Drills and Techniques for Enhancing Speed in Fast-Pitch Pitchers

Given the 3 aspects of the pitch: speed; location, movement, I think it is fair to say that 80% of pitchers are more interested in speed than the other two. This is based on (sarcastic tone) my extensive study and surveys of pitchers over the years... OK, it's actually a guess based on asking several pitchers that I've worked with.

Before we discuss drills and techniques for speed enhancement, we have to be certain that we have talked about "absolute" pitch mechanics. If the mechanics are not sound, speed enhancement will be limited and MAY lead to injury, so be sure their mechanics are right.

Legs:
The stride leg drive has to be significant enough to drive the body open into a K position. This is a balance between driving up and out with the stride leg. The stride leg must also land strong without bending or walking out
The push or pivot foot MUST start straight in order to push forward, then will open at the top of the pitch. Power-push (tm) is a great tool for this (see below). Note: I see many pitchers that open the pivot foot before they even drive forward with their stride foot. This causes the body to open too soon and there are a multitude of compensatory reactions to this but suffice to say that power is lost. What the pitcher should do as the pitching arm comes down and through the hip, the pivot leg should drive forward toward the inside of the stride leg.


Arms
Glove arm needs to work in unison with the pitching arm, and stride foot. As the stride foot comes up, the glove arm and pitching arm both come up. At eye level the glove arm points at the target as the body is opening (perpendicular to the catcher) and comes down at the same velocity as the pitching arm. It also helps if the opening of the glove is pointing down to keep the arm moving freely
Pitching arm, regardless of what style of pre-pitch motion, after the pitcher loads backwards the pitch arm and the glove arm come up together into "Frankenstein." At this point, the body is opening perpendicular to the catcher as the pitching arm is going to 12 o'clock. Most importantly, the ball should be PULLED up, down and through as the hand LEADS the way to the hip (for a fastball).

As the hand reaches the hip, the arm rotates at the shoulder and wrist snaps through. It doesn't have to be perfect but the ball should not be leading the hand through the arm-circle until the very bottom. The reason is the same as why we turn the ball away on overhand throws... frankly, it's faster because you get added speed from the shoulder rotation adding to the wrist snap and finger push.

Body position:
The overall is that, once the forward movement of the stride foot begins, the body must not bend at the waist, so it is imperative that pitchers have strong cores in order to transfer the energy from stepping down, through the body and into the arm and ball. Bending forward at the waist is a position of weakness and does not allow the energy to transfer through the body.


OK, lets talk about things you can do to enhance speed. Where does speed come from, outside of proper mechanics and sequencing?

1. The downswing of the pitching arm, once the stride leg is planted. Remember that the downswing cannot generate any force until the stride-foot is down. It should be down by the time the pitching arm reaches one o'clock behind the pitcher. Then it should accelerate to the hip.
2. Strong stride-foot plant. The stronger the stride-foot hits the ground, the quicker the arm snaps through
3. Back leg drive. Even though the pitcher does not release the ball at the beginning of the leg drive, a strong leg drive transfers into a strong stride-foot plant, which, in the chain of sequence, transfers through the body faster, and generates more whip in the arm.
4. Powerful stride plant with a firm, relatively straight, but not locked, stride leg, transfers the energy through the body and into the arm whip
5. Powerful wrist snap that is straight towards the target with a 12-6 spin. The Throwmax (tm) (see my article below on follow-through) is a great tool for developing strong wrist snap.

6. Powerful finger-push. As everyone knows, the last body part to touch the ball are the fingers. Each finger is made up of three small levers. Pushing hard at the end of release enhances speed.

Note: Having great snap from the wrist and push from the fingers not only increases speed, but has the added benefit of increasing the spin on the ball which creates more late break on the pitches. An indirect way of checking this is to measure spin-rate with a Revfire (tm)

Drills!

IMPORTANT: Be certain that the pitcher has fully warmed up and stretched before beginning these movements as the movements are very ballistic and can cause injury if the pitcher is not warmed up. Also, if they show any signs of injury, stop immediately and let them rest until fully recovered (possibly several days)?

