By Cheri Kempf, Club K
Winter off-season training for pitchers should include drills and workouts that enhance and improve the pitcher’s repertoire or ammunition and will have a direct effect on their performance from the outset of the season opener. Too often, pitchers and coaches have a goal to maintain abilities through the winter and try to ensure that skills do not decline through the decreasing number of total absence of pitches. Off -season training is prime-time to make corrections and improvements in form and pitches while also increasing strength and stamina in preparation for a demanding spring and/or summer schedule. The following are focus points of off-season training.
Form Adjustments and Corrections
Throughout the season of competition, pitchers will often times pick up bad habits (as a result of fatigue or pressure situations), that will stick with them. To prevent these bad habits from carrying over into another season, the pitchers and their coaches should do a slow-motion video analysis to check form and look for areas that could improve efficiency and/or speed.
To improve or correct form after identifying weaknesses – Start slow and close with warm-up focusing on troubled area(s) and make sure correction is obtained before progressing further or faster. Sometimes this will take an hour and sometimes weeks, but the pitcher should continue to incorporate the correction into the warm-up. Eventually, it will stick into the full-speed pitch.
A good drill that will reflect form problem is “distance pitching.” To distance pitch, the pitcher should start at normal distance and gradually back up. The catcher should stand up and receive a chest high pitch at about 75% effort from the pitcher. Average distances are: Ages 7 – 9, 50’ to 60’; Ages 10 – 12, 60’ – 70’; Ages 13 – 14, 70’ – 80’; High School ages 80’ – 110’; College ages 110+. If form problems occur such as tight follow through, lagging drag, or posture change, the ball will not carry the distance. Distance pitching is also a good warm up drill.
Control Work
A pitcher’s biggest asset is to be able to throw the ball where she needs to. Off-season is the perfect time to polish and perfect location pitches without the pressure of game situations. It is important that the control become a habit, so by spring when the pressure is on, it will not affect accuracy. It is important to note that most pitchers overestimate their abilities in accuracy and fail to give ample attention to improving.
To improve control, use stationary targets such as 8” X 8” taped targets on a wall or net so that a hit or miss is not in question. Set a specific group of targets such as up & in, down & in, and down & out and have the pitcher throw 10 to each target. Once a week or once every two weeks have a “target test” and check for improvement. Pitchers should be 80 to 90% accurate at each target. Pitchers should practice target pitching 3 – 5 times/week. Catchers can be used in the practice sessions also.
Another control drill that is helpful is to place a dummy batter (ie football dummy, plyometrics box, or Lisa Fernandez cardboard stand-up) at the plate in different batter locations and work tight and away pitches depending on location of batter. This builds confidence without the risk of hitting a live batter with a mistake.
Movement Pitches
Going into the off-season workout, a pitcher needs to evaluate each pitch and its effectiveness last season. (For instance: Did the change up work? Did it get hit? Did it get hit hard? Could it be thrown for a strike? Was it a strike-out or go-to pitch?) An honest evaluation by pitcher, catcher, and coach should show clearly what pitches need work and what that work should be. Also, it is a great idea to try and add one useful pitch to the repertoire. This requires skill work in mastering the basic form and technique of the pitch as well as development to the point of use in a game situation. The development of a new pitch or improvement of an old one requires a good steady commitment by the pitcher.
To improve or add movement pitches, the pitcher should first understand totally what needs to be accomplished. With rise, drop, or curve, the spin is the first area to master. Pitchers should start close (2 – 3 ‘ from catcher) with a taped ball – or better yet, a Spin Right Spinner from Club K! – at any distance. If necessary, start learning to spin even without the arm circle, using a gentle rock back motion. With the rise and drop, there are also posture and weight shift changes to master. These should be practiced through shadow pitching without the ball. With the change-up, the emphasis in off-season should be on perfecting the mechanics as well as matching the pitch effort and form to the effort and form of the most thrown pitch.
Speed Work
It is always nice to pick up a few miles per hour over the winter. This can be achieved through a proper and effective strengthening program, but also requires the pitcher to push herself harder within the speed improvement area of her workout to call up the newly developed strength.
To improve speed while pitching, the pitcher should block 10 – 15 minutes towards the end of a workout when they are completely warmed up, and focus just on increasing the speed of the arm circle and body together. This part of the workout should leave the pitcher physically tired (ie sweating, out of breath, etc.). If the speed workout is not physically demanding, the pitcher has not pushed herself and consequently has not called on extra muscle recruitment. “Speed Drills” are an excellent way to achieve this “push.” During speed drills, the pitcher should pitch (full form) a pitch and quickly return to the rubber in position to catch a quick throw back from the catcher. She then delivers again as quickly as possible. The speed drills can be done in sets of 10, 15, or 20 pitches and should total between 60 – 80 pitches. The total number should be based on the pitchers tolerance. If timed, the sets should average three seconds per pitch ( For example, a 10-pitch set should average 30 seconds).
Effective off-season workouts are crucial to the growth and improvement of a pitcher. This is the preparation for the performance and will directly affect the stamina, health and success of a pitcher.
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