Pitching Handbook

Your priority is always the hitter not the runners.” (Leo Mazzone, Baltimore. Oriole pitching coach) The successful pitcher has to believe that he is one pitch from
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General Pi tching Philosophy Œ ﬁBelieve in the Power of Oneﬂ These are some, but not all, of the ideas you will need to become an excellent Spartan pitcher. During the course of the season, the coaches will give you other information to develop your pitching skills and understanding Œ listen carefully and work hard Œ in order to advance as an individual player and contribute to the team™s success. ﬁPitching is what the game is all about. Pitching IS the game.ﬂ (Bob Welch, 1990 Cy Young winner) The pitcher is ﬁthe only offensive player on the defensive field. Act ion begins when the pitcher delivers the ball. He is pro -active; the hitter is reactive–.All too often, however, the pitcher forfeits that edge.ﬂ (H.A. Dorfman, pitching instructor/counselor for Oakland A™s, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Pitchin g is 90 Œ 95 percent of the game, therefore, you need to be LEADERS of the team in practice as well as in games Œ set the tone with a confident attitude and exemplary work ethic . You need to give 100% on all drills, duties and routines. Live by these prin ciples, ﬁpractice centers around getting better every dayﬂ, ﬁperfect practice makes perfectﬂ and ﬁpractice hard or go homeﬂ. SUCCESS in pitching requires 1. Excellent physical conditioning / strength Œ you will need to run more than position players to get your legs in shape because when the legs get tired your mechanics breakdown; you will need to do med ball wall and throwing exercises to strengthen your core muscles to promote better hip rotation which will increase your velocity; and, you will need to do arm circles . 2. A sound mental approach / discipline Œ ﬁEffective pitching in competition results from the application of a very basic core of mental principles. Pitching is not just the activity of physically throwing the ball.ﬂ (H.A. Dorfmann) 3 C™s Œ Confidence, Concentration, Composure a. Confidence: Pitchers say they know they will do well when their prevailing feeling is to trust in their abilities rather than to doubt them . You must believe that you can and will make the pitches necessary when the game is on the line. Pitching is 80% mental and confidence is an awful lot of that mental part. Have a plan, an approach that is aggressive and clear. Trust in your preparation and focus on the tasks you need to do to follow the plan. b. Concentration: Pitchers must be able to pay close attention to the tasks that they need to accomplish. Most commonly an unsuccessful pitcher pays more attention to himself, his desires, his do ubts, his fears, his image, the consequences of his actions and whatever other needs he might have rather than to his tasks on the mound. In order to effectively compete, the pitcher must learn to redirect his thoughts and move his attention to his respon sibility to throw the ball where he wants to and get the hitter to hit the ball. On the mound ﬁzone inﬂ on the catcher™s glove, your target, and ignore distractions like crowd noise. To be able to do this well, you need to practice this at home or before games using timed number grid s and general to specific picture focus. c. Composure: The nature of pitching requires that you recognize and accept that occasional failure is inevitable. A pitcher will dominate one game and be shelled in another, so he m ust develop an emotional resilience, the ability to accept the good with the bad. A good pitch might end up with a bad result or a bad pitch might have a good result. Realize that you have no control over the results that take place after the ball leaves your hand. The majority of things that can test your composure are things outside your control. An error by a teammate, an umpire making a ball call or a bad hop single should not cause you to become emotional. You must be able to turn negatives into p ositives. Use the situation to your advantage. Play

