September 9, 2011 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

How to throw faster!

How do I throw faster? That is one of the most common questions we get asked. There are many things to do to help you throw faster and eating a lot of food to try and gain weight is not one of them. Most pitchers are doing things that keep them from throwing harder; most of them involve poor pitching mechanics.

Conditioning, nutrition, genetics and your mental game also play a role in how fast you throw. Yes, believe it or not, if you are not conditioned to throw the baseball you will have a hard time maintaining your balance throughout your delivery which makes it impossible to throw correctly. Being fit to pitch, following a nutrition plan (which is linked to being fit to pitch) and focusing on your mental game directly effect how you will perform. They all affect your pitching mechanics one way or the other. However, today I just want to focus on throwing faster when it comes to pitching mechanics alone.

Here is a list of questions you can ask yourself to ensure you aren’t cheating yourself out of a few miles an hour. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Pitching, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Velocity Tagged With: How to Throw Faster, Pitching Velocity

August 11, 2011 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

How to Throw Faster!

How to Throw Faster

Perhaps the most popular subject we talk about is how to throw faster. Regardless of how fast you throw already, it would be great to add a couple miles an hour to your fastball wouldn’t it? Let’s make sure you are doing a few things that will help you do just that.

There are many things that will help you throw faster. Today I just want to talk about one of them; “proper weight transfer.” This happens from the balanced posture to foot strike. Basically from the leg lift to when your landing leg hits the ground. A lot happens during this phase but let me break it down for you so it makes sense. [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Pitching, Pitching Mechanics Tagged With: How to Throw Faster, Pitching Mechanics

October 29, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

How to Improve Bat Speed

I received a question yesterday about what kind of baseball workouts to do to increase a hitter’s power. That is a good one and a question I don’t get as much for some reason. Typically the questions center around what mechanical training can be don to improve power.

Let me answer the question from the workout perspective. Power comes from bat speed. The greater the speed of the barrel of the bat into and through the hitting zone, the more power a hitter will have. The question then is what muscles are most involved in created great bat speed?

Your core (upper stomach to thighs) strength combined with correct mechanics produce bat speed. Hitters with soft core syndrome never build enough strength to really create separation between the upper and lower parts of the body that is responsible for creating power. Therefore, you can work all you want on hitting mechanics, but if you’re core is not being trained, you’re only limiting yourself.

If you are going to get some core work in this fall and winter make sure you do as much as you can in an unstable environment (anything that requires balance and core activation). What do I mean by that? Instead of doing regular push-ups, do push-ups with your feet on a yoga ball. Or, if you’re really ambitions (and mildly insane) you can try Barry Lovelace’s freestyle push-up drill. If you’re short on time skip to the 3:45 mark, but just please don’t try this unless you’ve been working your core a lot. Barry is the master of creating core exercises that crush your core and make you stronger FAST.

Check out Core Training bonus here!

Filed Under: General Baseball, General Hitting, General Pitching, Pitching Workouts Tagged With: Baseball Hitting, Bat Speed, Core Power For Baseball, Hitting, Hitting Mechanics, Swing Mechanics

October 27, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

All-Star Athletes: The Total Package

There are those athletes who lack “natural” ability but have the will and the determination to do whatever it takes to succeed. They simply have an “I can” attitude. They never give up! These are those athletes who make the most out of whatever talent they may have. Many times these athletes surpass those who don’t have heart but are naturally gifted athletes.

Coaches: Is it easier for you to teach work ethic or skill building? Would you rather have sheer talent on your team or a group of youngsters who lack some skill but have the will to succeed?

Players: Are you doing all you can to be the best you can be at your sport? How has this or will this pay off for you?

Learn the real value of The Mental Game of Baseball.

