Filed under: Working with Players | Tagged: Baseball pitching, Dan Gazaway, hitting a changeup, softball pitching, The Pitching Academy | Leave a comment »
One Great Changeup and a Hitter’s Perspective
Throw Hard Son… How Dad?
1. Make sure all of your momentum goes toward home plate: any time your momentum goes anywhere else but toward the plate, you lose MPH and can put more pressure on your throwing arm.
2. Throw with your legs: Be explosive to foot strike gathering momentum a long the way. Too many pitchers aren’t explosive and don’t generate any power with their legs. They are what I call “arm focused” pitchers.
3. Lead with your hips: When you lift your leg make sure your hips lead the way, not your front shoulder. This will help you generate better momentum toward the plate.
4. Rotate your hips: After foot strike be quick to get your hips all the way around. To help you do this, get on the “tip toe” of your back foot quickly. This helps bring your hips around. Be sure to keep your foot on the ground all the way to release of the pitch as you continue your momentum toward the plate.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Dan Gazaway, Increase pitching velocity, The Pitching Academy, Tips for pitching faster, Youth baseball pitching | Leave a comment »
How to Throw Pitches
By Dan Gazaway
One of the most enjoyable parts of pitching is learning how to throw different pitches. Admit it! You enjoy making the batter look like a fool swinging at a curveball they weren’t expecting; or lunging three feet forward to try and reach your change. It’s a fun part of pitching and it is a necessary part. Your job as a pitcher is to keep the hitters off balance so they don’t get a good jump on the ball. Great pitchers master this craft.
Dan Gazaway is the owner of The Pitching Academy http://www.facebook.com/ThePitchingAcademy and has been coaching pitchers for over 15 years. His instructional products have been a valuable resource for many coaches, parents and pitchers of all ages. His website is http://www.thepitchingacademy.com. Get their FREE pitching grips ebook here (use coupon code thepitchingacademy)
Filed under: Sports World | Tagged: Change up, Curve ball, Dan Gazaway, Little League pitching tips, The Pitching Academy, Throwing pitches | Leave a comment »
Velocity Concerns Before and During Puberty
By Dan Gazaway
It’s been my experience, teaching many pitchers throughout the years, that velocity comes with maturity and when proper mechanics are incorporated in a pitcher’s delivery.
Many coaches are concerned if their athlete is on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to hurling the heat. For good reason to, velocity is important, however, it’s very difficult to tell how much potential a pitcher truly has until after they mature if your only looking at velocity. There are so many other things to consider when rating a pitcher.
As I was working with one of my students tonight who just turned 16 (I started working with him when he was 12) I remembered him battling with velocity until he was about 15. Throughout many of the lessons he would bring up how slow he threw, his father would often ask if his boy really had what it took to pitch.
This pitcher is a late bloomer, but he stuck with it and it has paid off big time for him. Now he is throwing hard and his pitches are moving a lot more. I honestly think he wouldn’t be the pitcher he is today if he wouldn’t have been annoyed by how slow he was throwing. He is dedicated and has worked very hard to be where he is now.
I still believe he will put on another 5 mph by the end of this year because its just that time for him and his mechanics are solid. Most of his momentum is going where it needs to go and there is hardly a wasted movement in his delivery.
I’ve taught several pitchers like him that mature late. Many think they don’t have what it takes to be a pitcher because of velocity alone, but that simply isn’t the case during adolescent years.
If you yourself aren’t throwing as hard as some of the other boys your age and you have a strong desire to pitch, stick with it. Keep working very hard on your mechanics, core strength training, speed and agility etc. and you may just surprise yourself and others later. Have you noticed that some kids that seem to have a natural ability to throw a baseball early on don’t seem to have the work ethic to make it far? Those that have weaknesses in sports, but have a burning desire to do whatever it takes to overcome it, seem to make it further than those that have it easy in their youth simply because they think they don’t have to work as hard. The fact is, those that put in the time and dedication are the ones that succeed the most.