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mental games with yourself, but do not, do not, give in to a bad break. The over riding mental factor to pitching success is composure. Never show your emotions on the mound because the batter ﬁfeedsﬂ off of negative and positive emotions of the pitchers. Sooner or later you will get into a ﬁjamﬂ and, if you are composed, you will be able to get out of a tight spot with runners in scoring position. Focus on the task at hand Œ do not panic, have confid ence in your abilities and just strive to do your best. Make sure to keep the ball down and away in the strike zone to get a ground ball and let your defense help. Once or twice come inside, high and tight, to make your pitches on the outside half of the plate more effective. Change speeds, hit your spots and throw every pitch with a purpose. ﬁYou can never let failure of your last pitch affect the success of your next pitch.ﬂ (Nolan Ryan , retired Texas Ranger pitcher ) ﬁWhether you just threw a great pitch or the worst pitch in history, the only thing that really matters is your next pitch.ﬂ (Greg Maddux , retired Atlanta Braves pitcher ) ﬁThe name of the game is damage control Œ continue to pitch as if there is no one on base even if the bases are loaded. Your priority is always the hitter not the runners.ﬂ (Leo Mazzone , Baltimore Oriole pitching coach ) The successful pitcher has to believe that he is one pitch from getting out of any jam. As a pitcher, you are a leader. Like it or not, it is you r responsibility to keep a confident and controlled attitude and to keep your teammates in the game. Positive body language and strong self -confidence are two important ingredients of a pitcher who has poise. 3. Proper mechanics – Although all pitchers do not have to use the exact same mechanical style to throw the baseball, for most individuals there are several keys to focus on to develop a throwing style that reduces the chance of arm injury. We will focus on balance point (head over belly button over b alls of feet with a slight knee flex) , batting stance posture (feet armpit wide, big toe of drive foot aligned with instep/arch of stride foot with no head movement except towards the plate) , flex T position (equal, opposite arms at stride foot strike with elbows shoulder high and slightly forward of torso) , hip/torso rotation (hips deliver shoulders, lead with hip to catcher™s glove and the outside of the stride foot is pointing at the catcher as long as possible) and glove position at release as key parts of the delivery which should be similar. The ability to adapt and change your pitching mechanics might result in initial failure but will certainly result in long term success. Keep working hard to use sound pitching mechanics and let the ﬁchips fallﬂ w here they may. Working on these three areas will give you ﬁthe pitching edge.ﬂ Off Season Training Program How you train will affect your success and future. If you are in shape, you can give better effort, avoid injuries and accomplish more work. There are many factors you cannot control, but you can control how you prepare for the season. You should never get beat because the opposition is better prepared. To make the team and compete for the championship, it is important that you get in shape, stay in shape and give 100% from start to finish. The choice is really up to you. You can work and be the best you can be or you can do just enough to get by. If you take the easier path, someday you might regret what you did not accomplish. Every Mond ay, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30 a.m. until 7:45 a.m. in the fieldhouse starting on January 25th , you will be able to work on your off season training. Plan to throw for about 60 days prior to the first tryout practice. For your daily activities follow the ﬁpitcher™s daily warm up routineﬂ described in this handbook. Do steps 1 through 4, then do the step 5 described below and, finally do step 6, if you have time. Step 5 Œ off season throwing program to replace step 5 of daily warm up routine Januar y 25 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 feet, 5 minutes at @ distance January 27 Long toss, 90 feet, 10 minutes January 29 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 feet, 5 minutes at @ distance

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February 1 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 5 minutes at @ distance February 3 Long toss, 90 fe et, 10 minutes February 5 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 5 minutes at @ distance February 8 Long toss, 60 Œ 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes at @ distance except 3 minutes at 150 feet February 10 Long toss, 90 feet, 10 minutes February 12 Long toss, 60 Œ 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes at @ distance except 3 minutes at 150 feet February 15 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with FB only, 5 minutes February 17 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes @ each distance February 19 Light toss, 5 m inutes, 32 pitch side with FB only, 5 minutes February 22 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with FB and CH only, 10 minutes February 24 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes at @ distance February 26 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with FB and CH only, 10 minutes March 1 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with