"We have to add more velocity to our fast ball!"  "We have to add more power!"  "He's got to get faster!"  All statements we get on a daily basis.  To improve in these areas and others, involves improving the mechanics of the motion.  In other words, if you want to run faster, you need to improve your running technique.  Yes, speed is a gift from God, we all can't run 6.6 second 60 yard dashs.  That doesn't mean we can't be quicker.  You must improve your posture, how your body parts fuction together, what arm goes up with what knee are just a sampling of what we are talking about.  Going out and running 15 110 yard gasers is not going to make you faster.  It'll probably get you in shape but not allow you to post a time to get scouts to look at you or help you make that all-star team.

The same can be said for every other area in sports.  We are concerned with baseball here and we make a monumental effort to help people understand that the better the fundamentals, the better the player.  "If you can't do it slow, how are you ever going to do it fast?"  You want to improve your son's velocity on the mound?  Help him to throw the ball properly.  Pitching is nothing more that throwing it correctly where you want, when you want.  Sure velocity is important but Greg Maddox made a career out of throwing his fastball where he wanted, when he wanted at 83-86 mph.  He'd get it up there if he had to but understand, hitters get themselves out.  So many players lack basic fundamentals that they never master at the younger ages.  Why do arm injuries still persist?  Leagues have the necessary pitch count/rest rules in place these days but yet we still have arm problems.  Why is that?  Because we don't throw correctly.

Hitting, defense and every other area of the game are the same way.  The time to work towards improvement is not during the season but rather during the off-season.  Just a couple of hours a week over a four or five month period can make a world of difference.  Besides, who doesn't want to go outside and have a good old game of catch with their son or daughter.  If we are going to do that, why not make sure we do it correctly.  Slow it down, use some throwing drills to improve your ability to hit a target.  Set a blanket up in the basement or garage and get a tee.  Sit on a five gallon bucket and work the upper half of your swing all fall and winter.  Isolate different body parts during each different session and watch how much improvement you see before next season.  One thing is for sure, your bat speed will improve with all those correct repetitions.  The time to train is during the off-season so adjustments have time to settle in and your son or daughter can be used to them before you show up for your next game.  Confidence is the name of the game.  You are not going to get much of that if you practice on Monday and then expect to show up Tuesday and execute things differently.

Good luck this fall and we wish you the best of luck improving your baseball skills in the off-season.

Pitching is nothing more than being able to throw the ball where you want when you want.  To do that, you must first be able to throw it correctly.  I once heard Greg Maddux (who can argue with what he's accomplished in his storied career) tell the story of his early pitching career.  He claimed that he was in the outfield shagging balls during batting practice one day when he realized that all hitters will get themselves out.  If he would stop trying to throw 95 (which he couldn't) and pitch to the hitter's weakness, then he could win a lot of games.  Since he never really picthed outside of 83-86, I'd say he learned a valuable lesson that day.  Greg Maddux is the best I have ever seen at locating pitches.

A majority of today's hitters fly open.  That is to say that the hips rotate out before the bat gets through the strike zone.  You beat those hitters by pitching away.  Fastballs, change-ups and breaking balls (if you are old enough) on the outer half of the plate.  When they move up on the plate, which they will, pitch them in.  They'll never be able to get the bat head there.  Problem is, most pitcher's can't throw it where they want every single time they throw a pitch because they lack the basic fundamentals associated with throwing a baseball.  Let's stop putting the guy on the mound that throws the hardest but has very little control and start developing his mechanics.  Nolan Ryan is always asked how to improve one's velocity.  His response is always "learn to throw the ball correctly and improve your mechanics."

Today's young players use little of the lower half of the body.  Why is that?  It is the strongest part of our body.  We want pitchers to have strong legs and then we never use them.  We teach them to lunge off the mound leaving the arm behind them and then get on them for not being able to locate.  Today's college teams open most practices with basic throwing drills like flip, power, blanace, glide to stride and flash.  Why don't we do that with our younger teams?  They are the ones who REALLY need it.  The answer is usually that there is not enough time.  I would argue that if we took the first couple of practices and took our time teaching them the drills, then we would have better games because we would not be throwing the ball all over the field like we do.  We would have better player pitch games because we would have pitcher's who could throw the ball where they wanted to.  Even more importantly, we would have far fewer arm injuries because we would be throwing the ball with better mechanics.  I would also question wether or not we are actually developing today's young players by having them pitch at nine years of age.  We have a player who struggles getting the ball across the plate, hitter's begin to get frustrated because they can't get a pitch to hit and so they start swinging at bad pitches.  Defensively, players begin to get bored because there is less "action."  In the end, it seems that we are sacrificing the development of our young players for the sake of one guy.  That just doesn't make much sense.

Let's spend more time teaching kids to throw properly.  Let's get them to throw the ball with the feet moving and try and create better athletes.  When we throw mechanically correct, we develop better arm strength, which can lead to better velocity.  We cut down on the number of arm injuries and give our young players the opportunity to develop.  Click on the following link to get some throwing drills which will help your son (or daughter) become a better thrower.  They will also isolate different parts of our pitching mechanics which will allow you to become a better pitcher.  Remember, we can all become successful pitchers if we are willing to practice regardless of how hard we throw.  http://www.contentedits.com/img.asp?t=2&id=26076