propitchinginstitute | Pro Pitching Institute

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

Confidence Strategies for Pitchers

Strategies for Building Confidence

Building confidence as a pitcher is essential for both performance and mental resilience. One effective strategy is to establish a consistent pre-game routine. This routine should include physical warm-ups, mental visualization, and positive affirmations. By creating a predictable process before each game, pitchers can cultivate a sense of control and familiarity. This prepares the body for the physical demands of pitching and mentally primes the athlete to enter the game with a focused and confident mindset.

Set Achievable Goals

Rather than overwhelming themselves with the pressure to perform perfectly, pitchers should focus on smaller, incremental objectives. These may include improving specific pitches, maintaining composure under pressure, or effectively communicating with teammates. Celebrating these small victories reinforces a positive self-image and builds confidence over time. By breaking down larger ambitions into manageable tasks, pitchers can experience a series of successes that contribute to an overall sense of accomplishment.

Getting Better Results

Coaches and teammates provide constructive criticism that helps pitchers refine their techniques and strategies.

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

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

Overcoming Psychological Barriers for Elite Performance

Understanding and addressing these barriers is key to enhancing a pitcher’s game and developing a healthier mindset.

Fear of Failure

Fear is exacerbated by the pressure to meet expectations from coaches, teammates, and fans, which can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of poor performance.

Fear leads to a lack of confidence, overthinking pitches, and hesitating to throw specific pitches.

Pitchers shift their mindset to focus on the process rather than the outcome.

Dwelling on Past Failures

A ruminating thought process where pitchers replay past mistakes, hindering their ability to perform in the present moment.

Pitchers become overly cautious or hesitant, negatively affecting their decision-making on the mound.

Pitchers need to develop mental resilience like visualization, mindfulness, and positive self-talk help them focus on the current game.

Fear of Being Judged/Evaluated

This fear leads directly to performance anxiety, often causing pitchers to underperform in critical, high-leverage situations.

Underperformance in critical situations due to anxiety over external judgment.

Pitchers train in simulated game-like conditions to build confidence and develop coping strategies.

Getting Better Results

This mental transformation not only fosters better performance on the mound but also contributes to a healthier mindset, allowing them to enjoy the game.

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

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

A Guide to Balance, Power, and Precision

The Importance of a Balanced Stance

A balanced stance, with heels close together, is crucial for a stable base, balances your body, and your weight is evenly distributed between your feet.

A balanced posture enables the efficient transfer of energy from your lower body through your core and into your throwing arm, which is essential for generating power and improving pitch accuracy.

Maintaining a balanced stance minimizes stress on your joints and muscles, thereby reducing the risk of injury.

The Role of the Glove Hand

The glove hand guides the hips to rotate, transferring this energy into the upper body, and then fires the throwing hand.

The glove hand guides the ball toward the target, ensuring the pitch is sent directly to its intended location.

Getting Better Results

Ultimately, a balanced stance leads to more precise targeting and enhanced accuracy.

A balanced stance and proper use of the glove hand work together to significantly improve a pitcher’s overall mechanics.

By making these techniques a part of every motion, you achieve more consistent accuracy and generate greater power in your pitches.

The Pro Pitching Institute teaches you the balance and glove hand movement needed to prompt a throw with uncanny regularity, or your instruction is free … No questions… No hassles… and no hard feelings.

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

The Case for Level Shoulders

Tilted Shoulders

A pitcher tilted-shoulder delivery starts with their feet too far apart, causes their hips and shoulders to tilt, and throws their body off-balance.

When the body proprioceptively tries to correct this imbalance, the shoulders level out, and the ball is put in a less predictable target area.

The result is that the ball ends up somewhere between your release point and the spot where you want your ball to go, making it very difficult to consistently hit your target.

Level Shoulders

By contrast, a pitcher with level shoulders begins with their feet close together and keeps their hips and shoulders very level throughout their entire motion.

With the hips and shoulders staying level, the throwing arm consistently releases the ball from the same location on every pitch.

The glove arm helps the lower body fire, which, in turn, ensures the throwing hand comes through the same spot every time.