all pitches March 3 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes at @ distance March 5 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with all pitches March 8 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pi tch side with all pitches March 10 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 Œ 150 feet, 4 minutes at @ distance March 12 Light toss, 5 minutes, 32 pitch side with all pitches March 15 Light toss, 5 minutes, 52 pitch side March 17 Long toss, 90 Œ 120 feet, 5 minutes @ each distance March 19 Light toss, 5 minutes, 52 pitch side To interpret the throwing plan, you will need to understand the terms on the above chart. If a side calls for a curveball (CB) to be thrown, you can choose to throw a slider (SL) instead. The essen tial terms are defined as a. Light toss Œ means that you should throw the baseball with light intensity and with a slight arc b. Long toss Œ means that you should throw the baseball with full intensity and with no arc c. Side Œ a specified number of pitches and p itch types with particular locations thrown from flat ground at the regular pitching distance of 60™6ﬂ d. 32 pitch side 1. Windup, 3 FB to outer 1/3 of strike zone 2. Windup, 3 FB to middle 1/3 of strike zone 3. Windup, 3 FB to inner 1/3 of strike zone 4. Windup, 5 CH to middle 1/3 of strike zone 5. Windup, FB out, CH out, FB middle, CH middle, FB in, CH in, FB middle 6. Stretch, 5 CB to middle 1/3 of strike zone 7. Stretch, FB out, CB out, FB middle, CB middle, FB in, CB in, FB middle e. 52 pitch side 1. Windup, 3 FB to outer 1/3 of strike zone 2. Windup, 3 FB to middle 1/3 of strike zone 3. Windup, 3 FB to inner 1/3 of strike zone 4. Windup, 5 CH to middle 1/3 of strike zone 5. Windup, FB out, CH out, FB middle, CH middle, FB in, CH in 6. Windup, 5 CB to middle 1/3 of strike zone 7. Windup, FB out, CB out, FB middle, CB middle, FB in, CB in 8. Stretch, 2 FB to outer 1/3 of strike zone 9. Stretch, 2 FB to middle 1/3 of strike zone 10. Stretch, 2 FB to inner 1/3 of strike zone 11. Stretch, FB out, CH out, FB middle, CH middle, FB in, CH in 12. Stretch, FB out, CB out, FB middle, CB out, FB in, CB in, FB middle 13. 2 Pickoffs, one to each side of the strike zone

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Pitcher™s Daily Warm up Routine A pitcher™s daily work should include the following elements: 1. Jogging to build the body™s core temperature as preparation for flexib ility work 2. Flexibility work for the legs, torso and arms 3. Tissue and muscle endurance work for the upper body 4. A step throwing sequence which emphasizes proper pitching mechanics 5. A throwing bullpen which focuses upon control and development of different pitc h types 6. Stamina work of an anaerobic intensity for cardio respiratory conditioning Jogging Œ Each pitcher will jog laps in the field house or foul poles outdoors with the other position players at the beginning of practice. All pitchers should take pride in leading the jog, seeking to promote an intense team work ethic. Each field house lap or outdoor foul pole Œ from the RF line to the LF line and back -should be no more than 1:0 0 in duration. The number of laps or foul poles will vary according to the daily practice plan. Flexibility work Œ As you stretch, it is important to work from feet to fingertips whenever possible. You will use this sequence because the first sensory signal for pitching balance in movement comes from the balls and arches of your feet. You should never hyper flex o r hyper extend a joint in relation to the torso (head and center of gravity). With the team you will do the full dynamic warm up exercises (high knee walk with hands pull, butt kicks, forward lunge walk, backward lunge walk, backwards reach run, alternati ng one leg RDL walk, high knee carioca right and left, power skips, straight leg skips, monster walk and 4 Œ 90 foot leadoff sprints). Tissue and muscle endurance work Œ 1. Arm circles : After flexibility work and prior to picking up a baseball you will do arm circles. Arm circles are designed to strengthen the four tiny rotator cu ff muscles in the shoulder area which are vit al to keeping the shoulder firm yet flexible. Begin by holding your arms outstretched at shoulder height with your palms up and s tanding only on your drive leg . Do 8 tiny clockwise arm circles. Continue with the following in the same direction: 8 one -quarter circles, 8 one -half circles, 8 three -quarters circles and 8 full circles. Still rotating in the same clockwise direction, climb down to 8 tiny arm circles. Drop your arms and relax for 1 minute Œ you may even shake your arms loosely at your sides. Do the same routine in the opposite direction (counter clockwise) but with your palms down and standing only on your stride leg . Over a period of about 2 to 3 weeks, you should gradually build up from 8 to 16 revolutions. When you can do 16 revolutions with ease, add a baseball to each hand and start at 8 revolutions again. Build up to 16 revolutions before adding a second baseba ll to each hand. Your goal should be to hold three baseballs in each hand while doing 16 arm revolutions. 