baseball pitching drills, pitching drills for baseball

Pitching Baseball Drills

Baseball Drills to Help You Improve Your Pitching

Pitching is one of the most important positions in a baseball game.  Pitchers are involved with every single play.  Pitchers must be able to throw the ball hard and accurately. Working on good mechanics and foot position are good skills to work on when you are running baseball drills..  

Most pitchers have a certain level of natural ability, but ability can definitely be improved through hard work and practice. Running drills for any position is necessary to excel, and pitching is no different. 

Baseball Drills to Help You Improve Your Pitching- The Rocker Drill

Performing the rocker drill will help you to  practice good upper body mechanics.  Players should stand with their back foot against the rubber and the front foot planted after stride. Keeping the knees bent, you should position your arms in opposite and equal positions.  

Start rocking back and forth as if you are moving towards a target.  After you have rocked a couple times, throw to your partner, making the transition to swivel and stabilize your stance, while keeping your back foot on the ground.  

Baseball Drills to Help You Improve Your Pitching- Stride Drill

A pitcher's stride length should be about the same as their height.  This distance allows them to make the maximum extension on each throw.  The closer the moving foot lands to the body the more control the pitcher will have over where the ball goes. 

A pitcher's stride should also make a straight line towards home plate.  Leaning or veering to either side will make the pitcher need to compensate, and that will cause stress on the arm.  Maintaining correct foot positioning and movements are critical to throwing accurately and forcefully.

For this baseball drill, players should mark that length with a line to show a clear distance that shouldn't be crossed.   They should then pitch in such a way that they are moving along the straight line, while not passing the line that they have drawn.  

This drill should be revisited often.  Good body mechanics will increase a pitcher's speed and reduce the strain that they put on their arm and body.  Good pitching mechanics will also help to minimize injury.  

Baseball Drills to Help You Improve Your Pitching- Accuracy

The simplest drill that you can do, and one that will work wonders for pitchers with decent athletic ability is an accuracy drill. All that you need to do is set up a target about 60 feet away and repeatedly aim for that target.

This drill works well for all players, as accurate throwing is essential for all positions in baseball.  Teams can set this up in a competition style drill if they prefer, where players are trying to hit the target first, or the most.  

Taking repeated reps to hit the same target will naturally force your body to fall into the correct motion.  If the ball is not going where you want it to, you know that you need to adjust.  If the drill is causing you pain, you know that you need to adjust.  

This baseball drill is something that can be performed at home, by yourself, which is an added benefit.  

Baseball Drills to Help You Improve Your Pitching- Batting Practice

If you have at least one other person to practice or run drills with, you can just pitch to them and let the other player get in some batting practice.  This will help you with your accuracy, mechanics and reaction time if they are hitting the balls back at you.

If you’re taking a lot of at bats, you want to make sure that your swing is as effective and forceful as possible.  Using VukGripz bat grip tape around your bat will help you to have increased friction and control over your bat.  Their award winning technology will allow you to grip tighter, and hold lighter.  This will allow you to get the most out of your muscles by increasing fluidity.

baseball pitching drills, pitching drills for baseball