Excerpt from
"The Softball Pitching Edge" Book
PROPER MECHANICS
Throughout this book you will notice an emphasis on correct
fundamentals and basic mechanics. These mechanics, whether they pertain to
throwing the ball fast and accurately or to throwing an advanced pitch, are the
foundation for the pitcher's success and career longevity. The concept of
pitching breaks down to performing an aggressive and sometimes even violent
action with precision. To accomplish this contradiction, the pitcher must
develop a complex set of skills.
To obtain positive results, the pitcher must become skilled
at three basic components of mechanics. First is the need for consistency. If
the pitcher expects to have pinpoint accuracy as well as command of movement
into a small, defined zone, consistency with body movements is vital. By
understanding elements such as stride location and length, release point and
follow-through, and posture and balance, we can correct mistakes or repeat
success.
Second, because the name of the game is fast, the pitcher
must maximize her effort so that she can reach her speed potential. By using
total effort, the pitcher will accomplish two things. She will gain strength on
a routine basis and push her potential threshold to become faster. Also, by
using total effort every time, the pitcher will be able to attain a consistent
sense of timing for release points, thus improving her accuracy.
Third, creating practice habits and routines is important in
establishing and setting the desired movements. It is one thing to hear, feel,
or see instruction on a given technique. It is another thing to make that
action a habit. Because it is impossible for the pitcher to review the proper
execution of every movement on every pitch, she must create habits to repeat
success.
STRIVE FOR CONSISTENCY
If you were to set up a game at a carnival in which you gave
participants a small ball and asked them to make a backward circle with their
arms as fast as they could, let the ball go, and hit a 17-inch-wide,
3-foot-high target at a distance of 35 to 43 feet, you probably wouldn't give
away a whole bunch of teddy bears! The truth is that the whole scenario is not
as easy as it is sometimes made to appear, particularly when that box becomes a
6-inch-by-6-inch square at the discretion of the umpire. So, to accomplish this
mission of delivering a ball accurately to a target with a fast underhand
motion, consistency will be extremely important.
The goal of the pitcher is to do the same thing each time to
gain the same successful result. If the pitcher also knows what is supposed to
happen with the body and where and when the actions should occur, she can more
easily correct mistakes that will crop up from time to time. Having this
awareness is just the beginning. To be consistently effective, the pitcher must
also respond successfully to many mental demands. In both practice and
performance, the pitcher needs to be aware of body movements and pitch results
that relate to speed, location, and movement.
Remember also that the only way to gauge speed and hold a
consistent speed is to use total effort with each pitch. Repeating total effort
is much easier than repeating some percentage of total effort. Accuracy is the
pitcher's biggest asset at any level. The ability to throw the ball to a
location assumed to be a weakness of the hitter has paved the way to success
for many pitchers.
To gain consistency with pitch location, it is necessary to
create correct habits in body posture, stride placement, arm circle, and
follow-through. To help develop these habits, a power line, or line of force,
will be used as a basis for effort, energy, balance, and efficiency. In
establishing fundamental skills, precision of body positioning and particular
placements is of the utmost importance.
After the pitcher establishes correct habits, her success
will rely on that one key ingredient - practice. If you want to be a great
free-throw shooter in basketball, you have to shoot a lot of free throws! The
same goes for becoming an accurate pitcher. There is no substitute for correct
repetition. Pitchers must be willing to work hard by themselves and with
themselves - always pursuing perfection on a particular area or problem.
MAKE CORRECTIONS ONE POINT AT A TIME
In learning new skills, patience may be the single most
important quality. The pitcher must be patient when working on fundamentals and
try to remember how difficult it was when she first tried to rub her stomach
and pat her head. She must know that the mind perceives the upper and lower
body as separate entities and that each is involved with an entirely different
action in the pitching motion.
A circular movement with the arm dominates the upper body.
Equally as important for the upper body is overall posture and the ability to
maintain it throughout the pitch. The lower body moves linearly, involving an
initial stride forward and a powerful drive of the back leg to deliver the
total body and create efficiency. It is easy for the circular motion of the arm
to dominate the pitcher's attention, making it difficult for her to focus on
posture and lower-body mechanics.
In practicing fundamentals, especially early on, the pitcher
should try to separate the two actions as much as possible so that she can
concentrate on one aspect. For example, when working on the arm circle,
follow-through, or posture, she can perform drills on one knee so that her legs
do not distract her attention or create bad habits of their own. Conversely,
when working on stride and drive moves with the lower body, she can omit the
arm circle completely or remove the ball so that her entire focus is on the
legs. Anytime the pitcher has the ball in her hand, it tends to draw most of
her attention.
One of the biggest mistakes in developing technique is
stressing accuracy. Pitchers should throw in a controlled environment
(preferably into a net) where accuracy is not important or even perceived. It
is impossible to make form adjustments and control the ball at the same time.
The pitcher should create the fundamental habits first, then
work on control. In making corrections, she should focus on eliminating one
problem at a time. By working in this manner, the whole process will be much
less overwhelming for the new or inexperienced pitcher or the pitcher who has
developed bad habits and is not fundamentally sound.
When working on mastering or correcting a technique, the
pitcher should minimize the importance of throwing into the strike zone. This
idea applies whether the athlete is a 7-year-old beginner pitching for the
first time or a 20-year-old college junior trying to correct a movement that
has become a habit and is causing repeated injury. The pitcher should keep in
mind the following tips:
- She should abandon control to work on the adjustment. Making the correction
may require five minutes of warm-up or several weeks of movement mastery.