2. Med -ball wall series : Using a 4 or 6 lb ball, you are to do these med -ball exercises. You are to do as many as you can in 15 seconds. If you are not within 2 of your baseline number, you must do the exercise again until you achieve or exceed this goal. a. Side to side Œ You begin this exercise with your feet shoulder width apart and your heels about 6ﬂ away from a wall. Make sure that your rear end does not touch, rest or lean against the wall for support at any time during the drill. You begin with the ball in the middle of your body. At the coach™s call you move/rotate side to side, hitting the ball against the wall as fast as you can, counti ng the wall hits, until the coach says stop. Report the number of touches you made to the coach. b. Diagonals Œ You begin this exercise in the same position as the side to side. At the coaches call to begin, you move/rotate diagonally, hitting the ball hig h against the wall on one side and then low against the wall on the other as fast as you can, counting the wall hits, until the coach says stop. Report the number of touches you made to the coach.

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c. Wood choppers Œ You begin this exercise in the same posit ion as the other two. At At the coach™s call to start, you move/rotate diagonally, twisting your torso and hitting the ball high, directly over your head and then coming straight down low, between your legs and then alternating the direction. As you did for the other exercises, count the number of wall touches and report the number to the coach at completion. 3. Med -ball throw series : After completing the wall series and using a 4 or 6 lb ball, you are to do these throw exercises. You should do 5 Œ 10 repetitions of each exercise. The coach may radar these throws to give you feedback and make you accountable for using maximum effort. If you are not within 2 of your baseline number, you must do the exercise again until you achieve or exceed this goal. a. Overhead Œ You will assume the exact position you would have , as when your chest square s up to the target when pitching in a game. In other words, the same distance you establish at foot plant when you pitch full speed down a mound Œ make sure that you do not narrow the distance between your drive and plant feet. You, then, arch torso back as far as you can, bringing the ball back di rectly over your head. Then, without pausing, you dynamically snap forward and throw the ball against the wall with maximum force. b. Full circle Œ Perform this exercise exactly like the overhead one, except instead of bringing the ball back directly over y our head you make an arm circle around the torso. After you load your back and arms and without pausing, you dynamically snap forward and throw the ball against the wall with maximum force. c. Torques Œ You do this exercise exactly like throws 1 and 2 but t his throw is purely rotational. You load up your trunk and spine by rotating first in the direction of the throw, then immediately rotating as far in the opposite direction as you can, creating as great a torque or feeling of tension/separation between t he upper body and the lower body as possible. You will then immediately spring back and throw the ball into the wall as hard as you can. 4. Core stabilization exercise s: Do these three exercises to strengthen your abdominal and lower back muscle s. a. Planks Œ Get in a pushup position with your back straight but instead of being on the palms of your hands, you need to be resting on your forearms with your palms facing the ground. Hold this position from 1 to 3 minutes. b. Planks around the world Œ Get in the same position as the basic planks but then you lift your right arm and point it straight forward, then the left arm pointing it straight forward, then left the right leg and point it straight backwards and finally the left leg pointing straight backwards. See how many full repetitions you can do in 15 or 30 seconds. As a variation you can lift the right arm and left leg at the same time and then the left arm and right leg at the same time. c. Tuck jumps Œ Standing with your arms at your sides bend your knees so that your chest comes near your knees and at the same time swing your arms backwards. Then e xploding up, tuck your knees to your chest. Do 5 to 10 repetitions. As a variation see how many you can do in 15 to 30 seconds. 