I have them throw off of a mound, usually the warm-up pitchers mound because my assistant baseball coaches are using the baseball field for batting or fielding practice when I am working with my next-game starting pitcher on the side.

I ask him to throw a simulated game for 3 innings.  He pitches to the number of batters necessary to record 3 strikeouts per inning.  In other words, if he walks one batter in a given inning, he’d have to face (pretending of course) 4 batters instead of 3 to record three outs.  The maximum number of simulated at bats is 12.  I have a batter stand at the plate with a bat, BUT HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO SWING AT THE BALL.

The goal is to throw a strike on every pitch.  However, we work on developing the ability to hit spots.  I call the location, and the pitcher has to try to hit that spot.  I might say “heart of the plate at the knees” or “outside corner at the letters”.  We get them to throw up and down, in and out.

After they have thrown a simulated baseball game for 3 innings, I let them face 3 – 5 batters in live batting practice.  By this time, the pitcher is ramped up pretty good.

It helps our batters because they are facing “game speed” pitches, and it helps our pitchers because they get to test out the art of locating pitches which they would have been practicing on the side.

Technorati Tags: pitching baseball drills, baseball coach, baseball, baseball game

Technorati Tags: baseball pitchers, pitching drill

Progressive drills for pitchers:

Have pitchers start on one knee and no glove–throwing the baseball to another player with a glove about 10-15 feet away.  Pitchers will focus on getting a good top spin on the ball by getting their throwing arm out front of their body and finishing the throw with pulling their hand into their belt buckle.  This baseball drill helps pitchers get used to releasing the ball without having to speed up their arms to cover a large distance.  Have players throw 15 pitches per drill on this to avoid straining their arms as this is a new movement.  Asking players if their arms were feeling strained, you would have any players that were feeling strained to stop throwing immediately.  Once pitchers have confidence and good technique with this drill, advance to the next drill- this may take a couple of practices before advancing but I want players to focus on technique at this point.

The next drill would be the same but having the pitchers standing up and throwing with the same motion from flat ground.  The distance between players would increase to 20-25 feet and players would continue to focus on the top spin and arm movement.

This drill would be continued until players had good technique and accuracy while standing. Have players throw 20 pitches per drill on this to avoid straining their arms.  Asking players if their arms were feeling strained, I would have any players that were feeling strained to stop throwing immediately and at the next practice we would only have them work on the first drill if their arm wasn’t feeling strained.  Once again this drill may be used for a few practices before advancing to ensure technique and accuracy were practiced before moving on.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitching drills, baseball, baseball drill

From Don…
Curve Ball Introduction:

I will teach a baseball pitcher to throw a curveball once he had command of his fastball and control of a change-up.  Once a pitcher has those pitches mastered then he will not have to rely on his curveball as much in games- especially as he would be younger, facing inexperienced hitters and having an inexperienced catcher.  I explain this to all of the players that I coach to help alleviate the pressure for young players to throw curveballs before their bodies are ready.

I teach this by telling the pitcher not to snap his wrist on the curveball as this will cause increased stress on the wrist and elbow as his arm gets stronger.  The grip on the curveball should be one with the index and middle finger together with the middle finger resting on one of the four long seams on the baseball.  A pitcher should concentrate on pulling his arm down into his belt buckle and allowing the ball to travel over his fingers and towards the plate.  This will allow him to use the larger muscles in his arm and not his wrist and elbow.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitching tips, baseball drill, baseball pitcher, curveball, baseball

From Robert…
I coach 13U boys.  Here is a baseball pitching drill that I do for the pitchers on my team.  I call this baseball drill 1-3-7.

The boy gets 10 pitches and in those 10 pitches he must try to accomplish the following:
1-throw the first pitch for a strike so that they practice getting ahead of the hitter
3-they must throw at least 3 strikes in a row within these 10 pitches
7-they must throw 7 of 10 pitches for strikes.

I’ll repeat this drill 1-2 more times based on how much time we have in practice.

Then, based on the results, I’ll announce the Cy Young winner of the day.  The boys love to be the Cy Young for the day and they all love to compete against one another.  They ask me all the time now if we are doing the 137 drill today in practice.

I find this baseball drill helps them to concentrate on just throwing strikes.  It sounds so generic-but we all love a challenge and if they missed throwing that 1st pitch for a strike the first time, they concentrate that much harder the next time to do it.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitchers drills, baseball pitching drill, baseball drill, baseball

From Paul…
With young baseball pitchers, I watch their balance and mechanics to start.  I start with the full wind up to help them understand the tempo necessary to throw strikes. The rock step, bringing the leg to your body with a pause to gain your balance, the stride toward the plate, the arm angle, the release, and the follow through to a balanced position to get ready to field your position. Too many kids forget they are a  baseball fielder in this position as well as a thrower.

