Body awareness is one of these most important skills we need as pitchers. These drills are all meant to help you increase your ability to feel what your doing, while at the same time helping you make necessary adjustments.
These could be great additions to your daily protocol, especially long toss or pitching without shoes.
Heavy drag or unbalanced plant? This is the drill for you!
If you’re a pitcher who either 1) loses your balance when you plant, or 2) has a heavy drag, or your heel is dragging too, then this drill is perfect for you!!
Watch as Nicole explains why you should pitch without shoes on, the reasoning and science behind it, and the do’s and don’ts!
The two circle drill is a great drill to use if you’re struggling to find the right feel of your pitch. Make sure you go at least at a moderate speed so you can maintain your arm speed - going too slow will force you to speed up and prevent you from finding your release. This can also be used for any pitch!
Try to get around 85% consistency before moving on!
Long toss is one of the most versatile pitching drills! It’s great for recovery days, days you don’t want to throw but need to get good work in, or if you feel like you’re not staying through your pitch and need to feel good extension again.
You see everyone using plyo balls nowadays, and for good reason! They’re a GREAT tool that can help with many different aspects of pitching.
This video covers the protocol we use with these, along with what we want to pay attention to.
Sometimes I’ll work with a pitcher that no matter what we do, she can’t figure out how to resist with her front side. In times like this, it’s often because their body doesn’t understand what is being asked of it and doesn’t know how to execute it. So instead of trying to figure it out while performing a complicated task (pitching) with expectations (good pitches), we want to move to a more basic skill that helps their body focus on what we are trying to get it to do.
As an alternative to using weighted balls, using a 14” ball is great for focusing on the feel of your mechanics. It’s quick to identify any leaning or timing issues, and gets you back to staying tall and loose! Great pitching drill for all ages and levels!