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.
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