Baseball Pitching Coach – The Beginning Pitcher

Pitching can begin at a variety of levels, but providing the fundamentals is important.  Any baseball pitching coach will agree that grip, wind up and delivery are three elements that should be worked on.

What you need – A pitcher’s mound, baseballs and players that want to pitch. 

How this drill works – Less like a drill and more like basic instruction, we will provide a few basics on getting your pitchers started in pitching. 

Grip – To begin, you can teach the players the proper baseball grip for a basic fastball.  Most coaches will start with a four-seam fastball grip.  In this grip, the index and middle fingers go across the horseshoe seam, as opposed to the two-seam fastball, where the fingers go with the seam.  The players should have a firm grip, but the ball should not touch the palm (the more friction, the less speed on the ball).  This might take time for younger pitchers to get used to.

Windup – Players need to learn the proper windup technique, as this is where they begin to generate the power behind their pitches.  Here are the proper steps:

- Placement of foot in front of rubber (for push off)
- Bringing the ball to rest, the step, the kick, reaching back
- Uncoiling the body

Delivery – the delivery may seem secondary in the entire equation, but it is crucial for a pitches success.  The one element that is likely most important is to find a release point for a pitch that allows for more strikes.  Hitting this release point is a matter of constant repetition, and takes time.  This helps to deliver consistency in the pitches.  The different pitches may have different release points, but, in each pitch type, the release point should be relatively similar.

Follow through after the pitch should be encouraged.

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Category: Baseball Coaching, Baseball Drills, Baseball Pitching Drills, High School Baseball, Youth Baseball