Baseball: Baseball Pitching Speeds

23. June 2008 admin

Baseball pitching speeds are important but they arent everything. A real mistake is to try to get your velocity up before you perfect your mechanics. Young pitchers can throw out their arms trying to throw too hard. Part of pitching is admitting your limits. Just because you cant throw as fast as the next guy doesnt mean that you wont be successful.

Remember, an offspeed pitch can be as effective as a blazing fastball. To be a good baseball pitcher, you have to be smart. You have to remember the tendencies of batters you have faced before–either within the game or on separate occasions. Batters watch a pitcher when someone else is at the plate. They will try to learn your tendencies.

You may need to throw one batter all outside pitches. Another batter may struggle with pitches that are up and in. If you cant hit those spots it doesnt matter how fast you throw. Anyway, most hard throwers usually stick to one pitch: the fastball. It is a rare pitcher who is a speedster as well as a finesse pitcher. The combination is what makes Pedro Martinez so successful.

Pros and Cons of Baseball Pitching Speeds
Baseball pitching speeds are important, of course, but they are not everything. The test of a pitcher is longevity–both within a game and throughout his life. Those young pitchers who try to do too much too soon may end up having surgery earlier on. You are better off trying to perfect location rather than obsessing over baseball pitching speeds.

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Baseball: Youth Baseball Pitching

22. June 2008 admin

Youth baseball pitching is where the pros are made. In fact, many of the pros who are playing today started out as pitchers. Why? Because they were the ones who could throw the hardest. Pitching was a natural position. Think of how hard it is to throw quickly from third to first, or to throw someone out at home from the outfield.

Theres a reason that in fifteen inning marathons, with all relief pitchers used up, a player from third base or the outfield comes in to pitch. Usually it ends up disastrously, but its fun to watch. Position players have been used to pitching at some point in their lives. Look at the biggest name of all–Babe Ruth. He started as a pitcher.

Learning through Youth Baseball Pitching
Most often what separates position players from pitchers is hitting. If a player can throw, field, but cant hit, its a good idea to focus on pitching alone. Its not like all pitchers are failed position players–many just love the position. This should be your number one concern in youth baseball pitching–do you love pitching?

It takes a certain kind of baseball player to become a pitcher. Youll know in youth baseball pitching if this is for you. The pitcher is part of every play. At times a pitcher can take all the success, or all the blame. Its an intense, stressful position. In some way, emotional mettle is as important as arm strength.

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Baseball: Curveball Pitches

21. June 2008 admin

Curveball pitches are the hardest to perfect, both for pitchers and hitters. How many times do you hear about a hitter who cant hit breaking pitches? Basically, if you cant hit a breaking pitch, you wont have much of a life in baseball. If you cant throw curveball pitches, you will most likely have limited success.

The hardest thing about curveball pitches is the strain on the arm. To throw an effective curveball it is necessary to snap the arm on its way down. This will cause the ball to spin and drop as it comes to the plate. For young pitchers, this snapping motion is very difficult. Its both hard on the arm and hard to place in the catchers mitt.

Mastering Curveball Pitches
Its hard enough to place a fastball in the four corners. Now try placing a curveball which is intentionally supposed to move to a different location. So if youre trying to hit the lower left corner of the batters box, you may have to aim towards the upper left corner. If you hang the curveball, itll get hit. A hanging curveball isnt much more threatening than a batting practice fastball.

At the same time, people get a little too concerned over balls vs. strikes. A ball can quickly become a strike if the batter whiffs at it. Some pitches are intentionally thrown out of the strike zone in the hope that the batter will chase. People who think a pitcher is struggling every time he throws a ball dont quite know the game of baseball. Wicked curveball pitches can have batters swinging at pitches that are well off the plate.

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Baseball: Cut Fastballs

20. June 2008 admin

Cut fastballs are sometimes hard to differentiate from sliders. I have to be honest–when a baseball announcer says, A cutter, low and inside, I cannot always tell the difference. There are some subtle differences between baseball pitches. The main difference is in how they are thrown.

Maybe the confusion is that a lot of different types of pitches can fall under the term slider. Cut fastballs can seem to slide left or right and so they can be mistaken for a slider. Usually there is much more movement on a slider–it is more closely related to a curveball than a fastball. Many times sliders are unhittable.

Twenty years ago, the cutter wasnt so widely talked about. Today, pitchers like Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera have popularized the pitch. It is not recommended that younger pitchers practice a slider because it can be brutal on the tendons of the arm. Cut fastballs, on the other hand, are a good place to start.

The Grip on Cut Fastballs
The grip on cut fastballs is off center, which is what causes it to cut left or right. A slider is described as a hybrid of a curveball and a fastball. If a pitch is way off the plate but thrown hard, it is probably a slider–unless the pitcher has completely lost control of his fastball. Every pitcher doesnt use a cutter, but if they do its usually his out pitch.

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Baseball: Fastball Throws

19. June 2008 admin

Fastball throws are where every young pitcher should start. First you start with just playing catch in the backyard. Then you throw it a little harder, then a little harder still. Maybe Dad buys a catchers mitt. Soon youre throwing the ball as hard as you can, trying to hit spots.

Its a strange but fun obsession. Simply put, youre just throwing a ball. What makes pitching so exciting is that youre doing much more than just throwing a ball. At times it can feel like youre bending the laws of physics. It all starts with fastball throws. Its like the baby of pitches–the pitch youll keep all your life and hopefully improve upon.

Different Fastball Throws
Theres a number of different fastball throws: the cut fastball, the rising fastball (truly against the laws of physics), the four seam, two seam, or split-finger fastball. The trick to every fastball is to be inconspicuous–that is, a hitter will try to tell if its a two-seamer or a four-seamer, but by the time he does, its in the catchers mitt.

A change-up can also fall under the category of fastball throws. The trick is to make it seem like youre putting everything into the throw only to have the pitch trickle in to home plate. What will happen with a change-up is a batter will be swing way out in front of the pitch. Hell be expecting heat and so hell swing early thinking its the same speed.

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