Dancing At The Mound – The Waltz Pitching Drill

As a pitcher, spending as much time as possible perfecting your craft is the only way to get an edge on the batters you’ll be seeing game in and game out. But there’s only so many hours a week your team can practice, or you’re on your own and you’ve only got one ball, or sometimes you’re just even stuck inside the house!   If that’s the case, have no fear! Here’s an awesome pitching drill you can do anywhere, at anytime!   The idea is to get a rhythm going, left to right, in synchronization with their partner, to the point that it becomes cerebral.

This pitching drill can be done with a partner, or just at home, standing in front of the mirror.

You’ll learn to be comfortable in the gather as both a right and left handed player, which develops great pitcher focus as well as their level of comfort on the mound.

Learning to get comfortable with your gather position is key to developing consistent pitching. Getting rid of any hitches and unnecessary movement will keep the control of your pitch solely in the arm – eliminating any pitch-to-pitch adjustments that would result from an inconsistent gather step.

The Waltz Drill

Start facing your partner, or mirror, with your hands down by your side and your feet shoulder width apart. Now at the same time, take your gather step in the same direction, making sure to get a good push off your outside leg. You’ll then pause for a beat in the gather position, before coming back down stepping in the opposite direction and getting up into the gather position on that side.