- Pitchers should be familiar with props that they can continue to go back to
in workouts such as power lines, Spinners and oversized balls, balance beams,
netted stations, and so forth.
- By focusing on one correction at a time, pitchers are much more likely to
see some immediate success. They should try to remain encouraged by noting
aspects that they are performing correctly or even just improving slightly.
Doing so will help avoid the tendency to view corrections as overwhelming.
- Some athletes need to hear the corrections repeatedly. Others may need to
feel the corrections, and still others must see them. An important goal in
training is gaining the ability to self-correct.
- In making corrections, three options are available:
- Hearing the mistake or correction. (Example: "You're falling off
balance to the right.")
- Hearing about or creating a trigger to help with the correction. (Example:
"Imagine yourself on a balance beam.")
- Physically forcing the correction. (Example: The pitcher actually stands on
a balance beam.)
Sometimes athletes can make adjustments only by using the
third option. This circumstance is a negative indication because a balance beam
cannot be used during competition - the time when adjustments must be made. The
pitcher should aim for being able to correct with oral cues or triggers most of
the time.
Another coaching tool for corrections is for the athlete to
actually see the mistake or correction through videotape or still shots. This
method is discussed throughout the book and is effective if used periodically.
The previous scenario, however, pertains directly to the everyday training
session, which does not always allow the extensive time required for filming
and viewing videotape. Also, this method is much like option 3 in that it is
not a practical method for pitchers to make adjustments required during
competition.
BE COACHABLE
One of the common requests I receive from parents is to
evaluate their child - to assess her skills and answer the question, "Does
she have what it takes?" In working with pitchers over the years, I have
found the most important quality of an athlete is not natural talent, physical
prowess, or even instinctive reactions. Those qualities are wonderful when they
come in an athlete who loves the game and desires to excel. But the most
important quality in developing an athlete, particularly a pitcher, is the
athlete's ability to make adjustments.
Pitching requires strategy, assessment, and constant
adjustments. The pitcher must adjust to the hitter's stance, her swing, the
game situation (score, number of outs, inning, etc.), offensive strategies, the
weather, the ground, the ball, and the umpire's strike zone. Pitchers must
constantly analyze and adjust, whether in practice or in a game, to what their
bodies are doing and consequently what the ball is doing. So a supertalented
athlete who is unable to adjust instantly, and perhaps even constantly, will
have a difficult time succeeding as a pitcher.
DIFFERENTIATE STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
An important point concerning fundamental learning and
development is the difference between style and technique. Often, the
characteristic most noticeable about a particular pitcher, such as a windup or
a glove slap to the leg, is not technique at all. Such moves are the style of
that particular pitcher. Style is often the creation of the pitcher and will
give her a certain trademark or unique appearance before, during, or after the
delivery.
Sometimes a pitcher's style can distract the batter and work
to the pitcher's advantage. Other times, style is simply a way to create
momentum or perform another practical function such as recovery into a
defensive position. At any rate, style is best developed by the individual
athlete, not her coach.
For instance, some coaches teach every pitcher the same
windup approach or the same mound presence and appearance. This cookie-cutter
approach turns the pitcher into an exact replica of every other student,
eliminates individualism, and takes each pitcher away from her comfort zone.
One pitcher may feel comfortable with a certain movement. Another pitcher may
feel stress or discomfort with the same move. Because style movement is
personal preference and not a necessary function like fundamental movement,
coaches should let each pitcher create something that fits her.
Ralph Raymond, 1996 and 2000 Unites States Olympic head
softball coach, used to refer to a great defensive play followed by a muffed
throw to the base as "a quarter play and a nickel throw." I sometimes
refer to pitchers as having a quarter windup and a nickel pitch. Pitchers
should avoid putting too much attention on their style early on and too little
attention toward technique. In addition, they must be sure that the style move
will not detract from proper technique. Technique is the steak; style is just
the sizzle.
THE FINAL PITCH
Finally, in looking at the concept of pitching, the pitcher
must know that fundamental techniques are the foundation on which everything
else will be built. If that foundation is solid and sturdy, based on strong
discipline with correct mechanics, then building upward will be a natural
progression. But if the foundation is shaky, any success that comes should be
savored because it will likely be short-lived.
The pitcher must not underestimate the importance of getting
things right along the way. Athletes, parents, and even coaches often accept
mistakes simply because the pitcher is currently succeeding or winning. More
often than not, that pitcher has some natural speed and for the moment can
outmatch her opponents. Given time, however, hitters will catch up to her
speed. Location and movement will become the elements that determine her
success.
A pitcher who has only short-term goals is not willing to
take a step backward today to take three steps forward tomorrow. This step
backward is sometimes necessary in breaking down fundamental mistakes.
Short-term goals are fine, but long-term goals are an absolute necessity.
The pitcher must be sure that her foundation will permit
growth and a healthy future. She should understand that improvement sometimes
means going backward first. Although a "granny shot" in basketball
will score two points, it is not a technique that will take the player to the
upper level of competition.
THE SOFTBALL PITCHING EDGE
Cheri Kempf
Paperback • 192 pages
ISBN 0-7360-3825-6
$19.95 ($31.95 Cdn)