Hard Walk-ins

1. Description: Pitcher starts about 20 feet from a net with the ball separated from the glove. This is really a run-in as they start running at the hitting sock or other loose net, until they are ready to pitch. When they are ready, they need to plant hard and fire the ball as hard as they can into the net. The release, at this point, is probably about 6 feet from the net. Their only goal is to throw as hard as they can. You can have a "feeder" standing near by to toss balls to the pitcher in order to add conditioning. As the pitcher finishes her pitch, she runs back to start position at 20 feet. On the way back, the feeder tosses a ball to her, so that there is no rest in between. After a given number of throws she should rest completely for a minute or even two and then do another set.
2. Reps: (vary as you see fit): 3-5 sets of 5 hard walk-ins
3. Key areas enhanced: This drill focuses on leg drive and arm circle speed

Pitch and pirouette

1. Description: Pitcher starts on the mound throwing to a catcher. She goes through her regular motion but as she comes down to the hip with her pitching arm, she accelerates her arm so much so that as she brings her it across her body she picks up her pivot foot off the ground so that the force of her arm finishing across her body causes her to pirouette. Note: with the strong metal cleats they wear her pirouette will likely be 1/4 turn. The emphasis here is that the force of the arm across the body is what causes the pirouette. So the harder and faster she brings her arm down and across, the more she will pirouette. She'll be surprised at how well the ball is pitched, but make sure that her focus is on the pirouette and not the pitch.
2. Reps: One bucket of 25
3. Key areas enhanced: Arm speed and wrist snap/finger push

Long-Toss

1. Description: There are many ways to do this. I really like having a target. What I mean is a goal of some kind; like throwing over a backstop or over a fence or goal-post. Throwing higher makes them work their wrist more. The pitcher starts, with a bucket of balls, about 80 feet back from their target. First she backs up 3 steps then does a hard walk-in and releases as she is crossing the 80' mark. If it clears the bar, then move back another 5 feet, and so on. Once she gets to the distance that she cannot clear the target, throw the rest of the balls. Keep track of the greatest distance away from the target and try to beat it next time.
2. Reps: 1 bucket of 25
3. Key areas enhanced: Leg drive, and wrist-snap/finger push

OURs

1. Description: Overload (heavy ball)-Under load (Lite-flite works great)-Regular (regular softball). VERY IMPORTANT: Never let your pitcher work all the way around with a heavy ball. I believe this to be dangerous for a pitchers shoulder. Just work all three pitches from the K-position-down, and snap as hard as they can
2. Do sets of 10-10-10 and repeat 3 times.
3. Finger strength and explosiveness

Other ways of building explosive power

1. Short sprints: 5 meters 10 sets
2. Resistance bands and Tools: 5-10 sets
3. Big tire flips: 5 sets 15 seconds
4. All core work, especially plank
5. Power-cleans. Be sure that these are taught by a trainer as these can cause serious injury: 3 sets of 5-10

Training tools

1. Finch Windmill (tm): A great tool that Jenny Finch's Dad, Doug developed for her to get faster
2. The aforementioned Xelerator (tm): While doing reps, have the pitcher accelerate pulling the ball down from 12 o'clock faster and faster.
3. Accraspeed (tm): This is a wonderful tool that straps to the pitchers arm and measures the centripetal force the pitcher generates at the bottom of the arm circle. It really helps the pitcher set goals on their arm speed. Because it measures arm speed force, it challenges them to go higher

Speed work is like intense weight training. It should be done at least 2 days a week maybe 3, but needs to have a rest day following it. It should not be done the day before a game... in fact I count a game as a speed day. How many exercises depends, partly, on the time of year. I like to do 3 of these exercises, mixing up various ones to keep it fresh.

You can do more physical training exercises in the off season, building a more explosive athlete, early season, focus on the drills, as the season is nearing the middle part, taper off a bit unless you have multiple pitchers and can work a long rotation with a fair amount of rest.

The benefits of speed are obvious. Making a batter have to react faster gives a fast pitcher an advantage, with a couple caveats. If the fastball comes in fast and flat it will get hit... HARD! If a pitcher cannot hit her spots, speed is irrelevant. If a pitcher does not have an off speed pitch, then the fastball will also be dead meat. A successful pitcher uses her fastball for setups and has a good off speed pitch to marry with it. Don't neglect movement and location. Good pitchers master 2 of the 3 aspects of the pitch (one of them better be location)...great pitchers master all three.



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Pitchers Follow-Through

If there is any ONE area of pitching mechanics that drives me crazy it is what is taught for the follow through motion on the pitch. As I discuss this point, keep in mind that my emphasis here is 2 fold: Maximize efficiency of motion (therefore speed) and keeping pitchers arms and shoulders free of pain and injury.

This article is not about the other motion leading up to the follow through for any other reason except to set up my discussion points. 

