“Teach Yourself (Your Son) Lower Body Engagement©”

Build your brand, get noticed, and achieve your pitching dreams!

Why coming into this course do you struggle with your fastball command?

Pitchers who ask for Coach Skip’s help are using their Throwing Arm to keep their body in balance as they move down the mound. Their Body using their Throwing Arm for balance means they can’t know with any certainty where any single pitch will end up.

What this course will do for you?

This course teaches you how to place your body in a position where you need your Throwing Action to get back in balance. With your Body using your Throwing Action for balance, your Throwing Arm is much more likely to send your pitches where you want more often than ever.

The Process

The Process to make this your reality starts with using your Lower Body to create a balanced foundation, moves to create constructive tension in your Upper Body, then ends with a simple Glove Hand action that’ll cause your body to snap back to normal and, in the process, send your pitches where you want with uncanny regularity.

Follow the Process and the Process is Guaranteed to Work

For the best results, you perform your motion in this order all. You forget or compromise any one step and won’t produce the results you want as often as you expect. Your Lower Body Foundation

1. Level Back Foot
2. Eliminate Any Front-to-Back Sway
3. Set Your Foundation
4. Balanced Leg lift

Upper Body Tension

5. Generate Tension
6. Release Tension

Producing Fastball Command

7. Produce Results

As an example, let’s talk about taking a car trip …

1. You grab your keys.
2. You walk to the car.
3. You unlock the car door.
4. You get into the car.
5. You put your key into the ignition.
6. You turn the key … you get the idea.

The point is, just like the pitching process Coach Skip lays out for you, you miss or think to change any step in the process, and you never reach your destination.

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Best Practice – Turning What’s Presented into a Repeatable Behavior.

As you move through this course, at each step, hold the recommended position for a count of 1001-1002-1003, put your Front Foot on the ground, and step toward second base. Falling forward into your Throwing Action means your Body is out of balance and there’s a forward weight that needs to be addressed. Should this be the case, begin with the first question in the “Getting to ‘Yes’” series and work through each question until you correct your imbalance.

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Develop a “Mound Routine”.

Your “Mound Routine” is a mental process with your pitching process. You always begin every delivery with …

• A breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
• As you do this, you mentally reinforce your entire pitching process or the weakest point within your delivery.

Initially, you may remind yourself of the entire process, then once you're more comfortable, you remind yourself of a specific Arm or Leg movements needed to produce the results you want as often as you expect.

Let’s Get Started!!!

Level Back Foot

Think about walking on a tilted balance beam. You’d constantly be using your arms to keep from falling off the beam. When you begin you allow yourself to begin your delivery with your Back Foot tilted, your Body will use your Throwing Arm for balance as you move down the mound and your fastball command will suffer. With this in mind, it’s critical you begin your delivery with your Back Foot level and horizontal, and here’s how you make this happen.

 Level Your Back Foot - Action

Anytime you pitch on a mound where your Back Foot plant area is a mess, you simply use the loose dirt around the mound to fill in and level your Back Foot plant area.

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Best Practice - About Getting to “Yes”

Important Information About The “Getting To ‘Yes’” Hierarchy. Every “Getting to ‘Yes’” question is assigned a number and the lower the “Getting to ‘Yes’” number the more important that element is to your brand. Therefore, focusing on the higher numbers without making sure you can answer “yes” to the questions leading up to the factor that has grabbed your attention will decrease the frequency of pitches traveling into your target and will do nothing to bolster your brand. The intent is for you to only focus on the question that applies and not drive yourself crazy making sure your motion complies with each and every element presented.

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Getting to “Yes”: Your “Level Back Foot”

When you can answer “yes” to this question, you’re more likely not to signal your body that you won’t need your Throwing Arm for balance, are much more likely to increase the frequency of your pitches traveling directly into your target, and, as an added value, produce the balanced position needed to move on this course.

1. Is your Back Foot level?

Getting to “yes”. Beginning with your Back Foot level is a “want to”.  As long as you “want to”, “remember to”, level your Back Foot plant area, you’re back to “yes”.