I recall I was one of the fastest pitchers in our little league from 10-12 years old; then a crazy thing happened, it seemed like I couldn’t throw hard anymore. All of the other pitchers in my grade were throwing hard and I couldn’t; it didn’t help that I was 6 months younger than everyone. But what happened? I turned into one of the slowest, if not the very slowest pitcher from about 13-15 years old.
I remember hearing in the dugouts “man this kid throws slow”; then I would strike them out or they would hit a slow roller. Luckily I had an awesome coach and great pitching coaches who believed in me and kept me pitching most every game. Later on, within 6 months to a year, I became one of the fastest pitchers again.
Stick to proper mechanics, keep a solid work ethic and believe in yourself and you’ll always know you gave it your all with no regrets. That work ethic will follow you wherever you go in life.
Dan Gazaway is Owner and Founder of The Pitching Academy (www.thepitchingacademy.net). He has instructed over 2,000 pitchers in the last seven years and received a Bachelor’s Degree as a Health Education Specialist at Utah State University. He is a motivational speaker for topics ranging from attitude, goal-setting and leadership and be contacted at contact@thepitchingacademy.net.
Filed under: Parents and Children, Working with Players | Tagged: Baseball velocity, Dan Gazaway, Pitching speed, The Pitching Academy | Leave a comment »
Fixing throwing mechanics
Recently, a baseball coach inquired through our “Ask the Coach” link on our CoachDeck “Extras” page, (www.coachdeck.com/extras). His questions are below:
1) My son (11 yrs-old) has been playing ball since tee-ball and he’s developed a bad throwing technique. He keeps his elbow bent and in close to his body when throwing. I keep telling him that he needs to keep his elbow up when throwing…but he’s so used to this bad technique that he can’t stop. It really effects his power, distance, and accuracy. Plus, it just looks bad…like he’s shot-putting or throwing “like a girl”. Are there any drills I can have him do to fix this?
2) I have a boy on my team that has great speed on his pitch…but he has very little accuracy. It’s like his release point is way early…and his balls sail. However, occasionally he’ll lay a strike right down the middle that looks great. I don’t know what I can tell him to get him to be more consistent with his release point. Any ideas?
One of our resident pitching experts, Dan Gazaway of The Pitching Academy, has provided us with some feedback, and even videos to explain and correct the problem:
Answer #1: Nothing gets rid of these habits better than using an elastic band to track mechanics and arm motion. Here is a sample video of how he can use elastic bands to help with dropping the elbow and keeping a good equal and opposite going. Here is a quick video explaining equal and opposite first.
The solution to question #2 is the elastic band: Here is another video that will help.
Another excellent drill I would highly recommend is this knee drill where you can focus on arm slot. Look at minute four of this video and I show how to do the knee drill.
Thanks, Dan! Visit The Pitching Academy for more great tips and free information.
Filed under: Working with Players | Tagged: baseball, Pitching, The Pitching Academy, Throwing | Leave a comment »
Hitting mechanics fallacies
By Dan Gazaway
I’ve picked two parts of the baseball swing mechanics I hear taught frequently that are incorrect. I’ll explain why in a bit of detail, but don’t just take my word for it, however, ask around to some of the hitting mechanics gurus you know and trust.
Its always great to get other perspectives. The best thing you can do is to build your own baseball swing knowledge base. Baseball instruction is a funny thing. You can find information and hitting “experts” everywhere. However, please for your own sake make certain that you are qualifying your sources of information first before you accept and apply it to your game. If you don’t, you’ll end up spending a lot of money, and changing your batting philosophy often.
Two Mechanical Fallacies:
1. Keeping your back elbow up is NECESSARY for a proper and important.
I come across this advice mostly in the younger ages, such as Little League. To be straight to the point, there is no physical advantage or benefit for a hitter to keep his back elbow up high as he prepares to hit. I’m uncertain as to the origination of this idea, but I do know it spreads like wildfire through Little League parks everywhere. It’s like the cure all for a poor baseball swing I guess. When it doubt, it must be the back elbow! You’ve all heard a fan or parent yelling the advice, Keep your back elbow up all too often.
