pitching mechanics | Pro Pitching Institute

The Balanced Setup

The height of your glove hand at the start of your delivery dictates the timing of your kinetic chain.

Elevating the glove too high creates “noise” and drag, whereas keeping the glove hand palm facing the target creates a direct, powerful path to the plate.

Natural View

In an elite pitcher, their glove hand remains in a “ready” position, typically tucked near the chest, and the glove hand stays below the level of the lead elbow.

From the catcher’s perspective, the pocket of the glove shows the palm and doesn’t let the front side drift or turn prematurely.

Why “Low” is Efficient

Starting with a high glove hand disrupts the “flow” of the delivery.

A high glove hand forces you to use your throwing arm as a counterbalance, causing it to “drag” behind your body’s rotation.

High glove movement causes your stride foot to crash into the ground before your arm is in the cocked position, which leads to “flat” pitches with no life.

Keeping the glove below the elbow allows for a smoother weight transfer, keeps your center of gravity stable, and ensures your release point remains consistent pitch after pitch.

Our Guarantee

By maintaining a consistent path toward the front hip, you will see immediate improvements in your balance and accuracy or you can contact skip@propitchinginstitute.com for your mechanical update.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Why Narrower Feet Equal Greater Command

A common mistake among pitchers is the belief that a wider stance provides a more powerful base.

Over-extending your feet creates a mechanical disconnect, paralyzing your lower-body drive and rendering your glove hand ineffective.

Why does a wide stance sabotage your delivery?

When feet are too far apart, your front leg lift starts behind the front hip, forcing you to “push” out of a hole rather than “driving” from a peak.

Your body is so focused on maintaining balance that the glove hand becomes a mere stabilizer rather than an active trigger for momentum.

A wide base leads to a “collapsing” backside, changing your release point on every pitch and killing your command.

Expanding: Driving from the Pillar

By bringing your feet closer together, you transform your lower body into a high-tension spring.

A narrower base allows the back leg to stay under the center of mass longer, providing a more consistent “push-off” point.

With a stable lower body, your glove hand is free to bring your chest perpendicular to your target.

You achieve a repeatable release point, which is the singular secret to professional-grade accuracy.

Our Guarantee

Proper foot placement is the foundation of every strike. When you narrow your base, and your ball still misses the mark, see the website for your mechanical update.

Coach Skip Fast
“Pitchers: Get the Lower Body Involved^©”
Pro Pitching Institute
https://propitchinginginstitute.com/lower-body/
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

BODY BALANCE IN PITCHING

FAULT – Weight Too Far Forward

You’ll find your weight starts in front of the back foot, you feel rushed or “falling”, and, instead of balance, your stride becomes the trigger.

A disrupted balance causes an overreliance on the stride to initiate the throw and inconsistent mechanics.

Your location is poor, and your command is reduced.

FIX – Balanced Starting Position

You begin with your weight slightly before the back foot, not drifting forward. You stay tall, centered, and grounded, and you let a simple lift of the front leg initiate the motion.

Your throwing motion starts naturally and smoothly with better posture, proper rhythm, less effort, and more efficiency.

WHY IT WORKS

Balance creates freedom. Your balance allows the body to move in sequence.

Your lower body leads without forcing the stride, your arm works effortlessly within the motion, and your control improves immediately.

OUR GUARANTEE

Your true pitching power and accuracy come from a balanced, grounded position—not a forced stride.

If we can’t help you consistently hit your target, your instruction is free. No questions asked.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Understanding the Stride and Glove Hand in Pitching

The Stride

The primary purpose of the stride is balance and controlled momentum.

A proper stride keeps the pitcher stable, aligns the body for delivery, and efficiently transfers momentum toward the plate—setting the foundation for power and consistency.

The Glove Hand

The glove hand guides the body and orchestrates delivery.

The glove hand helps maintain balance, guides the throwing arm, and steers the ball toward the target.

Precise glove-hand action reduces unnecessary movement, tightens the release window, and improves accuracy and command.

Ideal Synergy

When stride and glove hand work together, the stride flows seamlessly into the delivery, the glove hand guides the body and throwing arm toward the target, momentum transfers efficiently through the kinetic chain, and velocity and accuracy improve without added effort.

Repeatable mechanics, exceptionally consistent glove-hand behavior, are essential for reliable performance.

Our Guarantee

Practice these techniques, and you will improve both accuracy and power.

We’re so confident in our instructions that if we can’t help you consistently deliver the ball to your target, your instruction is free—no questions asked.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Weight Distribution: The Secret to Consistent, Accurate Throws

The Problem: Too Much Weight in Front

When your weight drifts forward, your throwing arm is forced to work overtime to compensate for poor balance, you lose your natural ability to aim, and you pull your throws.

Because your lower body can’t contribute fully and your arm ends up doing all the work, your power production drops, and you increase stress on your shoulder and elbow.

This “weight-forward” mistake creates inconsistency and makes accurate throwing feel harder than it should.

The Solution: Keep Weight on the Back Leg

The foundation of consistent, powerful throwing is centering your weight between your feet with a slight bias toward the back leg, keeping your body stable, and allowing your throwing arm to move freely and efficiently.

To store energy and stabilize your upper body, you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your weight favoring your back leg, and, as you begin your throwing motion, maintain that back-leg emphasis.

You shift your weight forward only as you throw, letting your legs and hips power the movement rather than your arm, and you land on a balanced front side with a relaxed follow-through.

Our Guarantee

Practice these techniques, and your accuracy and power will improve, or we’ll work with you to consistently hit your target, no questions asked.