Filed Under: General Baseball, General Hitting, General Pitching, Mental Game of Baseball Tagged With: Mental Game of Baseball

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Throw Faster in No Time

At least 40% of our questions are about increasing velocity. Most of them are similar questions and I will take some time to address the majority of them in one email.
Pitching Velocity Tips
Stay relaxed when you throw: If you are tense when you pitch your arm speed will be much slower. When you stay relaxed your arm speed increases. Pitchers with this problem (staying tense) tend to have control problems as well.
Lengthen Your Stride: This tip comes up a lot in our emails because it is so important. The more momentum you have toward home plate the easier it is to use more legs and hips into the throw. When you stride, try to get out at least 100% of your height especially if you are in high school or beyond. The longer the stride the stronger the core should be to maintain appropriate balance and rotation. Some younger pitchers have a hard time increasing their stride because they lack core strength to deal with proper hip rotation afterward. Our good friend Barry Lovelace can help with that.
Rotate hips: Right before your landing leg hits the ground start rotating your hips. Hips should rotate before shoulders creating more of a feet to fingertip approach to throwing the baseball. When hips go first they activate the core. In turn, your core takes energy up through your shoulders and finally to your fingertips. If your shoulders begin to rotate before your hips you will lose power because you will use more of your arm to throw instead of your entire body.
Lead with your hips: When you lift your leg, make sure your hips stick out toward the catcher a bit (butt to catcher almost) without bringing your weight (upper torso) back. Watch most starting pitchers in the major leagues. Look at how they lead with their hips to gain more momentum. This helps propel them forward getting good momentum toward the plate. If you just lift your leg up and set it down, no momentum is created.
There are many more ways to create maximum velocity. Find out more velocity secrets and demonstrations here in our Baseball DVD

Filed Under: General Pitching, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Velocity Tagged With: Core Power For Baseball, How to Throw Faster, Increase Pitching Velocity, Pitching Velocity

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Consistency is the Breakfast of Champions

Consistency is The Breakfast of Champions

Last night, the Giants snuck another game from the Phillies. Oh, what a good game it was from a clutch play standpoint. There were so many situations that were crucial; it was a baseball fans’ dream (that is unless you’re a diehard Phillies fan).

Because I love the head to head strategy of baseball, I always watch how pitchers throw vs. how hitters work the count. There were so many situations last night that pushed the skill and focus of hitters and pitchers. The question I want to explore in today’s email is:
How do these athletes in the playoffs keep their composure in the face of such pressure?

Instead of looking at the mental side of it, I want focus on the physical preparation/skill training of great athletes. What we don’t see is all the work that goes on before games, after games, and in between. Once you understand all the prep work that goes into the strategy of each pitcher/hitter situation, it SHOULD light a fire under the butts of all those who want to play high level baseball. There is always work to do!

When I was playing minor league ball in the Mariners organization I remember getting to the park at 1pm regularly for a 7pm game. We spent time in the cages working on hitting different pitch locations, worked on a specific part of defense, improved our footwork with agility drills, and of course ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during breaks.

Why did we spend so much time before the game? We wanted to repeat as many different scenarios as we could before we faced those same scenarios in a game when it really mattered. And because there are uncountable amounts of scenarios in a typical baseball game, we spent some serious time working on as many as possible.

Now, please don’t read into this and think that as a coach you need to hold five hour practices. You’ll fry your kids’ excitement for the game. I am advocating working intelligently and efficiently on understanding and teaching the mechanics of the game. The more you can help your athletes prepare their skills, the more consistent play you’ll get in pressure scenarios. That’s how these guys can look so under control in the playoffs, they’ve been in similar situations thousands of times before. Of course the playoffs increase the external pressure, but you get my point.

You don’t need to be the expert on hitting or pitching, but if you don’t know how to teach specifics well, find someone who does. This was our focus in our new DVD series coming out. We wanted to create a series of DVD’s that would show you how we teach what we teach as well as what to look for in your hitter/pitcher in order to help him most. You can also grab our pitching mechanics DVD here if you can’t wait.

Finally, if you want to truly watch a master of physical and mental preparation in action, you’ll get your chance tomorrow night when Roy Halladay takes the mound again for the Phillies. If you don’t know his story, this article is worth a read.