Eliminate Your Front-to-Back Sway

When your Front Foot comes off to the ground, you want to keep your Legs and Foot Placement from creating any front-to-back movement. Let your Foot Placements cause a swy, your Body is going to use your Throwing Arm for balance and, by doing so, compromise your fastball command. Now that your Back Foot is level, you use your Feet and Legs to prepare your Body for your Front Leg lift and, in the process, eliminate any front-to-back sway.

Your Foot Placements

One Baseball Width - Action.

You begin each motion with …

• Your Knees flexed,
• Your Feet parallel to one another, and
• Your Feet one baseball width apart.

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 Best Practice – Front Foot Placement

Once you place your Feet one baseball width apart, scuff the ground where you place your Front Foot. Every time you begin a motion, by placing Front Foot over the scuff mark, you know you’re beginning your delivery with your Feet one baseball width apart.

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Getting to “Yes”: One Baseball Width.

When you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re signaling your body that you won’t need your Throwing Arm for balance, are much more likely to increase the frequency of your pitches traveling directly into your target, and, as an added value, produce the balanced position needed to move on this course.

1. Is your Back Foot level? Getting to “yes”. Beginning with your Back Foot level is a “want to”.  As long as you “want to”, “remember to”, level your Back Foot plant area, you’re back to “yes”.

3. Are your Knees flexed? Getting to “yes”. Once you place your Feet on the ground, flexing your Knees is a “want to”. You must “want to”, “remember to”, flex your Knee.
4. Are your Hands centered within your Body? Getting to “yes”. Centering your Hands within your Body is a “want to”. Keep your Hands centered within your body and the next question falls into place.
5. Are your Feet parallel to another? Getting to “yes”. Simply reposition your Feet to parallel.
6. Are your Feet one baseball width apart? Getting to “yes”.  There are two solutions to consistently placing your Feet one baseball width apart. First, you make sure your Back Foot is level and, if it is, you need to want to place your Front Foot one baseball from your Back Foot.

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Best Practice – Coach Skip Refuses to Be the Reason Your Fail

Include in the course is 5-FREE video uploads. Should you struggle and you can't solve your issue within the scope of this course, you send your pitching motion video to Coach Skip, and, within 24 hours, he recommends ways to improve your fastball command and enhance your brand.

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When to ask for help?

Should you unsuccessfully try to adjust any single “Foot Placement” element on three separate occasions, instead of banging your head against the wall, consider using one of the 5-video sessions that come with this guide.

Set Your Foundation

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Best Practice – Pitching is a Process

It's been said once before, but it's so important that it bears repeating ... think of your motion asca process where one step always follows the other. Let’s use the process you follow when you a trip to the store as an example:

1. You grab your keys.
2. You walk to your car.
3. You unlock the car door.
4. You sit in the driver’s seat.
5. You start the car.
6. You drive to the store.

You forget any step in this process and you won’t make it to the store! What follows is also a process … you level your Back Foot, you place your Feet one baseball width apart, you lower your hips, and the list will grow as you move through what follows. Should you forget any step in your pitching process, you can’t expect your pitches to end up where you want as often as you expect. Bottom line, think about your skills in the order presented and you can expect your fastball command to take you to the heights you dream about.

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Insight: Your Knees elevations determine your Hip and Shoulder orientations. Therefore, your Front Knee moving out and over your Front Foot lowers your Front Hip.

Lower your Front Hip.

• While keeping your shoulders level and your Knees flexed, you move your Front Knee out and over your Front Foot toward your Front Toe.
• As you close your Front Shoulder toward your target, you make sure your Front Knee travel over the toes on your Front Foot.

Getting to “Yes”: Set Your Foundation.

When you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re experiencing the reactions proven to increase the frequency of your pitches traveling directly into your target and you’re also ready for the next step in this course. 6. Is your Front Knee over your Front Foot?

Getting to “yes”. With your Feet one baseball width apart, you must make a conscious effort to move your Front Knee out and over your Front Foot.

Double-check your “Lower Front Hip”, when you move your Front Knee toward your Front Foot toes. you can expect to get the best results when you see these reactions.