Top of Form

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Mastering Glove-Hand Activity for Unmatched Pitching Control

Organized Motions – Proper Foot Strikes

Your glove hand initiates your upper-body sequence, maintains balance, and helps transfer energy cleanly into the throwing arm.

The Pitfalls of Passive Glove-Hand Activity

An inactive glove hand derails your delivery.

When your glove hand fails to engage, the connection between the lower and upper halves results in reduced velocity and effort-based throwing.

An inactive glove side changes how your throwing arm accelerates, leading to poor accuracy and unpredictable misses.

Without an active glove side, your body struggles to stay aligned through foot strike and release.

Achieving Optimal Glove-Hand Activity

To maximize glove-side efficiency, start with a balanced leg lift.

Merely, keep your front side stable while your throwing hand faces second base and your glove hand faces home plate.

As you move into the stride, rotate your glove hand to bring your elbow from facing up to facing down. Your controlled inward rotation activates your kinetic chain and syncs your upper body with the lower half.

Your engaged glove side anchors the torso, promotes a repeatable stride, and consistently drives the ball to the target with remarkable regularity.

Our Guarantee

A properly trained glove hand unlocks robust, accurate, and repeatable pitching.

We’re so confident in our system that we offer a simple guarantee: If we can’t help you throw to your target consistently, send your video to us and we’ll tell you what to fix.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Pitching Mechanics!

Back Knee Position

Starting slightly behind the back foot to allow for a powerful drive.

Your Back Knee starts slightly behind the back foot and allows for a powerful drive forward.

Weight Transfer

Shifting weight towards the back foot during the stride initiation.

Weight shifts towards the back foot as the stride initiates, facilitating a powerful drive and efficient energy transfer.

Glove Hand Position

Palm facing the body for balance and efficient energy transfer.

The Glove Hand Palm faces your body, helping maintain balance and ensuring a smooth transfer of energy.

Front Heel/Foot Position

Close to the back heel for a compact, powerful stance, with the front foot angled toward the target for stability.

The front stance is relatively close to the back heel, creating a compact, powerful stance and a stable platform.

Crucial Common Mistakes

Shifting weights too early causes a loss of power/accuracy.

A long stride creates imbalance and decreased control.

An incorrect glove-hand position hinders power and balance.

Let’s hear from you!

By following these tips and seeking guidance from Coach Skip Fast, you elevate your pitching game and achieve your full potential.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

The Pitcher’s Equation: How Power Meets Precision

Organized Motions – Proper Foot Strikes

The interplay between velocity and command in pitching!

Raw Power

Velocity is the speed of the pitch.

High velocity comes from your core rotating, making it hard for hitters to react.

Art of Control

Command is the ability to consistently throw pitches to specific locations within the strike zone or hit your spots.

Command allows for pitch manipulation and weak contact.

Synergy

Synergy—the combination of high velocity and excellent command —makes a pitcher extremely difficult to face.

Accuracy makes velocity far more dangerous.

Mechanics

Power generation starts in the lower body (the legs and hips), transferred through a strong core for balance/stability, and finalized with smooth, efficient arm action for both speed and accuracy.

Smooth mechanics make the above easy to produce.

Let’s hear from you!

By following these tips and seeking guidance from Coach Skip Fast, you can elevate your pitching game and achieve your full potential.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

Band Rotation Drills

Two shoulder abduction exercises that target the rotator cuff are External Rotation and Internal Rotation.

Band External Rotation

The ER drill strengthens the decelerator muscles, which are crucial for slowing down the arm after ball release to prevent injury.

With the band anchored to something sturdy, stand at a 90-degree angle to the band anchor. With light tension already on the band, hold the handle with your outside hand. Your elbow is bent and pinned to your side, and your forearm is pulled across your stomach.

Keeping your elbow pinned, slowly rotate your forearm away from your body until it points straight ahead.

Slowly control the band’s tension as you return your forearm back across your body to the starting position.

Band Internal Rotation

The IR drill strengthens the accelerator muscles, which provide power during the throwing motion.

Stand sideways to the band anchor. Hold the handle with your inside hand. Your elbow is bent to, pinned to your side, and the band should already have light tension. Your forearm is pointing straight out in front of you.

Keeping your elbow pinned, slowly rotate your forearm across your body until it touches your stomach or torso.

Slowly control the band’s tension as you return your forearm outward to the starting position.

Key Focus for Both Drills

These exercises are always performed with light resistance and a slow, controlled tempo to emphasize muscular endurance and joint stabilization.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice

How Glove Hand Movement Dictates Control and Power

No Glove Hand Movement

A passive glove hand and a lack of lower-body drive result in poor control.

The glove hand balances the motion from start to throwing action, ending up under the armpit.

In the starting position, the front hip is behind the back hip, and the throwing arm fires the ball without proper lower body involvement.

In essence, the glove hand balances the motion and ends up under the armpit. The lack of proper lower body means hitters chase bad pitches and patient hitters get more walks.

Correct Glove Hand Movement

An active glove hand initiates and drives the lower body, resulting in greater power and accuracy.

In the starting position, the front foot is even with the front hip. The weight is just in front of the back foot and maintained by the front leg lift.

By triggering the glove hand to drive the lower body, the lower body pulls the throwing hand into the release.

Good body position triggers the glove hand action with the lower body pulling the throwing hand into the release. The glove hand initiates the lower body to take the ball to the target with improved accuracy/location.

Getting Better Results

The Pro Pitching Institute teaches you the mental resilience needed to prompt a throw with uncanny regularity, or your instruction is free … No hard feelings.

Coach Skip Fast
“Command by Choice, Not by Chance”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
skip@propitchinginstitute.com
#ElitebyChoice