TEACHING PHILOSOPHY


I teach pitchers to never give in to hitters. For example on a 3-1 count my pitchers will throw a breaking ball (rise, curve, screw, knuckle change, drop} that will get the swinging strike or the hesitation caused called strike.  Great pitchers very seldom “bring the heat”, instead they set up up hitters with a variation of breaking pitches and allow the hitter to get herself out by swinging at a pitch that is bending out of the hitters swing zone. Too many pitch callers handicap their pitchers by going to the “fastball” when behind in the count.  The truth is most all pitcher’s fastball is only a few mph faster than the rise. screw or curve.  If a pitcher can’t get the breaking pitch close enough to the plate and get a swinging strike then she needs a new pitching coach or improved work ethic or practice plan. If your pitcher can get the pitch to move and be close enough to tempt the hitter and the ump then why call the fastball that generally gets hit hard.In short if you rely on the “fastball” more than 10-15% of the time you are not a legitimate pitcher but merely a “thrower”At FastPitchTech , I teach players to be “Pitchers”                         
                                              LEGS-LEGS-LEGS
 Great pitching comes from great command of the lower body and legs.  Correct use the legs and hips  create the correct body angle to pitch with no upper body effort or stress on the upper arm, shoulder or back. This body angle also increases “natural” arm speed and ball control. Instruction deals with the legs and lower body core about 75% of the time. The upper body simply remains relaxed and allows the leg drive,  lower body rotation and angle to generate tremendous arm speed and wrist snap to propel the ball.                                 
                                                    The Rise
The riseball is a pitch that is created to cause swinging strikes. It can be thrown low or high and depending on the skill of the pitcher somewhere in between. The ball is released with either a full grip( four fingers and thumb) or the same but with a curled index finger. The release point is behind or at the back hip in an open body position and slight tilt back. The stride length is increased and the leg and lower body core increases stiffness resulting in more leverage at an earlier point thus releasing the ball flat with tight backspin revolutions of 20+rps. This results in the ball approaching the hitter appearing to be a flat fastball but somewhere about 15 to 8 feet from the hitter the ball breaks upward ( my goal is a 45 degree break).
                                                      The Curve 
The Curve can be thrown as a strike or off the plate to result in swinging strikes.  The pitch can be thrown off the plate, away from RH hitters or released in toward the batter  as a backdoor,  then the ball breaks toward the plate for called strikes, this results many times in batters turning away from the pitch to avoid being hit as the ump is calling the strike. This curve increases the amount of movement and produces more swinging strikes and weak hits or called strikes when thrown “backdoor”.                                   
                                                     The Screwball
The screwball is a pitch used to jam RH’s or to break away from LH’s, especially effective against the drag bunt or slap. This pitch can be thrown to break high, low or in between depending on the skill and training of the pitcher. Many people refer to these different locations as the screw-rise, etc.. but actually it is simply great control of the same pitch.                                    
                                                         Change up
The Knuckle change is a can be thrown as strikes or with a drop motion. It is an extremely effective change up that is easy to learn and continues to improve as the pitcher does.