Warm up to Throw. Don't Throw to Warm Up!

It is very important to allow all your players the opportunity to stretch and loosen up before allowing them to play catch. This is especially critical in the cold weather of March and April. Five minutes of baseball-specific exercise will get the blood flowing and help protect the arm and shoulder

Wind-Up and Delivery

With young (and even high school) pitchers, we try to break the pitching motion down to 5 steps. Youth league coaches often shy away from coaching pitchers, often citing a lack of knowledge. Keep it simple. Have your pitchers constantly repeat the 5 steps and you'll have a frame of reference and understanding, along with teaching cues to use;  rather than yelling tired phrases such as "bend your back," "follow through" and "hey, throw a strike and let them hit it."

The 5 Steps of Pitching

          1. Baby Rocker Step (4-6 inches)

          2. The Pivot

          3. Balance Point

          4. Stride and Release

          5. Follow Through (Extend to plate, finish low)

Step 1: Baby Rocker Step         Step 1:   4 - 6 inches              Step 2:  The Pivot

       Step 3:  Balance Point                         Step 4:  Stride and Release

Step 5:  Follow Through (Extend to plate, Finish Low)

Set the pitcher up on the rubber, feet spread shoulder width apart, with their front shoulder facing home plate. Have the pitcher raise his hands, while bringing his front foot back to the rubber. When the pitcher has come set, he strides toward the plate and delivers the pitch. What we have done is to eliminate steps 1 & 2. We have reduced the delivery to a 3-step process. Keep it simple! With fewer components to the delivery, there is less chance for breakdowns and mistakes. Consider that today there are increasing numbers of major league relievers who never pitch from a wind-up and go exclusively from the stretch.

Grips

I recommend that Little League pitchers be taught two pitches: the fastball and change-up.

THE 4-SEAM FASTBALL

The 4-seam fastball is held with the index and middle fingers across the horseshoe of the baseball. The ball should be held out on the tips of the fingers with the thumb placed on the bottom of the ball. Keep the ball out of the palm of the hand. The 4-seamer is the pitch that can be thrown with the greatest velocity. The backward spin created when the pitch is released provides a true and accurate path. It is considered the easiest pitch to control. It is for this reason that the 4-seam grip is taught to every defensive player, due to its' accuracy

THROW FASTBALLS!

Fastballs develop arm strength by building arm muscles. You get stronger through exercise. The fastball is the easiest pitch to control; hence a pitcher throws more strikes. Throwing strikes is the name of the game.

THE PITCHING GAME ... Some things to consider:

Practice pitching.   A pitcher only gets better by throwing.  Have them use the drills and work off the mound. Being an effective pitcher, being able to have control, can't happen by throwing once a week. Pitchers must do their "pitching homework" in order to improve.

Anticipate / Field the position.    Pitching to the plate is just one part of the equation. Once a pitcher releases the ball, he becomes the 5th infielder. Make sure they know the situation and where to go with the ball when it is hit. Examples:

** Any ball hit to the right side of the infield requires the pitcher to break to cover 1st automatically.

** Whenever a runner is on third base, it is the pitcher's responsibility to cover home on any ball that goes by the catcher.  (If you've watched enough games in Little League, you realize that this is the main source of run production.)

** Field bunts and comebackers. Never barehand the ball unless it has come to a complete stop.

Get that first strike in on the batter.  This gives the pitcher a tremendous advantage to be ahead in the count. Walks are poison. Not only do they give the opposition baserunners, but walks tax your player's arm and bore their defensive teammates to death. The old baseball adage is "you can't catch a walk." Let them hit it. Really. The odds are in favor of the defense 9 to 1 when the ball goes into play.

Coaches count pitches.    Particularly early in the season. Do not overwork young arms. Get into the practice of splitting games with your pitchers. Their arms are not ready for heavy workloads. Use 3 pitchers in a game (just like you would do with your rightfielders). Arms stay fresh.  Pitchers can come back later in the week and they will thrive on the regular work rather than appearing just once a week. This requires coaches to pay less attention to the scoreboard, but it will help to develop and preserve pitchers. As the weather gets warmer and the pitchers stronger, you can then stretch the innings out. Remember, count pitches not innings. Rule of thumb: Start the kids at 30 - 35 pitches and then add in increments of ten. Signs of fatigue include: shortness of breath, loss of control, pitches going higher, throwing arms dropping lower, resulting in pitchers slinging the ball, rather than being "on top."

There you have it. I've scratched the surface of the pitching game but you are now "armed" with info to impart to your hurlers.