Rushing is one of the most common faults among youth baseball
pitchers. A lot of young players equate speed with speed, meaning
they think faster they go the harder they
’ll throw.
Rushing is one of the most common faults among youth baseball pitchers. A lot of young players equate speed with speed, meaning they think faster they go the harder they’ll throw.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. In actuality, the faster you go the more your arm falls behind, thus creating a strain on your arm and lack of velocity.
Developing good balance and tempo is the way to eliminate rushing. By slowing down, and allowing your arm to catch up, you’ll release the ball out in front more and your arm will generate more arm speed.
This in turn will add velocity to your fastball and lead to a healthier arm.
Eliminating rushing starts with good balance from the moment a pitcher lifts his leg.
If you’re a coach or a parent you should start your player from the stretch position and not the windup. Starting a player from the windup encourages rushing, while the stretch position teaches balance and rhythm.
Once a pitcher learns about staying back and developing balance before he goes forward, then you can proceed to the windup.
In the stretch position the pitcher should lift his leg to a position to where he could set a plate on it and it wouldn’t fall off. If he wants to set it higher that’s fine. The key here is, just don’t go forward yet. This is your first balance position.
After lifting your leg, it almost comes down to the original starting position. It doesn’t hit the ground. This is your second balance point and you still haven’t gone forward.
Now that you’re in a good balance and loaded position, the hands will break down and you’ll begin to glide forward toward the plate.
And again, the key word here is glide. You don’t explode until your front leg (lead leg) lands. If you have good balance and timing throughout these points, your arm will be in the correct position to throw the ball.
Remember, you shouldn’t be going forward until the hands break. The hands go and then the body goes. If the body gets out before the hands break, you’ll be rushing and the arm will be trying to catch up.
Usually, a player who’s rushing will incorporate other faults into his delivery such as short arming, falling off the mound and an inconsistent release point which leads to inaccuracy. not to mention the added strain, which after throwing a number of pitches wears down the arm quicker.
By creating a new habit of good balance before he goes forward, you’re allowing the youth pitcher to be more compact, add velocity to his fast ball, have more accuracy and an arm that doesn’t hurt. That will create success on the mound.
Taylor Made Baseball
Pitching Mini-Camps, January through May
Camps begin once a month and run for four consecutive weeks. Each class is one hour (four total hours). Player to coach ratio is 4:1. Held indoors in Morgan Hill. Each player is filmed and receives a DVD. Focus is on developing proper throwing and pitching mechanics. Camps are taught by Rich Taylor (www.taylormadebaseball.com ). Cost is $99 per camp which includes a DVD and a pitching book ( while supply lasts). Camps are held Thursday evenings.
To sign up or to get more information call: (408) 782-0630 or e-mail Rich Taylor at
rj********@ya***.com
Payment is due prior to camp.