7. Is your Front Shoulder slightly closed to your target? Getting to “yes”. Your Shoulder and Hips work as a unit. Relax and, as your Front Foot action closes your Hips, let your Shoulders follow. 8. Does your Back Knee form a “Diamond-like” shape? Does your Back Knee finish over the Little Toes of your Back Foot? Getting to “yes”. Both go hand-in-hand. If your Back Leg doesn’t form a diamond-like shape or your Back Knee fails to settle over the Little Toes of your Back Foot, increase your Knee flex and bring your Front Knee over your Front Foot. 9.  Is your Front Hip lower than your Back Hip? Getting to “yes”. This is your final check. If you have yet to get to “yes”, then bring your Front Knee past the toes of your Front Foot.

When to ask for help?

Should you struggle with getting your Hips to tilt from back to front on three separate occasions, instead of banging your head against the wall, consider using one of the 5-video sessions that come with this guide.

Balanced Front Leg Lift

In this section, you learn how to use a Lower Leg to counterbalance your Front Leg lift. These simple actions keep your Body in balance into your Front Leg lift and get you a step closer to forcing your body to use your Throwing Action to get back in balance.

2-Separate Actions Complete Your Front Leg Lift

 

• With your Hips tilted from back to front, you lift your Front Knee to and in line with your Front Shoulder.
• Once you’re done with your Front Leg Lift, you rotate your Front Thigh to bring your Front Heel in line with the toes of your Back Foot.

Getting to “Yes”: Your Balanced Front Leg Lift.

When you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re experiencing the reactions proven to get even more pitches to travel directly into your target and you’ve also prepared yourself for the next step in this course. 10. Is your Front Knee in line with your Front Shoulder? Getting to “yes”. If you struggle to lift your Front Knee directly up to and in line with your Front Shoulder, as your Front Foot comes off the ground, your Back Knee is straightening. Should this describe you, think to lock your Back Leg in place and, once locked in place, move your Front Knee around your Front Hip Joint and up to your Front Shoulder. 11. Did you make two separate actions to get your Front Leg into this position? Getting to “yes”. Ending your Front Leg lift with your Back Heel in line with your Front Toes is something that happens, not something you do. Therefore, instead of thinking about the result, think about lift your Front Knee up to your Front Shoulder, then rotating your Front Thigh to bring your Front Heel in line with the Toes of your Front Foot.

To double-check your “Front Leg Lift”, when you lift your Front Knee to your Front Shoulder, then you move your Front Heel in front of your Back Toe, you can expect to get the best results when you see these reactions.

12. Is your Front Heel in line with the Toes of your Back Foot? Getting to “yes”. Ending your Front Leg lift with your Front Heel in line with your Back Toes is dependent on your Front Thigh rotation. If you struggle with your Heel/Toe alignment, as your Front Knee comes up to your Front Shoulder, increase your Front Thigh rotation. 13. Is your Front Foot angled toward your target? Getting to “yes”. Your Front Thigh rotation angles your Front Foot toward your target. Should you struggle with your Front Foot angle, place a renewed focus on a two-part Front Leg Lift. 14. Does your Front Leg form a “Diamond-like” shape? Getting to “yes”. Should you lose your Front Diamond, there’s a good chance your Front Leg is moving into your Front Leg lift as a single action. In this case, refocus your attention on making your Front Leg lift a Knee lift, and a Front Heel movement. With this two-part action, your Front Leg will form a “diamond-like” shape.

When to ask for help?

Should you unsuccessfully try to adjust any single “Front Leg Lift” element on three separate occasions, instead of banging your head against the wall, consider using one of the 5-video sessions that come with this guide?

Creating Tension

Much like a rubber band you stretch, then let go of one end, your body is built to spring back to its original state. Once you complete your Front Leg lift, you’re ready to build the tension that’ll prompt your Body to use your Throwing Action to get itself back in balance.

learning Tension

It’s recommended you teach how to build tension by keeping your Upper Body actions separate from your Front Leg lift.

• Start by completing your Front Leg lift and working on building tension as a separate activity.
• Once mastered, get into your Front Leg lift at the same time you build your Upper Body tension.

Your Front Leg Lift and your Upper Body tension become one movement.

Your Upper Body/Arm action.

From your Front Leg lift,

• While keeping your Throwing Arm bent, move your Throwing Hand away from your Body and toward the corner base (right-handers toward third base and lefthanders toward first base) and at the same time,
• Drop your Glove Hand under your Front (Glove Side) Elbow. At this point, your Hands are relaxed and there is no tension.