5-step progression Œ After your arm circles, you will do this throwing routine – used at all practices as well as before games Œ which allows you to carefully warm up while slowly increasing the throwing distance and focusing on the aspects of pitching mechanics which makes your delivery more consistent and starts to build your endurance. You are to do 5 ﬁqualityﬂ repetitions for each step which will allow you to finish this progression in 10 Œ 15 minutes while gradually working your way to a full pitching mound distance. Every throw should be done with your change up grip. 1. STEP 1: You are to kneel on your drive knee with the stride leg bent perpendicular to the ground with the foot in the landing position Œ slightly closed, 45 degrees – about 3 body lengths from the catch er. With the ball in your throwing hand, rotate your upper body so that your non throwing shoulder and elbow points to the catcher while, at the same time, bringing

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always have a another pitcher as a hitter , without a bat but wearing a helmet and glove , in the batter™s box so that game conditions are simulated as close ly as possible. The hitter™s responsibility will be to call the pitch zones where the ball is thrown. This will give you feedback as well as increase the batter™s awareness of the strike zone. If you throw your practice bullpen for ﬁliveﬂ hitting your f ocus should be on ﬁpitching practiceﬂ not the hitter™s ﬁbatting practice.ﬂ The coach will tell you when to do this bullpen routine during a practice. You will need to report your ball and strike count to the coach for recording after completion of the bu llpen. 1. 30 feet from the catcher throw 5 FB for strikes @ 50% velocity 2. 45 feet from the catcher throw 5 FB for strikes @ 50% velocity Now move to the regular pitching distance of 60 feet, 6 inches 3. Windup Œ 2 FB @ outside, middle and inside (outside/inside on yellow, middle on black) 4. Stretch Œ repeat 1 5. Windup Œ 4 CH down and away to opposite -handed hitter 6. Stretch Œ 3 FB inside and 3 CH down and away to opposite – handed hitter 7. Windup Œ 4 CB down and away to like -handed hitter 8. Stretch Œ 3 FB inside and 3 CB down and away to like -handed hitter 9. Windup Œ ﬁ1-2-3ﬂ (1 fast ball away, 1 change up down and away and 1 curve ball down and away) 10. Stretch Œ repeat 7 11. Windup Œ ﬁWin or Loseﬂ (Throw your best pitch for a strike on 3 -2 count, bases loaded) 12. Stretch Œ repeat 9 ﬁShort or spotsﬂ bullpen Œ This is a 60 pitch throwing exercise Œ from 40™ at 75% maximum effort with the pitch -to-win machine Œ which will emphasize hitting your locations and increasing your ﬁfeelﬂ for each pitch type. You will throw 15 four seam fast balls, 15 two seam fast balls, 15 change ups and 15 curve balls at one of the three targets on the lowest rung of the pitch -to-win machine. For each set of pitches you will throw 6 from the windup and 9 from the stretch. The coach will tell you when to d o this bullpen routine during a practice. At its completion you will need to report to the coach your hit count for recording. Stamina work Œ Our stamina work is composed of intervals or PFP sprint exercises. Before you leave practice, as a group the pi tchers should do these sprints to increase their conditioning. The coach will vary the sprint work from practice to practice. Pitchers will be expected to run more in practice than other players to adequately condition their legs. Ana erobic activity is the best way to burn unnecessary body fat and gets oxygen to muscle tissue more efficiently making you work better and longer in competition. If you are anaerobically fit you will have a quicker healing and recovery time between outings because critical nutrients are brought to stressed muscles. To reduce stress on your arm, we will also throw off of flat ground frequently in practice rather than from the mound. 1. Interval training : a. Run full speed from the LF foul line at the ou tfield fence to CF then walk briskly to the RF foul line at the outfield fence. b. Run full speed from the RF foul line at the fence to home plate and to the LF foul line at the fence then walk briskly to CF. c. Run full speed from CF to LF foul line at the fenc e (along same pattern as b) then walk briskly to CF. d. Run full speed from CF to CF (along same pattern as b) then walk briskly to RF foul line at the fence. e. Run full speed from RF foul line at the fence to CF (along same pattern as b) then walk briskly to R F foul line at fence. f. Run full speed from RF foul line at the fence (along same pattern as b) to LF foul line at the fence then walk briskly to CF. g. Run full speed from CF to RF foul line at the fence then walk briskly along the foul lines to LF foul line a t the fence for a cool -down.