Keeping the back elbow up for younger hitters is often a source of a sluggish and long swing. When the bat head travels into the zone, the elbow of the top arm on the bat is down and relaxed close to the hitters body (when performed correctly). Because of this, it makes no sense for a younger hitter to move his back elbow from a stiff and upright position in the stance to a relaxed position into the hitting zone. The extra moving parts during a baseball swing simply means less consistency. As a hitter gets older and gains knowledge and understanding of proper swing mechanics, his preference may be of a back elbow that is raised. However, at this point he can make the adjustments as necessary as he begins his swing.
So how do you fix it?
Hitters should be comfortable when in their batting stance. Arms should remain close to the body and relaxed. In this position, most every hitter will find the back elbow is in fact poiting slightly down.
2. Rolling the wrists as your bat comes through the zone is essential for creating bat speed.
I bite my tongue (quite hard actually) whenever I hear the above advice being offered for baseball instruction. While the back elbow up philosophy can be dismissed somewhat as a youth baseball strategy that does relatively minimal damage, this wrists rolling theory cannot be ignored or tolerated if one is going to create a fundamentally sound approach to hitting a baseball.
What “wrist rollers” can’t do:
A. Hit line drives with back spin consistently (these are the ones that carry deep into a gap in the outfield).
B. Hit an outside fastball with any consistency to the opposite field with power (left field as a lefty and right field as a righty).
C. Hit inside fastballs to the pull side (right field as a lefty and left field as a righty).
I make those statements so confidently for the following reason. In order to roll the wrists through a baseball swing, your arms must be nearly straight at the elbows when contact is made with the baseball. Youth hitters can get away with this and escape many time undetected because the velocity of the pitch is not overpowering. Add 10-15 mph to the pitch and those inside pitches will not be hit hard by a hitter (or if they do, it will sting like crazy). Outside pitches will also be difficult because the barrel of the bat will only cover the outer portion of the plate a fraction of the time necessary as the bat is sweeping through the zone.
So how do you fix it?
Teach hitters when swinging at a baseball to have their palm facing up on their top hand as they come in contact with the baseball. As the hands stay close to the body through the swing, the hitter should extend his arms fully only after contact is made with the ball. Creating proper extension is extremely valuable and important for generating good bat speed and maintaining good plate coverage.
Dan Gazaway is Owner and Founder of The Pitching Academy. He has instructed over 2,000 pitchers in the last seven years and received a Bachelor’s Degree as a Health Education Specialist at Utah State University. He is a motivational speaker for topics ranging from attitude, goal-setting and leadership and be contacted at contact@thepitchingacademy.net. Get tons of tips and information from Dan here.
Filed under: Working with Players | Tagged: baseball, Hitting, The Pitching Academy | Leave a comment »
How many swings per day?
By Dan Gazaway, Owner & Founder of The Pitching Academy
If you are a looking to become a good baseball player, there is no secret that it will take some hard work at some point. And while hitting drills are immensely valuable, there has always been some discussion about how many swings one needs to take daily or how much time one needs to spend to become good. I remember growing up having my coach tell me that I needed 200 swings a day if I wanted to make it anywhere as a ball player. This thinking is flawed. Hitting drills are important ONLY if the hitter has the capacity to focus on the drills at hand. Let me explain.
Baseball is a game of focus. Every motion you make as a baseball player gets stored in your mental memory bank that your body uses to form habits and movements. If you mess around playing catch before a game, your muscles wont react consistently during the game. If you dink around during hitting drills and swing your bat wildly at the ball on the tee, or forget to pay attention to your form, your muscles will be programmed to swing out of control or inconsistently in a game. Therefore, if you want consistent performances, you have to have consistent movements in practice.
