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.

Many youth pitchers hear “just throw strikes” and they do just that.  They start aiming the ball and they forget about basic mechanics. They may slow their motion down; not exploding to foot strike. Some pitchers open up too soon taking more of a step instead of a stride to home plate; guiding the ball over the plate instead of simply throwing it. The pitcher begins to throw batting practice and the batters tee off.

Yes, now your pitchers are throwing strikes, but they are often right down the heart of the plate. See ya! Game over! You Lose!

If you are a coach, you will do more harm than good throwing out little comments like “just throw strikes”, “rare back and fire”, “throw hard now”, “get er done” what do all of these things mean to your pitchers? Do you know what they mean?

Every pitcher is going to have a different interpretation of what these things mean unless you are very clear in presenting to them what they mean. What does “rare back and fire” mean? We have all heard that one. Does it mean to rock back and throw as hard as you can? If so, a pitcher will lose all control of the baseball if they rare back because they lose their balance.

What does “throw hard now” mean? When you tell a young pitcher to throw hard, what do they usually end up doing? One, they rarely try to get power from their legs, hips, torso and shoulders (entire body) as they should; they use too much of their arm to throw when trying to get more velocity. The only time these small innuendos work is if the coach explains to the pitchers what the terminology means. Otherwise these words are just filler words for lack of better education.

To get better results out of your pitchers in games, it is imperative that you understand proper throwing mechanics. You also need to know your pitcher and how they react to different game situations. Do they get nervous and buckle under stressful game situations? If so, you need to figure out why they get nervous.

Let us help you understand pitchers and help teach them so they will succeed!  We are confident you will be a better pitching coach with our “coaching pitchers” instructional DVD. You can find it here!

http://www.thepitchingacademy.comcoachingpitchers

Make it a great day!

The Pitching Academy

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 you have to play smart baseball; choose your pitches wisely.

You have to realize pitching isn’t about striking everyone out all the time.

It’s about strategy!

Find a hitter’s weakness and play on it.

Be an unpredictable pitcher, one who keeps the hitters off balance because they don’t know what’s coming next.

Many of you know I’m a Jamie Moyer fan.  He’s had his ups and downs like all pitchers, but what makes him great is his ability to keep hitters guessing.

He will throw non traditional pitches on a 3-2 count or any count for that matter.  He has confidence in all of his pitches and hitters don’t know what to expect when they face him. That’s what works!

So if you consider yourself a power pitcher, great!

It’s awesome that you can throw hard.  It comes in handy.

That’s why we teach you how to throw faster in our pitching mechanics DVD.  But we all know if that’s all you can do, you get crushed.

Be a smart pitcher!

Be unpredictable!

Keep the hitters off balance!

Today we have an opportunity for you to learn to be a smarter pitcher!

Yes, one that will help you bring the heat but also help you throw those nasty pitches too.

You have to do both to survive in a game where Hall of Fame pitchers only win 50% of the time!

Here’s today’s opportunity!  Take one now before the discount ends.

Your friends in Baseball,

The Pitching Academy

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? Warren Spahn said it right when he said that pitching is upsetting timing. When you can keep the hitters off balance and keep the ball down, then you are forcing a ton of ground balls and pop ups. The occasional strikeouts are just bonuses and will happen when you continue to keep the hitters guessing.

Last year Verlander pitched a no hit game. Did you know he threw a no hit game with only 4 strikeouts? If you were to go to mlb.com and look at the highlights of his no hitter, you would see that he was able to force a ton of grouders and pop ups. Why was he so successful? Because he kept the hitters guessing and kept them off balance (upsetting their timing)

There are three key ingredients to improving your chances of winning, they are location, change of speed and movement. Now that is a winning combination.

How do you do that?

First of all master the control of your fastball hitting the corners. Second, learn how to control a good changeup (I prefer the Circle or C-changes because they move more). You will be surprised how far you can make it in Baseball with just those two pitches if you master control with them.

