Pitching Routine for Practice

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Sep 26, 2008
57
0
Just need some advice on what everyone does for their Pitching Practices. I know in a game you might not need all your pitches but you should at least know how to pitch them all. Right now we do:
Stretching
Overhand Throwing
Warm Up with T, L, Side all the way around, walk through
Fastball hitting all 6 spots twice around
Warm Curve up and throw it until it feels good
Warm Drop up and throw it until it feels good
Warm Rise up and throw it until it feels good
Warm Change up and throw it until it feels good
Warm Screw up and throw it until it feels good

Some practices we just work on 2 pitches or should we be doing that all the time?

After we are done we do some core exercises with pitching:
Bucket Drill - Lauren Haeger
Kneel on Exercise Ball and Pitch
Flamingo - Lauren Haeger
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
You didn't mention the age but the one piece of advice I would give myself if I was starting all over is that I would practice one pitch (Curve, Drop, Rise, or Screw) until it was mastered. By mastering it I mean that you could throw it at different speeds on different planes at different locations. This to me is what separates good pitchers from great pitchers.

As a coach who has seen hundreds of pitchers at tryouts very few have ever mastered one pitch completely. Give me a pitcher with one mastered pitch (along with a change-up and fastball) and we will win a lot of games.

Pitchers that have say they have 3 or 4 pitches at tryouts almost always disappoint. I know a lot of pitching coaches and parents disagree but that is my anecdotal observation. If I were you I would practice that one pitch until it was mastered.

Scratch all of the above if your DD throws in the 10% that is faster than everyone in her age-group.
 
Dec 8, 2015
249
18
Philadelphia, PA
My 2006 DD does:

Stretching
Overhand throwing
Fastball mechanic drills
Fastball pitching
Changeup mechanic drills
Changeup pitching
Fastball and Changeup pitching
Dropball mechanic drills
Dropball pitching
Fastball, Changeup, Dropball pitching

When we are pitching I call the pitch by giving signs and move around the location of the pitch. We spend about 15 minutes warming up, 15 minutes on FB, 15 minutes on CU and 15 minutes on DB. When we are short on time we'll usually cut amount of time we spend on the mechanical drills down.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
I've always struggled with the use of overhand throwing as a "warm-up" activity for pitchers. Why? Because throwing overhand is actually more stressful on the shoulder than underhand throwing. Personally, it doesn't bother me at all if they simply start throwing half-speed underhand. Further, it is my understanding that stretching muscles without warming them up first is a bit of a no-no.

Maybe some of our experts on warm-ups will step forth and shed some light on these things.
 
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
You didn't mention the age but the one piece of advice I would give myself if I was starting all over is that I would practice one pitch (Curve, Drop, Rise, or Screw) until it was mastered. By mastering it I mean that you could throw it at different speeds on different planes at different locations. This to me is what separates good pitchers from great pitchers.

As a coach who has seen hundreds of pitchers at tryouts very few have ever mastered one pitch completely. Give me a pitcher with one mastered pitch (along with a change-up and fastball) and we will win a lot of games.

Pitchers that have say they have 3 or 4 pitches at tryouts almost always disappoint. I know a lot of pitching coaches and parents disagree but that is my anecdotal observation. If I were you I would practice that one pitch until it was mastered.

Scratch all of the above if your DD throws in the 10% that is faster than everyone in her age-group.

Yep....the ones that do have 4-7 pitches, won't be @ a tryout. They will give you a couple practices with your dream team, then come tryout your hitters. Have heard several Coaches say they have 3 or 4 hitters, but usually ... maybe one, if they got to see lotz of no pressure reps w/ "thePITCHER".... LOL :cool:

Really, practice like a guest pitcher. Go to their practices for your practice. Younger teams will want to see more heat than their used to. Older teams will love getting to see some different spins... :cool:

Real easy to do... just call any Coach, and ask if you can schedule for throwing BP....
 
Last edited:
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
I've always struggled with the use of overhand throwing as a "warm-up" activity for pitchers. Why? Because throwing overhand is actually more stressful on the shoulder than underhand throwing. Personally, it doesn't bother me at all if they simply start throwing half-speed underhand. Further, it is my understanding that stretching muscles without warming them up first is a bit of a no-no.

