PitchingMagic Fastpitch Softball Chisago City, MN

Drills for Improved Performance

This section is more about improving performance than improving technique. In doing these drills pay attention to the technique at all times with no short cuts. Doing a performance drill with inferior technique could create bad habits that will decrease performance.

Leg to Hand Energy Transfer
Purpose: Develop and feel to legs providing some power to make the throwing arm move faster at release
Setup: A ball
The Drill: Start with both arms held straight out sideways and let the arms fall in the circle path relying only on gravity. Just let the arms go completely limp. Get the lean over the power line so that the arms pass in front of the leg at the bottom. The throwing hand should be closer to the body when the arms cross. Start the same with a ball in the throwing hand. Again using only gravity let the arms fall and release the ball at the bottom of the circle. Note how far the ball goes. Set up again and flex the knees. As the arm falls straighten the knees to be fully straight at release. The ball should go farther.

One Knee Throw:

Purpose: to develop core strength
Setup: A power line
The Drill: Kneel on the stride leg knee and extend the push leg knee straight towards the target. Start with the throwing arm by the side and come around the circle emphasizing the hip rotating a bit before the shoulders.Let the core rotation generate the power

No Step Throw:

Purpose: to develop core strength
Setup: A power line
The Drill: Same as the one knee throw but standing up. Do not take a step but let the core rotation generate the power

Plant the Hell Throw

Purpose: To initiate the hip rotation before the shoulders.
Setup: A power line.
The Drill: Have both toes touching the power line and the entire body facing sideways. Left the stride foot heel. ut the heel down and allow the hips to rotate without moving the shoulders. Go back and forth a bunch of times.

Long Toss:

Purpose to develop arm strength, core strength and accuracy

Setup: A long throwing distance
The Drill: Start at a comfortable distance from the catcher or a net. Do two no step thrown. If at least one gets as far as the target take two steps back and take two more throws. If both throws do not reach the target take a third throw and if that makes it take two steps back and repeat. Continue moving back until all three throws are short. Then take two steps in and make one throw. Continue until you have returned to the starting point.
Variation: This can be done with any type of throw such as full pitch, walk through
Variation: If doing something like the no step throw, once you get to the end change and do a full motion pitch.

Three Ball Drill

Purpose: Endurance and Accuracy
Setup: Two pitchers (or 1 pitcher and a parent or coach) and 3 balls
The Drill: Have one pitcher have a ball in her throwing hand and the other has a ball in her glove and another in the throwing hand. Using the no step throw or a single circle throw or just from the k position the pitcher with two balls throws to the other pitcher then transfers the ball in her glove to the throwing hand. The other pitcher catches the ball and throws the one in her hand back to the first pitcher. Repeat. Younger pitchers can see how many throws they can make without the ball hitting the ground. More advanced pitchers can see how many they can throw in one minute. If a ball gets away do not chase it but continue the drill with two ball, then one if necessary.
Variation: This can be done with any type of throw such as full pitch, K, single circle etc. If the throwing method involves a step make sure the pitchers returns to her starting point before the next throw.

Three Ball Walk Throughs.

Purpose: Building a comfortable and consistent throw
Setup: A Pitcher and a helper, three balls and a foul line or something with 200 feet of space.
The Drill. Same as the three ball except the throws will all be walk throughs. The helper needs to walk backwards and keep a constant distance from the pitcher. The pitcher should not slow down after a throw, just keep walking at the same pace. Stay on the foul line.

Rapid Fire

Purpose: to maintain good technique as the arm gets fatigued:
Setup: A pitching land and a bucket of balls and a helper.
The drill: From the k position throw a pitch that includes a stride. Quickly move back to the original starting point. The helper tosses a ball to the pitcher, generally as she is moving back, and she throws another pitch from the k position.. See how many she can do in 30 – 60 seconds, rest 30 seconds then repeat.

Using Weighted Balls

Purpose; To speed up the arm circle and strengthen the arm as well
Setup; A pitching Lane and 3 (or 9) weighted balls, 5 oz, 6.5 oz. & 8.oz..
The Drill: Throw 3 pitches with the heavy ball and try to match the speed of the fastball with a regulation (6.5 oz.) ball. Then throw pitches with the lightest ball and try to get 1 or 2 mph faster. Then throw the regulation ball three times and try to match the speed of the lightest ball. Rest a bit then do another set, rest again and do a third set. This drill will be most effective if you do it 3 or 4 times each week with a day of rest between each session.

Pitch and Sprint

Purpose: building endurance and maintaining good technique while getting fatigued.
Setup: A helped starting at the regular pitching distance.
The Drill: Throw a pitch then run to the catcher and return to throw another pitch. The catcher can have several balls handy so that there is no need to chase an errant pitch.
Either time a certain number of pitches or note how many pitches can be thrown in a certain amount of time. A pitch is counted as “complete” when the pitcher reaches the starting point. This drill is way more tiring than it sounds so start with a small goal such as 4 pitches or 30 seconds. Rest 2 minutes then repeat the drill. Over time increase the number of pitches in a given time or shorten the time allowed for a certain number of pitches. This can be done from a full pitch or a K position.

The Meaganator

Purpose: Improves balance, posture and arm flex
The Setup: A ball and some space
The drill: The footwork is a basic sideways shuffle step. The arm motion is start with both arms pointing sideways (i.e. in the direction the shuffle steps are taking you). For each step bring the arms to the elbow connection position and back to the starting point, kind of like a bird flapping its wings. After a few shuffles throw the ball.

