Why The Famous Towel Drill Wastes Time, Ruins Pitching Mechanics And Velocity

The towel drill for improving pitching mechanics is one of the three biggest time wasters for pitchers. The other two are long toss and other various pitching drills…all of which only serve to create slow and robotic pitching mechanics with less velocity.

The towel drill is very popular and supposedly used to improve various aspects of pitching mechanics such as adding extension to the throwing arm. Some use it to help the pitcher stay in a more straight line to the plate.

The question is does it work and is it valuable and if so why?

I have written extensively about why the towel drill is not only a waste of time but is counterproductive to improving pitching mechanics. Years ago, one of my clients, was a college sophomore lefty at a top west coast D1 school. He was ranked as one of the top 35 best prospects going into the draft his junior year.

As a lefty who was throwing 89-91 mph he could have been drafted in the first round or early second round and commanded a signing bonus in the $500,000 to $Million dollar range. Then he started to work with a top pitching guru who had him doing the towel drill from improving his velocity. He worked on the towel drill all during the fall and into his junior season. What happened to his velocity? It went from 89-91 mph to 82-84 mph tops. Instead of getting drafted in the first or second round he ended up getting drafted in the 23 rd round and was out of baseball two years later…he and his family heartbroken.

Here’s why the towel drill ruins mechanics and velocity:

1. the focus is on the arm instead of the body – the arm does not produce pitching velocity
2. a towel does not feel like a ball…this changes a pitcher’s arm action
3. the towel is never released but a baseball is
4. the towel drill practices a release position that never occurs when pitching
5. it encourages trunk flexion without first rotating the trunk

The main reason the towel drill is destructive and a waste of time is that you are practicing an action that never occurs while pitching.

Watch the two videos. Both are of a 13 year old pitcher practicing the towel drill in Augest and the other is of him pitching in November. When doing the towel drill notice his emphasis on using his arm. Upon landing his upper body is too far forward which kills velocity. Also notice how he is reaching out with his front leg instead of driving with his back leg.

While pitching, I have slowed him down and gone frame-by-frame. His lower body mechanics are very poor. He also has arm action problems because of practicing different feelings and release points.

In order for pitchers to improve their mechanics or their pitching velocity they must practice pitching from the mound. Flat ground is not the surface from where pitchers after Little League pitch.

Why would a pitcher practice something that never occurs while pitching?

This is what I have been focusing on in our Explosively Pitching DVD program since 2004. We teach parents how to help their sons use their bodies to pitch instead of just their arms. Not only does this improve velocity but reduces the risk of arm injuries. http://www.pitching.com/products/