Having worked with all ages of youth baseball I have seen 10 year olds focus better than 15 year olds and everything in between. Some players naturally mature at different rates and at different ages. You must take this into account as a coach when you are working with your athletes on hitting drills, especially those that are stationary and without a lot of action. Pay close attention to your hitters and how much focus they are applying to the drill itself. Once you begin to see a focus breakdown, interrupt the drill, help refocus the athlete and let him start again. Simple breaks in the routine will help many athletes become more productive during hitting drills and will ultimately help their muscle memory become more consistent.
Dan Gazaway is Owner and Founder of The Pitching Academy. He has instructed over 2,000 pitchers in the last seven years and received a Bachelor’s Degree as a Health Education Specialist at Utah State University. He is a motivational speaker for topics ranging from attitude, goal-setting and leadership and be contacted at contact@thepitchingacademy.net.
Filed under: Working with Players | Tagged: baseball, Hitting, The Pitching Academy | Leave a comment »
Finding balance and posture from the stretch
Proper pitching mechanics are key to your success! Before a pitcher begins transferring his weight toward home plate, he has to establish a solid starting point or foundation (Balance and Posture). This foundation must be set properly or a pitcher will not have balance in his delivery. With little or no balance, too much pressure can be put on the throwing arm and the location of the pitch can be effected.
If a pitcher is having a hard time throwing strikes, he may need to work on his posture and balance. To create proper balance and posture, a pitcher should follow a few basic guidelines. Here are some simple steps for successful pitching mechanics :
1. Line up your feet- Line up your feet properly to establish an effective delivery. All pitchers should start with their feet shoulder width apart, in the stretch position. If he starts with his legs further apart than shoulder width, weight transfer often goes back toward second base when he lifts his front leg, throwing off his balance.
Right-handed pitchers start with both feet evenly together, move the left foot forward about 2-5 inches, then spread the feet shoulder width. Left-handed pitchers line up the same way; however, they would be moving their right foot forward instead of their left. This way you start in a closed position with the intent of ending closed at foot strike.
2. Bend your knees and keep weight on the balls of your feet-I cannot think of one sport where an athlete keeps the weight of his body on the heels of his feet. Could you imagine a basketball player guarding his opponent that way? Anyone would be able to get around him and score. Why is it then that many pitchers are often found putting a lot of their weight on the heels of their feet? It makes no sense. Pitchers have a hard time finding the strike zone if they have that habit. Why? They cannot maintain proper balance. Think about it! If the pitcher lifts his leg up and the majority of his weight is supported on the heels of his feet, his balance goes where? Directly behind him! Where is their momentum supposed to go? Toward home plate.
3. Incorporate your hitting stance into your pitching posture- what does this mean? If you are a coach or parent, watch the athlete take a few swings with their bat. If you are the athlete, get into your hitting stance and look in the mirror. What are we trying to identify? We are looking for the angle of your shoulders in your hitting stance after you load. This is not only a natural angle for the athlete, they will find that angle to be much more comfortable for them because they will have more balance. If this is incorporated correctly into his posture, the pitcher will maximize his power throughout the delivery. The key to a successful pitch is to maintain this same posture until the lead foot strikes the ground.
4. Place glove and baseball in the center of your body- if the glove and ball are placed too far to the right or left of your body, you will struggle finding balance. If a right-handed pitcher places his glove too far to the right, too much weight will be transferred back when he delivers the pitch. In turn, his momentum will be lost. The majority of his weight can continue to stay back, but he has to correct the problem at some point in his delivery. It’s best for the pitcher to start with his hands in the center of his body. If a pitcher begins positioning his glove too far in front of his center, he will also have a problem maintaining proper balance.
5. Chin over shoulder- this is a very simple concept to understand. Wherever your chin goes, your head goes. What direction should your head go throughout the delivery? Forward. Keep your head level with the target for a smooth delivery.
Dan Gazaway is Owner and Founder of The Pitching Academy. He has instructed over 2,000 pitchers in the last seven years and received a Bachelor’s Degree as a Health Education Specialist at Utah State University. He is a motivational speaker for topics ranging from attitude, goal-setting and leadership and be contacted at contact@thepitchingacademy.net.
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