- Oct 1, 2012
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This is a great conditioning and mental toughness drill for pitchers and catchers as well. My daughters last instructor liked to use it as a way to tire the muscles out in order to begin teaching or reteaching muscle memory of a particular pitch. We use it now soley as a conditioning tool. (I'm sure there are other versions or names for this too)
This is a timed drill...with the goal being that over the course of the winter the pitcher and catcher to reach 3 minute mark with at least one ball remaining. It will take some practice and time so start at one minute and take it an increment at a time. Note: thru out this drill you will see the form to begin breaking down so they will need encouragement to keep their form as they fight to get thru it. Be sure to remind them to breath!
The catcher and pitcher start normal distance apart....catcher does not get into her stance but is in an athletic down and ready position.
Pitcher will start with a ball in hand and one in glove.
Catcher has one ball....in hand, glove empty.
"At the whistle" the pitcher will pitch a ball...
catcher will return a ball as quickly as possible...
pitcher gets back to her spot quickly and throws the next pitch...
catcher returns throw...
back and forth....
You want them to go as fast as they can while staying in control. The key is for them to work hard and to really focus on the throw or pitch. You'll see them try to put it on cruise control to get thru it so push them when you see them let up. If they're not huffing and puffing at the end of one minute they are either in excellent shape or not working nearly hard enough...it needs to have some intensity. We are never after trying to hit our spots during this drill but we want them to try and keep it within the "batters box lines" but if a few are off thats just fine. I do not push them hard in terms of accuracy I guess.
There will be wild pitches and bad throws by the catcher so if one goes sailing past just let it go and they continue thru the drill until one minute is up. If they lose all three balls fairly quickly I let them regroup briefly then start them again. We've been using one catcher per three pitchers.
The pitchers are lined up and ready to go....as soon as one starts the next one jumps in and get ready immediately....giving the catcher a tiny breather between pitchers.
As all parents do...I was concerned about her shoulder but she has never said it hurts or that it overloads her shoulder and I ask her all the time how she is feeling when we do this. Her instructor didn't have a concern with that and she said she used the drill alot in her throwing days. I don't remember the exact ratio but she did say that one 3 minute drill equates to seven innings of work...something like that!! Maybe not in terms of pitch count but more the physical aspect.
This is a timed drill...with the goal being that over the course of the winter the pitcher and catcher to reach 3 minute mark with at least one ball remaining. It will take some practice and time so start at one minute and take it an increment at a time. Note: thru out this drill you will see the form to begin breaking down so they will need encouragement to keep their form as they fight to get thru it. Be sure to remind them to breath!
The catcher and pitcher start normal distance apart....catcher does not get into her stance but is in an athletic down and ready position.
Pitcher will start with a ball in hand and one in glove.
Catcher has one ball....in hand, glove empty.
"At the whistle" the pitcher will pitch a ball...
catcher will return a ball as quickly as possible...
pitcher gets back to her spot quickly and throws the next pitch...
catcher returns throw...
back and forth....
You want them to go as fast as they can while staying in control. The key is for them to work hard and to really focus on the throw or pitch. You'll see them try to put it on cruise control to get thru it so push them when you see them let up. If they're not huffing and puffing at the end of one minute they are either in excellent shape or not working nearly hard enough...it needs to have some intensity. We are never after trying to hit our spots during this drill but we want them to try and keep it within the "batters box lines" but if a few are off thats just fine. I do not push them hard in terms of accuracy I guess.
There will be wild pitches and bad throws by the catcher so if one goes sailing past just let it go and they continue thru the drill until one minute is up. If they lose all three balls fairly quickly I let them regroup briefly then start them again. We've been using one catcher per three pitchers.
The pitchers are lined up and ready to go....as soon as one starts the next one jumps in and get ready immediately....giving the catcher a tiny breather between pitchers.
As all parents do...I was concerned about her shoulder but she has never said it hurts or that it overloads her shoulder and I ask her all the time how she is feeling when we do this. Her instructor didn't have a concern with that and she said she used the drill alot in her throwing days. I don't remember the exact ratio but she did say that one 3 minute drill equates to seven innings of work...something like that!! Maybe not in terms of pitch count but more the physical aspect.