My feelings on this point come from metadata and expert input. I have spoken to physical therapists, chiropractors, other expert pitchers and pitching coaches. I have studied kinetics and strength tested hundreds of pitchers. I watch the best female pitchers in the world and college and Olympic levels. All of this has lead me to one conclusion: There is a BEST follow-through method. 

I once heard Michelle Smith say, "If your shoulder hurts from pitching, you're doing something wrong." I could not agree more. I cannot tell you how many pitchers I see that have sore shoulders and elbows. I watch as moms come into dugouts to rub down their darling daughters pitching shoulders between innings. I have observed the veritable pharmacies that some pitchers keep in their bags to quell the pain. It is my belief that this is, at least in part, due to improper and FORCED motion on the follow through.

The damaging motion that I speak of is when players are made to follow through straight up to the same side shoulder. To be more specific, I'm talking about a pitcher who snaps the ball at her wrist and pushes off her finger tips to release, then proceeds straight up on the same side, and in some cases, will bend at the elbow and literally bring her hand straight up to the same side shoulder. The amount of torque on the lateral and posterior portion of the rotator cuff is excessive in order to do this, and is absolutely unnecessary. 

At the point of release, every good pitcher is basically in the same position (for fastball). The hand has rotated forward, ball is being pushed forward off the fingertips, stride leg is firm and stride foot usually between 90 and 25 degrees perpendicular to the stride-line, drive leg (drag leg) knee is moving forward with the release arm, hips are turned only about 25-75 degrees perpendicular to the stride-line. See below:

Notice the direction the arm is currently moving towards the catcher, but with the wrist snap the hand is starting to pronate in towards the opposite side. At this point, every good pitcher is the same. It is my belief that when a player is then forced to externally rotate the arm (opposite of the natural motion) using the lateral and posterior portion of the rotator cuff, that this pressure does progressive damage to the shoulder muscles. Further, if they then bend the elbow and push with the lower arm straight up to that shoulder, they are putting undue pressure on the elbow as well. Over long periods of repetition, I believe this can cause lasting damage to the shoulder and elbow joint. Yet I see this consistently taught by coaches of youth pitchers. 

Now Let's take that same release point and put a natural "spin" on it. At the point of release, I teach my pitchers to simply relax their arm and let it go where ever it is drawn toward with the momentum of the motion as the driving force. After repetition of this concept, more often than not, the arm finishes across the body and the hand continues to roll inward. It may finish up or down, but it is ALWAYS across the body. 

Allow me to make my case for this with multiple points

1. Everything done in sports, for power,  is across the body: Frisbee, overhand throw, golfing, batting. To maximize power, the arm must finish across the body. Any forced motion away from this is power lost from the ball
2. Multiple physical therapists, and chiropractors have expressed that this motion is more natural and hence safer for the arm and shoulder, than forcing the arm in a straight line up to the shoulder
3. As far as bending at the arm versus the wrist snap, a simple strength test demonstrates that the wrist generates more power than the elbow
4. By emphasizing the wrist snap with a loosely straight arm at the bottom of the arm circle the entire body-generated velocity maximizes at the end of the arm where the ball is released. Think towel snapping here: longer towels generate more power than short ones. As an added benefit, this creates a more consistent release point
5. Finally, look at the best pitchers in the game today. They all finish with a natural follow-through across the body, often down as well. See below

Both images above show different forms of the same natural follow-through. Notice how the hand has released and is turning over or already has turned over, and has crossed the body. This is natural and minimizes any stresses on the shoulder and elbow.

Truth is that very few instructors teach the unnatural and straight up pitch follow through the way they used to 5 or 10 years ago. This "old school" style of follow through this way has all but been phased out but it is still rampant at the younger levels. 

The best tools I have ever come across for teaching this movement is the:

Throwmax (tm)   and the Xelerator (tm)

(One note about the Throwmax. While I do put it on the elbow, 

I put the straps on the BACK of the elbow to maximize restriction 

of elbow flexion).

Both of these tools are fabulous in promoting natural and wrist-driven release and follow-through. 

The Throwmax really develops their ability to maximize wrist snap and finger push, while the Xelerator helps them feel the velocity of the release point at the bottom of the arm circle. 

With the Throwmax on, tell your kids to snap as hard as they can at the bottom of the pitch circle with strong snap from the wrist and push from the fingers, then simply let the arm go. I have my pitchers use this the entire session until wrist snap and natural follow through becomes the norm. 