Adding a great curveball or slider to a change and fastball will greatly increase your chances of winning. when you can throw three pitches at any time for strikes in any situation you will dominate because those hitters literally won’t know what’s coming.

If you are looking to dominate on the mound this year and want to learn how to pitch smarter and add more movement to your pitches we recommend our pitching mechanics and our pitching grips DVD.

As always make it a great day,

The Pitching Academy

We pointed out 4 great things he does to generate power in his delivery.

We did not however talk about why he is so successful.

Have you seen his curveball? It’s ridiculous really.

The best Major league hitters struggle with his nasty curveball and many are caught swinging at his curve when it drops two feet in front of the plate. Now that is crazy movement!

How do you get movement on your curveball?

Just what does it take to get Kershaw like movement on the ball?

Let us help you figure that out!

We have created the perfect program for you that will help you create crazy movement on all of your pitches.

Here are just a few comments about our ten minute instructional clip on the curveball!

“FINALLY, a proper video on how to throw a curve ball. And this technique, just ain’t for beginners. The amount of disagreements I’ve had with other coaches; you DON’T have to cup your wrist or ‘snap’ your wrist.
Great instruction!!!!!!”

“Very good explanation of grip and arm slot. I’ll be teaching my 13 year old a curve this year and will refer to this video (I’m a former college pitcher who can throw a good curveball but wasn’t sure how to teach it).”

“Wow, great video my curveball improved so much! Thanks!”

“I have seen many videos on how to throw a curveball, but I can honestly say that this one explains how to throw a curveball best out of all of the videos I have seen!”

We also show you how to throw a splitter, 4 nasty changeups, slider, cut fastball and more!

Get your copy now at a discounted rate and start throwing those knee buckling pitches this year.

This program is also available for you here!

Make it a great day,

The Pitching Academy

Today we have available our brand new Hitting Drills Training Program. This training system is long overdue and we’re excited to get it front of your eyes.

The beauty of this hitting program is that it can be yours in literally two minutes. No DVD, no shipping.

Need some great hitting drills to improve the success rate of your athlete at bat? We’ve got ‘em for you.

Just what will you receive today!  Check it out here.

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 a couple of things in his delivery I think he does extremely well to maintain balance and create explosive power.

Here’s the slow motion video clip of Clayton Kershaw’s mechanics

At 1:11 you will see he is in a great balanced position with glove and throwing arm aligned with his spine (straight up and down). Although he raises his glove and throwing arm above his head they are still aligned with his spine line. His knee is slightly bent and his weight is on the ball of his pivot foot.

At 1:19 he really pushes off the ball of his back foot and is starting to get into the equal and opposite position with both arms. Notice how his head stays over his center of gravity “belly button” all the way to foot strike.

1:23 His hips rotate slightly before his upper body. This gives him a little more torque. You will see most power pitchers do this. You want to make sure that your lower half rotates before upper body. He’s in a great equal and opposite position with both arms. His pivot foot is still on the ground and head still over center.

1:24 This is perfect! His front glove arm stays in front of his spine line until release of the ball. You will notice his pivot foot (back foot) stays on the ground until release as well, great drag line. Keeping his foot on the ground until release of the ball also gives him more power. Pitchers that lift the pivot foot too early will lose some power.

What I think Kershaw can do better is lead with his hips much like Verlander and other pitchers you will see me critic over the next 5 weeks.

Hey, I’m not saying his mechanics are bad. I’m just saying that he could get a bit more power in his delivery, even more explosive power to footstrike.

If you are 100% ready to learn how to throw faster like Kershaw, Verlander, Hamels, Sabathia and ESPN’s pics for the top 20 pitchers in the MLB then you don’t want to miss out on this!

Click below to learn how to generate explosive power in your delivery, throw nasty pitches, throw with a major league mindset and more!

http://www.thepitchingacademy.com/bringtheheat!

As always, Make it a great day!

The Pitching Academy

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