Filed Under: General Baseball, General Hitting, General Pitching, Mental Game of Baseball, Pitching Workouts

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Mechanics of Water Polo Question

I received the below question this week:
“Yesterday, after practice, a parent of a player (RHP/OF) of mine
approached me with a question. His question was whether his son who’s
15 yrs old, besides baseball can practice water polo.

We are in the off-season here and started baseball practice about 2
weeks ago. I told him that, according to me, you can put some stress
on this kid’s shoulder/rotator cuff.

So, my question to you is: Can this player do both water polo and
baseball at the same time?”

I encourage my students to play as many sports as they would like. Hey, we don’t know, nor does the athlete know, if they are good at something until they experience it. I don’t want to limit anyone’s experiences in life. Of course baseball is my favorite sport and I make a living teaching pitchers. However, who knows if this student will truly excel in water polo unless he gives it a shot. My opinion is that no matter what sport a child is “dedicated ” to, other sports will only enhance their ability to be a leader, be more athletically inclined, be more accepting to others, be more diverse and agile and more importantly stay in shape for the best sport, baseball.
I’m all for playing multiple sports even all through high school. I think it’s crazy that some coaches are telling players to only play one sport and they won’t be good at it if they don’t focus solely on that sport. That, in my mind, is crazy talk and I’m sure will cause some debate however, that is what I believe.
In this specific case, the coach should inform the athlete of the possible risk of the sport of water polo and how it can injure his shoulder. It’s not just about throwing the water polo ball correctly that will decrease injury; when you throw a ball that can be blocked your arm can go from 50 mph to zero in a matter of a fraction of a second. This of course can take its toll on a shoulder. The athlete should be aware of these things and then make an informed decision whether or not he wants to play. Ultimately the decision is that of the athlete, (and his parents) but at that age kids often have a difficult time weighing out options and seeing the big picture. They need a little help sometimes seeing the big picture.
Moral of the story. Multiple sports can be great! Help students make an informed decision by bringing all options to the table. As a coach, be open to the students’ needs, wants and desires to play other sports.

Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Baseball Tagged With: Pitching Mechanics

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Baseball’s Best Pitching and Hitting Articles

We’ve been producing a lot of content lately on our blog as well as in these emails you’ve been getting. I thought I’d take a moment to categorize some of the most viewed baseball emails/articles for you to sift through at your leisure.

Pitching Mechanics:
Heath Bell and Ubaldo Jimenez Pitching Mechanics
Power Pitching: Throwing with Legs and Hips
Can the Slide Step Affect Pitching Mechanics and Velocity?

Pitching Grips:
How to Throw a Great Curveball
How to Throw a Cut Fastball Like Mariano Rivera

Pitching Velocity:
Increase Pitching Velocity 3-5mph
When a 79mph Fastball is Dominating

Hitting Mechanics:
How to Hit a Baseball Like Mickey Mantle
Could You Be a Casey Kotchman?
How to Destroy Your Hitting Mechanics: Swing Down on the Ball

Misc. Articles:
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Goal Setting
How to Strengthen Your Arm
Pitching Specific Workout: Why Core Strength Training?

Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Baseball, General Hitting, General Pitching, Hitting Mechanics, Mental Game of Baseball, Pitching Grips, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Velocity Tagged With: Baseball, Baseball Hitting, Baseball Pitching, Hitting, Pitching

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Pitching Is All in Your Head…Silly

Pitching is All In Your Head

Have you ever wondered how it is that these guys pitching in the playoffs can stay so composed in the face of pressure and adversity? I was watching Roy Halladay pitch against the San Francisco Giants Saturday and looked closely at his composure pitch to pitch. The guy is a robot! I watched the umpire miss a couple big pitches and saw nothing out of Roy. I watched him give up TWO home runs to Cody Ross and saw nothing. I watched him have some great innings as well, and saw nothing change in his demeanor.

Is this just Roy? Not at all. I saw the same thing out of Oswalt last night.

Composure. Composure. Composure. How do they do it when I watch young athletes every year give up a hit or a walk and slump their shoulders, kick dirt, and swear. The answer is (among other things) is perspective.