The Xelerator should be used separately from the Throwmax to promote arm path and feeling the velocity at the bottom of the arm circle. Have them do about 15-20 circles with their body open in the K position with both feet down. 

Maximizing efficiency and protecting players from injury is the cornerstone of my instruction. I research, practice, and take advice from experts in physiology and coaching, as well as look at what the most successful people are doing before developing technique that I teach to young athletes.

 The girls that I have taught and stuck with this follow through have had long and successful careers. they can pitch multiple games in a day without soreness, and can do it for years at high levels.

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5 Keys To Successful Hitting

    I know, I know... yet another opinion on successful hitting and swing mechanics. While pitching is the most critical position on defense (along with a good catchers ability to frame, block and field), hitting is probably one of, if not THE most important facet of the offensive game. 

   There are some coaches that may argue this point, though. Many teams utilize, successfully, short-game and speed, but that is a topic for another post.

   In short, here are my 5 keys: Be on time, Gather, Back Elbow to the ball, Head in, Finish high. Of course there are more details, such as stance, grip, toe-touch, heel plant, hip rotation, front elbow, shoulders, ad nauseam (figurative eye roll here). These are keys, not every point. There was a time when I could talk about grip for 10 minutes, stance for 5 minutes, stride for another 4, etc. The problem is that some of this is philosophy and may seem like a conflict to young players who have been taught different or antiquated information, like squishing bugs. The other problem with this is that when you spend 10 minutes, talking about grip, your average 12 year old, and even your average 17 year old,  tuned you out 9 minutes earlier. If there is one thing that I have learned, it's to keep it simple.

   Einstein once said: If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough, so here goes:

1) BE ON TIME. Referencing University of Arizona head softball coach,  Mike Candrea here. Mike has studied hitting like no one I have ever encountered and was head softball coach in two Olympics (one silver, one gold), as well as leading 8 national championships at Arizona. To say the least he is a great hitting coach. Mike said that 80% of hitting issues are timing. So how do you teach timing? Remember that you don't want to change your swing sequence, which often happens because hitters are sometimes taught to swing faster or slower. The key to timing is learning how a pitcher releases, and how the hitters sequence matches up to that. Here's what I mean. How fast is the pitch from the pitchers release point. As she reaches the hip, what should the hitter be doing? That depends on the pitchers speed. If she is a flame-thrower, then the hitters stride, if she takes one, needs to be earlier, so the she does not need to rush her swing. If the pitcher is slow, then stride late, but don't change the swing velocity. The speed at which the bat-head is released to the ball is the same no matter what the pitchers speed. The only thing that changes is when the sequence begins. One technique I learned many years ago, is to eliminate the stride and to simply start with a post-stride stance. Raise the front heal to push the hitter straight back toward catcher, shifting the weight back (Called the gather). Make sure they stay in front of the back knee though, then heel plant, while getting the elbow to connection point at the hip. By eliminating the stride, there are less moving parts and, in my opinion, is much easier to be "on time" to the ball. No stride, that I am aware of, ever created more velocity on the barrel release. Stride or no stride, being on time is critical and can only be learned using ball out of hand drills (like front toss, or live pitchers). Tees don't help for this, neither does side-toss. Pitching machines really don't simulate this timing either. Each player is different when it comes to this, so teach them how to evaluate their own timing with as many pitchers as they can see. 

2) GATHER. The gather is a simple movement. If the hitter is a "strider," the gather is complete at toe touch. If the hitter does not stride, then it is a simple raising the front heal which results in pushing the hitter straight towards the catcher. It is important that the gather does NOT push the batters body-weight beyond the back knee. They must stay between the knees for all phases of he swing. During this phase, the rest of the body (head, arms, etc) need to stay quiet. No twisting or bobbing. The beauty of this movement is that it can be done slowly and when the batter has decided to initiate contact point the gather can stop. The gather stops once the decision is made to heal plant and initiate back elbow drive. This allows for multiple speed differential of pitches, including the dreaded change-up