Level shoulders lead to great consistency in hitting the target and allow the pitcher to locate pitches with uncanny regularity.

Getting Better Results

A tilted-shouldered delivery, caused by a wide stance, forces the body to make a mid-motion correction, which sacrifices control and consistency.

The Pro Pitching Institute teaches you the shoulder position needed to prompt a throw with uncanny regularity, or your instruction is free … No questions… No hassles… and no hard feelings.

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

The Heel-to-Heel Guide to Pitching

An excellent pitching motion is a heel-to-heel relationship, and the role of the glove hand is in maintaining balance and initiating the throwing action.

Heel-to-Heel

The core argument is that keeping the front heel close and even with the back heel at the start of the motion helps a pitcher stay balanced.

This “heel-to-heel relationship” keeps the front shoulder even with the front knee and prevents the pitcher’s weight from shifting and their head from moving prematurely.

The result is that the stride land and the throwing arm can deliver the ball in a fluid, coordinated sequence.

The Glove Hand

When the pitcher’s body is in balance, the glove hand’s motion naturally tips the pitcher’s weight, initiates the turn, and contributes to the entire throwing action.

The importance of the glove hand prompts the lower body to fire the throwing arm and this coordinated movement leads to consistent accuracy and increase speed.

Getting Better Results

In contrast, when the motion is out of balance, the pitcher lands their stride before the throwing arm is ready, leading to inconsistent and inaccurate throws, much like “throwing a dart at a dart board.”

The Pro Pitching Institute teaches you the balance needed to prompt a throw with uncanny regularity, or your instruction is free … No questions… No hassles… and no hard feelings.

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

The Impact of Proper Shoulder Alignment

Shoulder alignment breaks down the role of alignment and the negative consequences of misalignment.

Proper Shoulder Alignment

When a pitcher’s shoulders are properly aligned with the target, shoulder alignment creates a stable foundation for the entire pitching motion.

Shoulder alignment allows the lower body to effectively engage and generate power, which is transferred up through the kinetic chain, initiating the throwing motion.

Proper alignment allows the glove arm to move freely and correctly, acting as a guide for the throwing arm and contributing to a synchronized delivery.

The Consequences of Misaligned Shoulders

Conversely, when a pitcher’s shoulders are out of line with the target, the mechanics of the delivery are compromised.

Misalignment prevents the lower body from properly engaging, forcing the pitcher to rely more on their arm for power, which leads to a less accurate and less powerful throw.

A misaligned upper body limits the glove arm’s movement, hindering its ability to guide the throwing arm and impacting the overall fluidity of the delivery.

Getting Better Results

Proper shoulder alignment is essential for a pitcher to achieve an efficient and powerful delivery, leading to improved accuracy and control on the mound

The Pro Pitching Institute teaches you the shoulder alignment to prompt a throw with uncanny regularity, or your instruction is free … No questions… No hassles… and no hard feelings.

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

Lower Body Engagement

Throwing a baseball contrasts the results of throwing with and without proper lower-body involvement.

Key Principles of Lower Body Engagement

Engaging the lower body transfers kinetic energy up the kinetic chain to the throwing arm, allowing the pitcher to throw the ball with greater velocity.

When the front knee is in front of the front hip, you improve control and accuracy and prevent relying solely on the arm, which leads to erratic throws.

The glove hand plays a crucial role in initiating the lower body’s movement, propelling the throwing arm toward the target with consistency.

With Lower Body Engagement

Your Front knee is positioned in front of the front hip, which helps balance your weight over your back foot.

The glove hand activates the lower body, which then propels the throwing arm with improved power, stability, and accuracy.

Without Lower Body Engagement

The front knee is behind the front hip, and your weight is balanced over your back foot.

The throwing arm fires the ball independently, lacking power and accuracy.

Pitch Smart

Having your front knee in front of the front hip leads to superior velocity and command while significantly reducing the risk of throwing arm injury.

We’re so confident in our instructions that, if we can’t help you get the ball to your target via live or Zoom instruction, your instruction is FREE, no questions asked.

Coach Skip Fast
“Proprioceptively Accurate Starting Positions”
https://propitchinginginstitute.com
856-524-3248
#ElitebyChoice