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2. PFP sprints : All pitchers will gather at the mound to simulate fielding bunts (3 rd base line, 1 st base line and home plate), backing up 3 rd base and home plate and/or covering 1 st base on a ground ball. Each pitcher will si mulate a pitch from the windup or stretch, sprint to the proper position Œ make sure to chop steps towards the end Œ and simulate a throw, catching a ball or blocking an overthrow as appropriate. Pitch Types and Grips If you ask five pitchers to show you how they grip their pitches, you are liable to see five different grips. The one thing about grips is that if the grip is not comfortable then it will not be successful. Each pitcher needs to find out what is most comfortable for him and what works to m ake that grip successful for him. 1. Fastball: A four seam fastball is gripped across the seams and gives you the most control while the two seam fastball is gripped along with the seams to give you the most movement. When releasing the fastball your palm s hould be facing the target and your wrist snaps with the palm facing downward immediately after release of the ball. Generally the fastball is used to get ahead in the ball Œ strike count, to dispose of weak hitters quickly, to set up your off speed pitch es and to establish you as in control of the game. 2. Change up: More than any other pitch, the change up is a matter of individual experimentation and personal preference. This pitch is frequently thrown as a circle change (tips of the index finger and t humb touch with the ball fitting snugly in the palm of the hand), palm ball (ball rests in hand with four fingers resting on it but the finger tips do not touch the ball nor does the thumb tip), split finger (index and middle finger on sides of the ball wi th the thumb underneath), a two seam grip (throw the front of the ball , as you would a screwball , with a stiff wrist) and a modified circle change (ring and middle finger each lying on a seam with the pinky resting on the side of the ball and the thumb and index finger are not touching Œ put the ball a little deeper in the palm of the hand and put pressure on the ball with the thumb). You need to make sure that your arm speed is the same as that of your fastball to give the impression that you are throwing a fastball. ﬁA change up is not a flashy pitch like a curve ball that will buckle a hitter or strike them out, but it will generate many ground balls or pop ups.ﬂ (Barry Zito) Use this pitch to disturb a batter™s rhythm / timing, to effectively set up the fastball and make sure to keep it down in the strike zone. 3. Curve ball: The fingers grip the ball along the wide or the narrow seam. When you throw the ball make sure that you throw the ball over your glove and see the release out of the corner of your eye. Your fingers must stay on top of the ball throughout the entire delivery, your wrist is turned to the side with the pinky finger closest to the hitter and the wrist snap is done with the same motion as a ﬁkarateﬂ chop ending with the thumb pointing to your target. Use the curve ball to disturb the hitter™s rhythm / timing, effectively set up the fastball and throw it outside the strike zone to make it a good out pitch. When throwing your curve ball think of 4 different visual anchor points to chang e its look to the batter. Anchor points are simply spots or visual reference points that you concentrate on and throw to in order to get the curve ball to break to the desired plane. If you use the batters hip as your cue, the ball should break to the middle of the strike zone and be called a strike. This ball should have a good downward bite and is a good first pitch. If you use the catcher™s mask or glove hand shoulder Œ depending on where he sets up Œ this pitch should finish on or off the plate. Tr y to throw a curve ball that breaks off the outside part of the plate and be difficult to hit even if the batter expects it. If you use the umpire™s mask, the curve ball should break to the outside corner of the plate. This pitch should be thrown for a s trike and have a good downward bite. Finally, if you use the catcher™s shoulder away from the hitter, it should be impossible to hit but it must break way off the plate. If these anchor points do not work for you, work in practice to find those that work for you.