Good Gather position

3) BACK ELBOW TO THE BALL. Years ago, when I was coaching in Tucson, I noticed my players having all kinds of timing issues on the bat head release. Some way too early, some were really far behind. About this time, I attended a coaches clinic put on by Mike Candrea. Something I noticed was what he and Don Slaught each demonstrated. The back elbow was on plane with the pitch and lead the way to generate good bat lag and allowed for timely bat head release. I started to apply this observation to my team and guess what happened? They started hitting the ball... HARD, on time and up the middle. We doubled our line drives in games (anecdotally), and started scoring a bunch of runs. If my players have heard me say any ONE thing over and over it's "drive your back elbow to the ball." One of the aspects of this that I find so powerful is the simplicity... there's that word again. It is a simple and easy way to address swing plane and timing! Let's discuss the mechanics of this. Once the hitter gathers, the back elbow is somewhere between 5 and 3 o'clock. Not higher or lower. When the elbow triggers towards connection and the heal plants, the hitter should take their back elbow to the plane of the pitch. Note that if the ball is outside or way inside, I don't have them drive their elbow out or in... just get it on the plane of the ball and try to stay inside the pitch. This creates a great deal of bat lag without thinking about it and they can release their bat-head on time and explosively. It may sound overly simple but every time my hitters did this they started driving balls more up the middle, and HARD. If you only apply one piece of advice from this article, it's this one.

Notice how the back elbow leads the way creating bat-lag

4) HEAD IN. Have you ever heard a coach tell the batter to watch the ball hit the bat? This is impossible to actually do, but the attempt to do so accomplishes a very important aspect of successful hitting. Keeping your head quiet and down at contact point not only increases the hitters ability to make solid contact but this is a position of strength anatomically. I have tested this out with hundreds of batters. Try it yourself. Have a batter who loves to fly their front shoulder and pull their head out early, get their bat to contact position and tell them to hold that position. Ask them to hold strong and resist as you push the bat head backwards (like a ball would). Then ask them to do the same thing but keep their front shoulder in and their head and eyes down at contact point. If you use a Newton spring scale, you would clearly see that their resistance is greater with their eyes and head down on the ball. Kids can feel the difference as well.

Head is locked in at the contact point

5) FINISH HIGH. This is simple in the concept but not so much in practice. Finishing high means hands up by the front shoulder. The reason is simple: A hitter can have good timing and initiate a good plane of swing but lose that by finishing with their hands by their front elbow or half way up the humerus. This can cause the swing path to change to under the ball even a little bit which may cause a popup. Finishing high keeps the swing path on the proper plane throughout the swing.

high finish

Techniques and drills to accomplish this
Timing: The only technique I know is seeing ball out of hand, so front toss and live arm pitching is your go-to
Gather: Tee. Have hitter address a Tee. Have them gather back slowly, then go back to the beginning. Have them do it a second time, but this time, they swing at the ball off the Tee
Back elbow to ball: Tee work such as Insider bat (tm). This is probably the best tool I have used to get students to use drive the back elbow. Be sure that the ball is going straight off the Tee. One hand bats will work too but it is easier to trick yourself into thinking that you are doing it right
Head in: A good ole fashioned full length mirror with a Tee is great for this. There is also a tool called Swivel Vision (tm) goggles. I have not used these extensively in the short time I have used them they have been pretty effective.
Finish high: Tee and dry swings with a mirror is probably best for this.

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Pitching Mechanics: ABSOLUTES

There are absolutes and styles. An absolute is a movement that is common in all of your better pitchers.
Absolutes

• Pre-pitch weight shift
• Heel drive forward BEFORE turning 
• Stride direction and height to establish pitching ally
• Sequence: stride foot lands while pitching arm is around 1 o'clock, then shoulder elbow wrist, fingers
• Pulling the ball through and rotation at the hip

• Drive back leg into, not around front leg
• Snap and relax the arm. It will always be across the body... do not force the arm straight up

 A style is something that each pitcher may do slightly different, like slapping their leg. 

Want to fuss or discuss, leave a post and let's start a dialogue



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Ask the Coach

After 29 years of coaching fast-pitch softball at all kinds of levels except college, I am starting this blog to discuss solutions to problems that you may have in softball. I coached high school ball for 19 years, club ball (including Gold level) for 15 years and junior high for 4 years. everywhere I have coached, the programs have grown, and players have improved. I cannot count the number of players that I have instructed that then went on to play college ball. My coaching has taken place in Arizona, Colorado and Idaho. I have learned from the best coaches in the game as well as life. If you have questions about softball skills, strategies, camps, players, or any other areas, hit me up.

I will be posting regular articles on mechanics, philosophies, recruiting, etc. Hopefully there will be some stuff that you can use with your team or player or parents.

Please let me know if there are topics you want to discuss as well.

Feel free to post questions, concerns or just topics to discuss