Halladay and Oswalt both understand that a baseball game is a marathon. Each inning is simply a small stage in the journey. They understand mistakes will be made physically from time to time, but they protect and filter unnecessary thoughts and reactions when these bad things happen. This allows their bodies to pitch as they have been trained to pitch.

Think of it this way. Your mind is like a giant culvert with water (your thoughts) running through it constantly. Every once in a while a log (hit, walk, error) floats through the culvert. It’s no big deal if you let the log float on through, but it becomes a problem when the log turns sideways and jams up the flow of the water. Soon more logs come through and create a log jam. At this point, the main course of the water (your thoughts remember) has been altered and it will take some time and work to free up the log jam. Time you don’t have.

The reason the missed pitches and the home runs made little difference to the pitchers I’ve mentioned is because they understand what will happen if they allow their thoughts to run wild. They will lose focus, make more bad pitches, and soon find themselves out the game.

So, check yourself when you’re performing. See how often you spend time in a “log jam”. Believe me, it’s a lot easier letting the logs pass through.

Last week I mentioned our four DVD set coming out here in a few weeks. One of the DVDs has an interview with our advisory board member, Justin Su’a of Su’a Sport Psychology. He talks for 45 minutes on the above challenges and how to work through them. It’s a must see for those who struggle with keeping composure.

Our Baseball DVD Series is Here Now!

Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Pitching, Mental Game of Baseball Tagged With: Baseball Pitching

October 25, 2010 By baseballfans Leave a Comment

Preventative Care for Baseball Players

Preventative Care For Baseball Players

There are some people who see their physician regularly for checkups. Others think they can scoot along and only see their doctor when they encounter a problem. Some do their very best to avoid the doctor at any cost and ensure that nothing bad ever goes into their bodies.

The attitudes in the game of baseball aren’t much different. There are those athletes that take a handful of pitching lessons and think it’s sufficient; maybe it is for their level of play and that’s fine. Others are “finely tuned athletic machines” and never give up soaking up every ounce of knowledge possible. These athletes don’t waste valuable time, their workouts are intense and they put all they have into every practice even if they are just working on another routine ground ball.

However, there are other athletes out there who become complacent and think they know all there is to know about the game. Some may think, “I have taken 45 pitching lessons and pretty much know what I’m doing by now. That’s good enough!” Others get in the habit of not throwing with a purpose so they just casually warm up because everybody else does and it’s part of a routine. Sound familiar?

The problem with this type of attitude in sports is there comes a time when the serious athletes surpass you and leave you in the dust. You know, it’s the guy with much less talent and skill but more heart and determination to succeed. These are the players who really do make it to a higher level in sports and in life.

Long term success is determined by your “everyday decisions”. Are you going to take each practice seriously or just go through the motions? What type of preventative care (healthy activities) are you involved in daily to ensure you reach your goals?

If you make small steps of improvement everyday and focus on your goal you will obtain it. Not just in professional sports, but in many aspects of your life. Take every opportunity to do your very best at whatever task you are working on, even if the rest of your team is casually working; you work hard. It pays!

Start with these Challenging baseball pitching workouts to start off the new season.

Filed Under: General Baseball, General Hitting, General Pitching, Mental Game of Baseball Tagged With: Baseball Pitching Workouts

How to throw faster!

How to Throw Faster!

How to Throw Faster

How to Improve Bat Speed

How to Improve Bat Speed

All-Star Athletes: The Total Package

All-Star Athletes: The Total Package

Throw Faster in No Time

Throw Faster in No Time

Consistency is the Breakfast of Champions

Consistency is The Breakfast of Champions

Mechanics of Water Polo Question

Mechanics of Water Polo Question

Baseball’s Best Pitching and Hitting Articles

Baseball’s Best Pitching and Hitting Articles

Pitching Is All in Your Head…Silly

Pitching is All In Your Head

Preventative Care for Baseball Players

Preventative Care For Baseball Players

Ultimate Baseball Instruction

Free Instructional Videos!