I progressively get the baseball drill faster until the motion becomes second nature to the player and they can throw strikes consistently. Once I feel comfortable they have the balance down, we then incorporate fielding bunts and driblers down the line at full speed so the player can understand he has to go right or left or get ready for line drives.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitching drills, baseball pitchers, baseball, baseball drill

From Roger…
Idea- This is a baseball drill for the pitchers. Simple but very effective. We do 6 sets of 10. The catcher has a ball and the pitcher has a ball. The pitcher pitches the baseball and the catcher throws the other ball back as quickly as you can. The pitcher runs back or hurries back to the mound and is ready to release as quickly as possible. He will pitch as fast and quickly as he can not really worrying about where it hits as much, but how quickly he can get another ball and pitch it.
Good cardio workout.

From Mike…
A baseball pitching drill that I like to do with my team is a one-hop drill. Utilizing the width of a gym, have your baseball player throw the ball as hard as he can keeping the ball low and hitting the floor in front of the catcher.

This drill teaches the pitcher the proper release point and cuts way down on high pitches.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitchers drills, baseball drill, baseball, baseball pitching drill

From Dave…
Drill 1:
Here is one of my baseball training ideas. As you know there is a right way to avoid being nailed by a wild pitch.
What I do is, have a Batter get ready to hit baseballs in batting practice. They should have their helmets on, batt in hand, and ready to bat. As I’m pitching baseballs to them, I will randomly pitch a white water ballon right at them!  If they turn away and bend over, the worst thing that will happen is get a wet back or behind. It’s great fun on a warm day, and it takes the fear out of being plowed by a wild pitch.

Drill 2:
Here is another baseball drill that I do to teach Pitchers to get ready for the ball to get hit right back at them. You will need a pitcher and a catcher and a batter.

The pitcher goes about his business throwing pitches to the catcher. The batter stands just out of reach of the incoming balls and swings at them, but doesn’t hit them. The baseball coach or player stands right behind the catcher (with protective gear on) and throws a white water balloon right back at the pitcher while the batter is swinging the bat.

This teaches the pitcher to be ready for a line drive right back to him. The worst thing that will happen is that the pitcher will get soaked. Once again it’s a fun drill to do on a warm day.

Technorati Tags: baseball pitching training aids, baseball drills, baseball training, baseball drill, baseball

From Ray…
One of my newest  baseball ideas /drills is to work base running while our pitchers are working through warm ups at the mound.

I have 4 pitchers on my baseball team and after the whole team has gone through their warm up session; stretch, lap around the outside of the field, and then warm up with the whole team working on their throwing, I then bring my pitchers out to the mound.  They have warmed up their arms for pitching while the others were just throwing.

I then have each pitcher throw 5 to 6 pitches and then go to the next pitcher.  While doing this, I put 4 players on 1st, 2nd and 3rd base.  I have taught my players to start their base running motion as the pitcher starts his wind up so that when his right foot comes over, contacts the ground and pushes forward to lift his left foot off the bag, it all happens simultaneously so that the player leaves the bag hard and has not left too early.  We then rotate to the next player in line at that  base.

With young players this takes a few times through the drill so that they understand the advantage they have rather than waiting for the ball to be caught, then leave.  After each of the 4 players has run through this drill at the base, we rotate the groups to the next base.  It is important that all go through each base because you leave each base a little differently and the players need to work this so they are aware of how far to come off each bag, why not to turn their backs to the catcher, why they should be in foul territory when taking a leave at 3rd and why they should be certain they can see both the 2nd baseman and know where the SS is when they break at 2nd.

This drill, although simple, is very useful for game situations.  It makes the opposing defense become aware of the fact that you and your team are here to play aggressively when on offense and with one miscue by the defense, you are one more base around the block.  This builds game savvy and confidence in all of your team players and coaches and quite often is the root cause for a lot of the wins we earn each year.  Aggressive base running.  It is an often overlooked and under coached part of the game.  Me, I tell my players at our 1st practice that we are going to be running, then we start.  And the pitchers get a great work out.  This drill can take 15 to 30 minutes depending on the intensity that you drill in to this piece.

Technorati Tags: baseball coaching software, baseball, drills, base running, pitchers, warm up, throwing, pitching, defense

From Jason…
I have two baseball drills that have worked well for me:  I coach 10U and 12U teams.

Drill 1.  Set up an L screen or net at second base.  Have a coach toss or hit fly balls to the outfielders.  They position themselves to catch the ball then throw into second and try to hit the screen or net.

Drill 2.  The second drill is one I mainly use for my pitchers but works for other positions as well.  I set a baseball on top of a batting tee and set the tee on home plate.  I then have my pitchers try to knock the ball off the tee without hitting the tee.  This really makes the pitcher focus on location.  You can move the tee around or up or down to simulate different pitch locations.

Technorati Tags: the little league baseball, baseball, drills, coach, hit, outfielders, catch, drill, pitchers, pitcher