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Pitcher™s Pre game Warm up Routine Œ Bring You™re a Game to the Big Gameﬂ You should follow this routine prior to starting in a game. Other pitchers should do everything except for the pre game bullpen which you would do if called upon to be the relief pitcher. 1. You will jog and do the dynamic warm ups with the rest of your teammates when we arrive at the game site. Before picking up a baseball, you will do the arm circles. With another pitcher as your partner, complete a quality 5 step warm up progression. 2. Start your pre game bullpen warm up about 15 minutes prior to home games and about 10 minutes prior to away games (or earlier if you take longer than 10 minutes to do this routine). You should be finished with your bullpen throwing so tha t you allow yourself 5 minutes of rest as well as time for you to drink some water/liquid before you must begin the first inning. If you have warmed up properly, you should physically feel like you have already pitched one inning in the game. The pre gam e bullpen is a 46 pitch regimen that should start at 75 % effort and finish at 100% effort. Work on your ﬁpitch with attitudeﬂ and ﬁcomposedﬂ behaviors in preparation as well. 1. 30 feet from the catcher throw 5 FB for strikes @ 50% velocity 2. 45 feet from the catcher throw 5 FB for strikes @ 50% velocity Now move to a pitching distance of 60 feet 6 inches 3. Windup Œ 2 FB @ outside and inside (on edge of plate or just off) 4. Stretch Œ repeat 1 5. Windup Œ 4 CH down and away 6. Stretch Œ 3 sets of FB and CH to opposite -side hitter, FB in and CH down and away 7. Windup Œ 4 CB down and away 8. Stretch Œ 3 sets of FB and CB to like -handed hitter, FB in and CB down and away 9. Windup Œ ﬁ1,2,3ﬂ (1 FB inside, 1 CH and 1 CB down and away to opposite si de hitter 10. Stretch Œ repeat 7 to like -handed hitter 11. Windup Œ ﬁWin or Loseﬂ (throw your best pitch for a strike on a 3 Œ 2 count, with the bases loaded 12. Stretch Œ repeat 9 13. Throw some of the pitches you need to fine tu ne your repertoire If you are a relief pitcher who enters the game in the middle of an inning, it usually means trouble is brewing. When you enter the game in the middle of an inning, tell the catcher ahead of time what pitch sequence you are going to throw for your eight warm -up pitches, instead of signaling with your glove what the warm -up pitches are going to be. That way, the hitters on deck and in the opposing team™s dugout will not know which pitches to look for at the plate. Hitters can only gauge speed when watch ing from outside the batter™s box Œ not the movement, spin or amount of break on a pitch. Why tell them your off speed is a split -finger? Make them figure it out for themselves. When you warm up between innings you do not need to throw many pitches, but throw as if you are facing a batter. Concentrate on keeping the ball low and do not shy away from throwing some balls in the dirt if you have to in order to focus on keeping the ball low. The last pitch type of your warm ups should be the first pitch typ e to that inning™s lead off hitter. Pitch Delivery Routine To help you focus during the game on every pitch that you throw Œ to be in the moment and not the past Œ you need to use this pitch delivery routine to keep a reasonable tempo on the mound . ﬁTempo is huge. Just act like you are throwing a bullpen and don™t try to muscle the ball to the plate. Your best velocity occurs when you are relaxed.ﬂ (Barry Zito) Working at a steady, quick pace will keep you in a good rhythm and keeps your fielders ready behind you. A pitcher who throws a pitch, gets the ball back from the catcher and is already back on the rubber ready to throw again accomplishes several things. First and foremost, he keeps charge of the game. He is ready and waiting for the hitt er to get into the box, forcing the hitter to either speed up his between -pitch routine or to have to ask the umpire for more time as he steps into the box. Either way, because the hitter is thinking about the pitcher ﬁquick pitchingﬂ him, the pitcher has won.

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