: Skills & Drills: Defense

Pitching
The big difference between throwing and pitching is accuracy. You will need several strong, accurate pitchers for your team to be successful. Your association or league will probably have limits on the amount of time and number of pitches young players can throw since overworking an arm can create a great deal of damage to the players’ wrist, elbow and shoulder joints. (Sorry, don’t mean to harp, but it’s important).

Younger pitchers (12 and under) should focus on throwing an accurate fastball and a change-up. Your players’ will want to throw a curve or slider, but will generally not be able to get the ball over the plate. Throwing breaking balls can really tire, and possibly injure, a young arm if performed incorrectly. Emphasize the need to keep their eyes on the target throughout the motion and be ready to field the ball at the end of the pitch.

If you read the throwing points above, you will notice some similarities with pitching, with the exception of the pre-throw procedure. You still need to ensure they throw overhand. A pitcher will tend to slip into a three-quarters throw as they tire, so this will be a good signal to warm up your next pitcher.

There are two throwing styles, depending on whether there are runners on base. With runners on base, the pitcher will throw from the ‘stretch’, which is a shorter, more compact throwing style. This shortens the amount of time a runner has to take a big lead or steal a base. With no runners on base the pitcher will use a wind-up, an exaggerated forward motion with the front, or non-throwing, leg making an up and out motion to maximize the forward body motion.

The Wind-up: This is the ‘pre-throw’ part of the pitch. This requires the pitcher to properly grip the ball and then properly place their feet for the wind-up. The pitcher MUST grip the ball with their fingertips for good speed and accuracy. By holding the ball across the seams, the ball will tend to rise, whereas a ball gripped with the seams will tend to sink. The wind-up motion begins by placing the ball of the ball-throwing foot on the front edge of the rubber, with the other foot behind the rubber. A small ‘rocking motion’ backwards with the non-throwing foot begins the throw, shifting the weight of the player onto the back foot.

Turn : Similar to the throwing motion, but a bit more precise and delicate. After the ‘rocking motion’, the front, throwing arm foot turns parallel to the rubber as the pitcher pushes forward with the non-throwing foot. Getting the front in this position allows the pitcher to ‘push’ against the rubber. The pitchers’ eyes MUST remain on the target throughout the motion.

Step: The front leg, or non-throwing leg, lifts and extends towards the target. If pitching from a mound, you will need to have the player experiment with the length of the step, since the downward motion will effect their ball positioning. The foot should stay almost parallel to the rubber, or pointing at third base (for a right handed thrower), until just before touching down, when the foot should then rotate and point at the target. This forces the shoulders and waist to turn and open which transfers all the bodies forward motion to the upper body. The knee should be kept bend to absorb the shock associated with the impact.

Throw: Or in this case, pitch with great accuracy. As the arm comes over the top, the ball should be released at the apex of the throw. As the ball is released, the wrist snaps to add acceleration and spin. The back leg should come around after the ball is released and lands parallel with the forward leg, putting the player square to the plate in a ‘ready’ position.

The stretch position is the same without the windup. The player begins with the throwing foot parallel to and touching the rubber facing third (right-handed) or first (left-handed). The non-throwing foot should be parallel to the rubber at shoulder width or less. This allows the pitcher to view all the runners and make quick throws to first and third in pick-off attempts.