Maybe some of our experts on warm-ups will step forth and shed some light on these things.

I agree. Cut out all the nonsense and start throwing underhand, get to walk throughs and make the most of your practice session. Drills should never be used unless you are trying to fix/learn something specific, and then only on a very limited basis. Exhaustive studies have shown 98.7% of the time the drills seen in practice sessions have nothing in common with what actually happens or should be happening during the full motion and a thus counter productive. Once up to full speed the tempo and conditions should mirror what happens in a game.
 
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
Have to disagree... I was taught "overhand is the same as underhand" :{)) Anyways.... maybe when you are an older 16U & up. Younger pitchers starting out gotta be ready for the disingenuous bush league coaches who know that pitchers are usually among the better athletes, and could be better fielders than what they got... gotta be in shape for that... so you don't end up hurting yourself .... Here is DD's favorite warmup... the basket catch :cool:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ysCooEBPjg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Wow... coach wouldn't you just love to teach her to get 2 hands on the ball, and crow hop.... LOL NOT !!!

Learned that the hard way....

Team fight breaks out... unfortunately coach was riding with me that night. So I get DD and get her out of ear shot of the bickering... We started doing the basket catch.... most of the team got to see that she could run like a gazelle, and catch anything one handed... because of the thousands of reps of doing it every time before pitching practice. :(
 
Last edited:
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
I like a dynamic warm up before anything: team practice, game or pitching practice. I use short lines set up at about 12-15 paces, with each set done twice (unless it's really hot):

-Forwards/backwards jog 2x
-Sideways, arm swing shuffle 2x
-High skips down, quick skips back 2x
-Karaoke 2x
-High knees down, heel kickers back 2x
-Zig zag shuffle: tough the ground at each zag 2x

If it's cold, I add front and backward swimmers, twisties, knee circles and leg swings. If it's really hot, more time is spent on stationary stuff.

I usually do overhand throwing before underhand, because it's game-specific. I also add a few pop flies, but insist of two-hand catches, unless the priority is on making the catch.

After that, it's half whips or full whips followed by walk-thoughs. I'm ok with easy full whips as long as the body and legs are active--not static/fixed.

From there it really depends on the student. No two sessions are exactly the same...

(Pulled the comment about PC's post--to each their own.)


Added:
Here is my favorite pre-game, team warm up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-n_Z78b3p0 Must watch!!!
 
Last edited:
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
I like a dynamic warm up before anything: team practice, game or pitching practice. I usually do overhand throwing before underhand, because it's game-specific. I also add a few pop flies, but insist of two-hand catches, unless the priority is on making the catch. (Not fond of the weak effort demonstrated in PC's video. To be honest, if a kid showed up to tryouts with that effort, she would not get a second chance...)

Way too much.... ^^^ I couldn't even copy it ALL :cool:

Seen lotz of players, that practice good (even correct) even want to play outfield in college, but just can't make the catch in the games. :cool: But I've seen the best too... and am friends with one of the best fielding instructors around here...has the Big Indoor Fielding facility.... sent DD to him for 12 lessons last winter.....there is a lot to it. She would have had to had started @ 8... instead of P/C'ing

The point of "my" routine was to use long toss overhand as pitching warm up for pitching practice only. "Overhand is the same as underhand" Guess where I learned that...? Fielding has always been a fun thing with us... no pressure. She has played less than 10 innings in out field in 7yrs....sooo she loves it.

You'll love this old (pre-logo) clip too...Coach LOL... started playing with the shoestring catch in the grass :{)) Better to do it on blacktop though, because she started making the mistake of laying out for them :{))

<iframe width="720" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ug5NdJuXBy0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Last edited:
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
Here is another warm up we always worked on before pitching. We did 4 corners...basically ran around the base paths, frontwards backwards, latestest base running lesson... just different every time.... twice. Then the outfield catching... then this "Come get, Go get it" a favorite :cool: This is her @ 8yrs. old

<video width="512" height="100%" controls loop video controls autoplay>
<source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58923514/4funfielding/frostB_2_HB.mp4" />
</video>
 

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