldn't all instruction be based on science instead of just coaching beliefs?

Stop All Pitching Drills

Here's why. Pitching is a two-phase motor skill like golf that has no natural breaks or stopping points. Once a pitcher starst his movement toward the plate he must not hesitate in any way. The balance drill is one of the worst drills ever invented, followed by the kneeling drill and now the famous towel drill. I have written several articles about why these drills are counterproductive and are ruining pitchers every day by the thousands.

Pitching drills are fine initially for a beginning pitcher. But once a motion has been built there is little need for doing more drills. Drills complicate, waste time, and actually reduce performance. This fact has been proven by sports science research over and over again. But baseball coaches do not read research.

However, I do. In fact, since reading this research, I have not done a pitching drills since 2003, nor have I recommended pitching drills to our clients, who number close to 20,000.

Slow movements and hesitation is what kills not only pitching velocity but the abiltity to direct the ball toward the target. Moving slower is not how to improve controlas most instructors or coaches advise. So elimate any slow movements and hesitation.

8 Steps To Keeping Mechanics Simple But Powerful & Effective

1. Pitch only out of the stretch initially.

2. Start with the feet fairly close together so that the pitcher's weight (head) is positioned over the back leg.

3. Start with the hands comfortably at mid-chest or the belt.

4. Use what I call the timing trigger, when the hands move down the back leg bends and the pitcher drives his front hip at the plate, all done simultaneously.

5. Land on a flexed front leg at least 90% of the pitcher's height, with a goal eventually of reaching 100% of his height.

6. Land on the mid-line or slightly open. You draw a line from the ball of the pitcher's foot toward the plate. His front foot should land on the line or for a RH pitcher 1-2 inches open on the first base side of the line. The foot for a RH pitcher ideally should be pointed at the RH batter's box—at a "slight" angle.

7. Land with the head directly between both feet. This requires proper shifting of the weight away from the rubber by leading with the front hip, not the shoulder.

8. Finish the pitch with the pitcher's trunk flexed forward with his back parellel to the ground. I call this the "flat back" position. This insures that the arm takes on less stress. Make sure he is not upright when he releases the ball which indicates he is moving too slowly and which produces a short stride. Short strides kill velocity and being upright at ball release is more stressful on the arm.

Now that you know what to look for, get the video camera out and record your son during a bullpen session. Do this regularly. Now check these points I have made and then make corrections from there for improvement. But the key is to practice often and always keep checking by using the video camera. Honestly, I use the video camera during every one of my lessons. Even with major and minor league pitchers.

Don't Forget - My Complete Pitching Instruction program is the only complete "pitching clinic" home study course available that is backed by real sports science research. It's designed for parents, coaches, and players of all ages. Whether you're a pitcher just starting out, or an advanced pitcher looking for answers, we make it simple to understand for both the parent and pitcher.

"Dick’s program has given me the knowledge I need as a pitching coach to help young people succeed. I highly recommend it to any pitcher Little League through college. From mechanics to conditioning to the mental aspect, everything he does is top notch. His program helped our pitchers go 29-1, have a 0.80 ERA last season, and win a State Championship."

Banks Faulkner, Gilbert Indian Baseball, Gilbert, SC

If you're serious about improving pitching performance without risking arm injury or worse reserve your copy of the Complete Pitching Instruction DVD Set today!