Sideways Drill

Purpose: Increase Speed
The Setup: A ball and a pitching lane.
The Drill. Stand with the toes of both feet touching the power line. Face exactly sideways. Become as tall as possible by standing on the push foot toe and lifting the stride leg so the knee is as high as the waist. Reach the throwing hand straight up with just a small amount of elbow flex. Point the glove hand about 45 degrees of so higher than parallel to the ground. Bring both arms down together as the stride foot comes straight down (no stepping towards the target. Keep the body sideways as long as possible and throw the ball. Accuracy is not a concern.

Step Pitch:

Purpose Improve balance for accuracy
The Setup: A ball and a pitching lane
The Drill: Stand facing the target with the feet next to each other. Take a step with the push leg then lift the stride leg so that the knee is waist high. Raise the arms at the same time and stop facing the target and standing on the push leg. After a pause, making sure the balance is good, then throw a pitch

Three Genuflect Pitch

Purpose: Build leg strength in the push leg and improve balance
The setup: A ball and a pitching lane.
The drill: Start facing the target with the astride foot behind the push foot about the length of the shin. Both arms should be pointing towards the target. Swing the arms back together and lower the body so that the stride knee touches the ground. Keep the upper body vertical. The stride leg knee should be in front of the toe as the other knee touches the ground. Next swing the arms forward and raise the body to the initial position. Repeat and after the third knee touch push and throw a pitch.

Start on a Bucket Pitch

Purpose: Develop strength in the push leg
The Setup: A 5 gallon bucket and a pitching lane
The Drill: Sit on the bucket with the push leg thigh pointing straight to the target and the stride leg reaching back. Bend the upper body so that the nose is in front of the knee and the knee is in front of the toe. Push forward (not up) and throw a pitch

9 Pocket Net Accuracy Challenges

Purpose: To improve accuracy and consistency
The Setup: A bucket of balls and a 9 pocket net set at the pitching istance (or shorter for beginners)
The Drill: Pick a challenge from the following list or make something up. Basically the challenges work by giving credit when a ball goes into pocket. It counts even if it bounces out. It does not count if the ball bounces before getting into the net. Complete the required challenge before the bucket of balls is empty. The pockets are numbered like a telephone keypad, so 1, 2, 3 across the top row, 4, 5, 6 in the middle row etc. If you are checking speeds set a minimum speed limit at 3 mph lower than the 2nd fastest pitch of the day. If the pitch is slower than that it does not count so as to prevent throwing slower tp be more accurate. I use the 2nd fastest as the Pocket Radar seems to periodically show a speed 2 mph faster than the actual speed so it is OK to throw out an outlier.

The list of challenges:

9 Pocket – Get a ball in each pocket in any order

Call the Pitch 9 Pocket – Just like 9 Pocket but you only get credit if the ball goes into the pocket you called.

8 Pocket – Just like 9 pocket except if you throw it into the center pocket (#5) your score goes to zero and continue with whatever balls remain. Whatever was the highest score you got to is the final score.

Tic Tac Toe – Get 3 in a row for a Tic Tac Toe and get a point. The pockets those 3 balls entered become vacant. If there were more than 3 balls in the net you get to use the remaining in the quest for the next Tic Tac Toe If you make a double Tic Tac Toe you get 2 points and you only have to remove 4 of the 5 balls that were needed

Competitive Tic Tac Toe – A two person game (pitcher and parent is a popular choice for younger pitchers, 2 pitchers is popular for older pitchers).

Take turns throwing to the net. If you get one a pocket that becomes yours. You can steal squares from the other player by throwing into a pocket they own. When one person gets 3 in a row the other player get one chance to steal one of the square and if successful the game continues

12 Pitch Accuracy – The sequence is pocket 1 then 9 then 3 then 7. Getting a ball in the pocket yields 2 points and getting into an adjacent (but not diagonally adjacent) pocket gives one point. Hitting the frame by the target pocket also gets one point. Take only 1 throw at each target (in order) and go 3 times around (12 pitches total). If after the first round of 4 the pitchers does not like her score she can start over (but only once)

12 Pitch Accuracy with change ups – Same as 12 Pitch Accuracy but throws into the lower row must be change ups.

The Snail – The sequence of required pockets resembles a snail shell (1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 8, 7, 4, 5).
Start at Pocket #1. If you make it into the pocket move onto the next one. You are only allowed a maximum of 3 throws per pocket. Count how many pockets you have after throwing to all 9.
Variation: Do not move to the next pocket after 3 throws. Count how many pockets get filled with one bucket of balls.

Comments on Weight Training

Always do a weight training that is designed by someone who understands the particular needs of pitchers. It is rarely the high school football coach.
Do pretty much anything you want to strengthen the legs. The upper body requires more thought and experience. Generally do not start any heavy lifting program until 11th grade. Also any lift that is done in a pushing motion should be paired with two in a pulling motion as the pitch is almost all pulling until elbow connection when releasing the whip has a little pushing.

. I have had several pitchers experience negative outcomes after doing weight training that is not designed for pitchers. All but one who started heavy bench pressing and overhead lifts Lost speed initially then never got past her original speed after that. For example one of my students was throwing 62 as a 9th grader and much against my wishes did the high school sponsored football style program. Her speed at college graduation was 63. I did have one student who gained a lot of speed but she grew from 5"7' in 9th grade to 6"1" by 12th grade - and she missed a lot of time due to back problems.

I do strongly endorse a well designed training routine when her body is ready. Make sure that you do 2 pulling reps for each pushing rep as pitching is mostly pulling until the last 1/8 of the circle or so.