Now, it’s time to learn how to use your Hand positions to produce tension.

Using Your Hand Positions to Create Tension

You learn to build tension in stages, then once you’re comfortable with producing the end result, you can turn everything into one smooth movement. With your Throwing Hand toward the corner base and your Glove Hand toward Home, you …

• Rotate your Hands to bring your Pinkie Fingers toward the center of your body.

As you bring your Pinkies in, your Lower Back remains arched and your Upper Back leans forward.

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Best Practice – Showing Your Grip

You may receive criticism that you’re showing your grip to the Hitter and tipping your pitches. The fact is that no matter the grip, your Opponent will see a fastball arm speed, still have to guess about ball speed and movement, and have to contend with extremely late ball movement. All in all, even though you show the Hitter your grip, you still challenge your Opponent to find a way to reach base.

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Getting to “Yes”: Generating Tension

When you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re experiencing the reactions proven to get most of your pitches to travel directly into your target and you’ve also prepared yourself for the next step in this course. 15. Out of your Front Leg lift, do you rotate your Throwing Hand away from your body toward the corner base and your Glove Hand toward Home? Getting to “yes”. If you have an issue moving your Throwing Hand toward the corner or your Glove Hand moving toward Home, there’s a good chance your Front Heel isn’t directly in front of your Back Heel. Should this describe you, review your “Getting to ‘Yes”” questions to resolve your Heel/Toe situation. 16. Do you feel the tension in Upper Body? Getting to “yes”. You increase your Upper Body tension by moving your Pinkie Fingers closer to the center of your body.

To double-check the tension you create, when you complete your Throwing Hand/Glove Hand actions, you can expect to get the best results when you see these reactions.

17. Is your Upper Back rounded and your Lower Back arched? Getting to “yes”. Your Chest curves inward when your Shoulders curl toward your chin. Your Shoulder curl toward your Chin when your Pinkie Fingers move toward the center of your body. 18. Does your Throwing Hand finish over a line that runs from the Pitching Rubber? Getting to “yes”. There’s a very good chance when you place your Hands together to begin your delivery and after you “twist” your Throwing Hand in already over your Back Foot.  Therefore, as you raise your Throwing Arm Elbow, you simply move your Throwing Hand away from your body. 19. Does your Front Heel remain in line with the Toes on your Back Foot? Getting to “yes”. Your Front Heel drifted to the Home Plate side of the imaginary line running from your Back Foot indicates your Throwing Hand is moving to the Second Base side of this imaginary line. Should this describe you, review your “Getting to ‘Yes'” questions to resolve your Heel/Toe situation. 20. Is your Glove Arm at a right angle and your Glove Hand Palm pointing toward Home? Getting to “yes”. Rotating your Glove Hand Pinkie toward the center of your body is sure to place your Glove Arm to a right angle and point your Palm toward Home.

Your Final Tension Check

When you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re to produce the fastball command Coach Skip promised. 21. Is your Throwing Hand over a line running from your Back Foot to the corner base, your Glove Hand Palm pointing toward Home, and your Front Heel directly in front of your Back Foot? Getting to “yes”. If you fail to meet both conditions, review your “Getting to ‘Yes”” questions to resolve your Heel/Toe situation. 22. Can you hold your “Load” for 3-seconds without falling toward your target? Getting to “yes”. When you end your “Load” with your Front Heel and your Throwing Hand over an imaginary line extending from your Back Foot, you should have no problem holding your “Load” for 3-seconds.

When to ask for help?

During three consecutive tries, should you have an issue holding your “Load” for 3-seconds without falling toward your target, instead of banging your head against the wall, consider using one of the 5-video sessions that come with this guide?

Your “Glove Hand Release”

Up to this point, everything presented is positioned. It’s now time to put all your hard work to good use! You’re about to use a simple Glove Hand action to force your body to use your Throwing Action to get you back to balance, expect your pitches to end where you want, and, consequently, use your fastball command to elevate your brand.

 Glove Arm Release.

• You release the tension created by your “Load” by simply turning your Glove Hand Pinkies toward Home Plate.

