May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

How to Throw a 12-6 Curveball?

I get asked by hundreds of coaches, parents and students each year to teach them how to throw a 12-6 curveball. My response surprises most people when I tell them there is no such thing as a 12-6 curveball.

When your sitting on the third or first base side of the ballpark and a pitcher throws a nasty curveball you could be thinking, Wow! that pitch just fell right off the table. It dropped straight down. That is what your eyes are telling you, you saw. In all reality, if you were behind home plate you would see something completely different. The curveball would curve, but it would tail to the right or left of the plate. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, Pitching Grips, Pitching Tips Tagged With: , , ,
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Secret to Throwing Hard

Does you throw hard in the beginning of the season and begin to lose velocity as the season progresses?

Are you inconsistent throwing strikes?

Does your curveball work great one day and the ball squirts or hangs on you the next?

Do you throw hard but lack control of your pitches?

Many of your inconsistencies can be blamed on improper throwing mechanics and lack of proper training. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Tips, Pitching Velocity Tagged With: , , , ,
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Pitchers: The Real Truth About Strikeouts!

There is no doubt that strikeouts are on the rise in the MLB. There are so many great pitchers right now its incredible.

Although strikeouts are wonderful, they shouldn’t be your focus!

I see many pitchers trying to strike everybody out, especially in youth baseball.

Is that the best strategy to have as a pitcher?

No doubt strikeouts are great. There is no better feeling to a pitcher than striking someone out. But if that is always your strategy, you’re going to fail.

You may have heard that playing baseball is like a physical game of chess. Some batters you want to challenge, others you want to get to ground out or pop out depending on the situation. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, Pitching Tips, Pitching Velocity Tagged With: ,
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Great Pitchers Don’t Waste Pitches!

Have you or any pitcher on your team had and 0-2 count on a batter and ended up walking him?

How does this happen? Over confidence maybe? A sign of relief for some pitchers being that are far ahead in the count that they think “hey I got this guy, no biggie?”

The fact of the matter is, pitchers are taught to “waste pitches”.

They get a head in the count and they try that new pitch they haven’t practiced much in the bullpen. Then its 1-2. Still ahead in the count you try another pitch. You try to get him to swing at but it’s far off the plate. No chance of him swinging at all (great idea though because you don’t want to just serve him up on 0-2 either)

But there’s one problem [Read more...]

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May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Pitcher Catcher Relationship

If you are a pitcher or catcher, you understand the importance of the relationship. I’m not talking about just getting along with each other on and off the field.

I’m talking about situations like when catchers know you so well, they know what pitch you want to throw in any game situation. It’s like a sixth sense!

Here are a few pointers to help pitchers develop a better relationship with their catchers. Pitchers Beware! If you follow this advice, you will win more games! [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Pitching, Pitching Tips
April 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Just Throw Strikes Kid?

Have one of your coaches ever told you to “just throw strikes” and get us out of this inning? Many coaches out there make the mistake of telling pitchers to “just throw strikes”.

Of course your pitchers are trying to throw strikes to end the inning; what they really can’t do is control their emotions or they lack correct mechanics. When a coach tells pitchers to “just throw strikes” what the coach is really implying is they don’t know what else to tell the struggling pitcher. They lack the education behind what is really going on in the pitchers mind in different game scenarios; or they lack the knowledge about mechanics. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Pitching, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Tips Tagged With: ,
April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Are You a Strikeout Pitcher?

Pitchers that pitch for strikeouts need to beware!

I know of a  AAA pitcher who retired from the Orioles organization a few years ago.

This pitcher threw high 90′s and considered himself a “strikeout pitcher”.

After his retirement a couple years ago, he told this coach that he wished he would have been a “smarter pitcher“.

He wished he wouldn’t have tried to strike everyone out all the time.

He feels he could have played at a higher level if he would’ve hit his spots better and have been more selective with his pitches.

I couldn’t agree with him more!

Strikeouts are great, don’t get me wrong.

But [Read more...]

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April 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Pitch to Win!

So you want to be a winning pitcher?

Well, pitching is a mental game of chess. Warren Spahn once said that “hitting is all about timing and pitching is all about upsetting timing.” If you want to win more games and strike more hitters out it is time to get smarter.

Most pitchers think that throwing harder is the solution to success on the mound.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to throw hard; in fact your off speed pitches will move more when you do, but, there are plenty of great pitchers (even in the major leagues) that can’t throw harder than 90. In fact the average pitcher in the Majors throws 92 right now.

What about Greg Maddux? He says “when pitchers get in a jam they just try to throw harder; I just try to locate better.”

So what is the secret to winning more games as a pitcher? [Read more...]

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April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Clayton Kershaw Pitching Mechanics

I think all of us enjoy watching Clayton Kershaw work his magic on the mound!

What I enjoy about Kershaw is the crazy movement of his pitches, especially his curveball. He’s got the very best Major League hitters stumped and swinging at curveballs that, at times, drop 2 feet in front of home plate. I love it!

The question right now: Is Kershaw going to be seeing the type of money Justin Verlander just signed for this year? Yes, he is that good! Right now his contract sits at $19 million for last year until the end of 2013. It’s arguable that he is just as good as or better than Verlander. Do you think he deserves a $200 million dollar contract as young and good as he is?

Let’s set aside the contract talk right now and take a look at Kershaw’s pitching mechanics.

I want to point out [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Coaching Pitchers, General Baseball, General Pitching, Pitching Mechanics, Pitching Tips Tagged With: , ,
March 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Jeremy Guthrie Interview KC Royals

Many of you know that I had interviewed Jeremy Guthrie (KC Royals Pitcher) a few weeks ago.

During this 45 minute interview Jeremy reveals what he does in the off season to prepare for the upcoming season.

We also discuss his long toss program, strength training, his off speed pitches, winning mental strategies and more!

To get access to the interview just visit:

www.facebook.com/ThePitchingAcademy

The interview link is available on the first post of our facebook page.

Enjoy!

The Pitching Academy

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