• Your Glove Hand Pinkie turning toward Home releases your Throwing Arm to send your pitches into your intended target.

Once you feel your body release the tension, use your current Throwing Action to deliver each pitch “through” (think to break the webbing on your receiver’s glove), not “to”, your target.

When to ask for help?

When, after three consecutive tires, you can’t get  …

• Your Front Heel to line up with your Back Toes,
• Your Front Foot angled to the plate,
• Your Throwing Hand to finish over a line running in front of the pitching rubber, and
• Your Glove Hand Pinkie moving toward your target fails to trigger your delivery,

instead of banging your head against the wall, consider using one of the 5-video sessions that come with this guide.

Your Total Body Reaction to Your Pinkies Moving Toward Your Target.

Physical Measurement – As a spontaneous reaction to your “Glove Hand Release”, your entire Body unravels from the ground up and you constantly see the measurements appearing below. Results Measurement – Once your “Glove Hand” triggers your Throwing Action, you will …

1. Force more pitches to travel directly into your intended target,
2. Generate later stage ball movement,
3. No matter the pitch called, show your Opponent a fastball arm speed,
4. Challenge the best Hitters to make solid contact with any pitch you throw,
5. Gain the Team’s trust that, every time you take the mound, you’ll keep the Team close enough to win,
6. Meet or surpass most statistical benchmarks anyone wants to hold you to.

Statistical Measurements – With your “Glove Hand Trigger”, you will …

1. See a larger percent of your pitches traveling directly into your target,
2. Make it much more difficult for Hitters to reach base,
3. Watch many more Opponents struggling with their timing, and
4. Find Teams scoring fewer runs against you than ever.

Should you struggle to produce these reactions, starting with the first question, go through the "Getting to 'Yes'" protocols to find the one skills that are causing you to use your Throwing Arm for balance, make the correction, and marvel at how easy it was to produce the fastball command likely to support your brand.

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Best Practices – Off-Speed Pitches

The best off-speed pitches confuse the Hitter with fastball arm speed. You use your fastball pitching process (Foot Placements, Twist, Front Leg Lift, Load and Explode) with an off-speed grip. The Hitter sees a fastball Arm speed but must guess about ball movement and ball speed. As an added value, when you use the fastball delivery presented in this course, your ball will break so close to the plate that the Hitter struggles to reach base.

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Handling Poor Results

Best Practice – Next Pitch

When you miss your target, you act like a Professional You get the ball, repeat your last pitch pitching process, and watch your pitch travel back to your target.

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You’re going to miss your target on occasional pitches. It’s how you react to these pitches that defines your pitching brand. Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a process. If, when you miss, your goal is to get your next pitch back to your target, then your brand remains the same. However, when you miss and you go back to the pitching process presented in this course, you give your brand every reason to excel.

Regroup at 3-Consecutive Misses.

When you miss your target by an unacceptable distance on 3-consecutive pitches, a disruptive weight may have crept into your delivery. You find and correct this fault by revisiting and matching your delivery to the “Getting to ‘Yes’” sections in the order they’re presented. If, after doing this, your fastball command isn’t what you expect, use whatever video uploads to have to send Coach Skip your pitching motion video. Email Coach Skip your pitching motion video.

What Now?

Still, Having an Issue Correcting Your Fastball Command?

This course gives you a pitching process proven to produce the fastball command needed to elevate your pitching brand. Know this, there’s always a reason you struggle with your fastball command, If fixing your motion is beyond the scope of this course, contact Coach Skip with your concerns. To avoid you making arbitrary adjustments that will likely disrupt your balance, cause you to use your Throwing Arm more for balance than is healthy, and hurt your brand, ask Coach Skip for help. You can send him as many as 5 videos for analysis. Within 24 hours, he'll respond to each with a way to get more of your fastballs to travel directly into your target more often.

Refer a Pitcher and Get More Video Uploads

Email Coach Skip with a Pitcher needing to upgrade their game, let Coach Skip know and earn an additional video upload. Thanks for letting me help you become the Pitcher you always dreamed you’d be. Coach Skip Fast Pro Pitching Institute contact@propitchinginstitute.com 856-524-3248

Copyright

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