When I first started pitching, I wasn’t worrying about “junk” pitches, pick-off moves, or shooting for a 90 mph fastball. I concentrated exclusively on control, which could only be achieved through proper mechanics. This is the foundation of pitching. I didn’t have anywhere to go but up, so I began with my mechanics and release point. I soon found that conditioning during the off-season and having the proper mind-set during a game are crucial to success.

Athletes are very much the same in all sports. One must develop a practical training routine. One of the most important roles of a pitcher is to figure out a routine to do during the off-season. The great pitchers, you may notice, are able to pitch all season injury free and at the peak level of performance. This is a tribute to their year round throwing + weight training program. This is the key to success in baseball. It takes work, commitment, and self-discipline. You must exercise every day with sit-ups, push-ups, barbells, hitting a punching bag, whatever is best for you. No matter what sport you participate in, the most important thing is to exercise every day. But remember, pitchers are not football players or body-builders. Less weight, but lots of reps, is much better for a pitcher than lots of weight but fewer reps. Consistency is important too. Try to do the same routine everyday or every other day. Naturally, you will find your current routine becoming too easy and you may decide to increase the difficulty. You can do more with the same amount of effort. This applies directly to baseball. When you pitch, you will be able to throw harder without more effort. While your doing your weight routine, you have to be throwing a baseball too. Play long toss with someone, or get a dozen balls and throw to a net. Limit pitching off a mound to once a week or so. Get stronger in the gym and with long toss, perfect your mechanics and location on the mound. Don't attempt to throw "junk" before you can throw a fastball for strikes. This leads only to injury. In the majors, it is all about the ability to change speeds, but I'm sure they developed total command over their fastball before learning off-speed.

One of the things about pitching is that a lot of people try to make it harder than it really is. In reality, it is very basic and everyone has a different approach to it. The cliche that pitching is a science is only partly true. Most managers are locked into the five-man rotation. You would pitch on, say, a Tuesday; take Wednesday off; throw off the bullpen mound on Thursday to prepare for your next start; toss a baseball around on Friday, and pitch again on Saturday. This keeps things very consistent. Decades ago, the six-man rotation for instance, was designed to give pitchers an extra day of rest between starts. While this was meant to prevent arm injuries, it surprisingly did just the opposite. As you can see, even the slightest adjustments can have quite an adverse effect.

Making sure not to overuse your arm is essential in the individual routine as well. This does not mean that pitchers should stay away from playing catch, they just need to limit themselves to throwing at game velocity only once a week. Notice I didn't say full velocity. That's because there's no need to ever throw as hard as you can, not even in a game. When you throw as hard as you can, your mechanics get all screwed-up - you don't use your hips, you fly open, and your head gets way off-centered. Because of this, your velocity only increases by one or two mph, and more importantly, you get hurt. So, during the off-season, throw often, but never as hard as you can, and at game velocity only when your on a mound. You must rehearse your delivery as often as possible without overexertion. It is as simple as that.

Just before a pitching start, you should make sure and stretch your upper and lower body. This will allow you to get loose and ready for the game and it will prevent pulling a muscle. In addition, you should eat only fruits and have plenty of liquid before a game. This may not seem important, but being well nourished really helps your stamina during an intense situation.

Another very important factor of pitching, is to become comfortable with your mechanics. As Leo Mazzone (Atlanta Braves pitching coach) puts it, the less "herky-jerky stuff" the better. Just look at Mazzone's greatest disciple, the only National Leaguer in history to win four straight Cy Young awards; Greg Maddux. Maddux is a 6-foot, 180 pound regular-looking guy. How did he become baseball's most dominating pitcher of the '90's? According to Mazzone, Maddux is simply a master of "the five Cs of pitching" -confidence, concentration, consistency, control, and change of speeds. In order to attain these pitching essentials, one must be mechanically sound. Many coaches try to clone their pitchers, but honestly, every baseball player has his own natural mechanics. In order to throw hard and with accuracy, you need to find your center of gravity. The fewer extraneous movements a pitcher has, the better he will be able to stabilize the balance of his delivery. It depends on the individual, but no matter what, coordination of the lower and upper body is imperative.

While, mechanics vary from person to person, there do exist several rules that every pitcher should follow, rules by which 99 percent of major leaguers abide. It has been proven over the past few years that a pitcher’s power is generated from rotational forces, not from pushing off the rubber. When you think about it, the throwing arm does not start forward until the lead foot gets planted. So, all that pushing off the rubber does, is cause you to increase your stride length too much. Your body is forced out ahead of the arm, and then the arm drags. In effect, you lose the rotational forces of the trunk and hips, and added stress is put on the throwing arm. In reality, the pros generate power by keeping their weight back, which is the exact opposite of pushing forward. Unfortunately, many young pitchers rush their motion because they don’t have knowledge of this fact.

Here's another rule that many pitchers and coaches don't know about. Now we all know that finding your slot or arm angle is a crucial step. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of coordinating the movement of your glove arm with your throwing arm during delivery. This is something that I didn't learn until half way threw high-school, and it's one of those things that you never really notice until its pointed out to you. Ken Knutson, the University of Washington baseball coach, showed me during a summer clinic. When a pitcher's lead foot touches the ground, which I will call the point of touch-down, their arm holding the baseball can be above shoulder height, even with the shoulder, or below. Now whats important is that the glove arm is outstretched at touch-down so that a single, straight line can go from one elbow through the bicep, through the chest, through the other bicep, and arrive at the other elbow. In other words, if your throwing elbow is slightly below and behind the shoulder, then the glove elbow must be slightly above and in front of the shoulder. In addition, the angle between your shoulder, elbow, and glove should be approximately equal to the natural angle of your throwing shoulder-elbow-hand at touch-down. All of this serves to coordinate your whole upper body, which is essential to achieve not only high velocity, but also timing (which means consistency and control), and health (it creates reduced stress on the throwing arm). Filming yourself from different angles and pausing the tape at touch-down will help you to perfect this important aspect of pitching mechanics.

So your foot has touched-down. The next thing in line is your hips. Just as your lead foot touches, your hips should begin to rotate. Once you've got the hips going, your glove elbow should begin to drop from its position at touch-down. This creates a powerful lever, allowing your throwing arm to whip around and release.

How about arm angle? Throwing directly over the top causes a pitcher to lean, get out of balance, and pull the head offline from the plate. This type of throwing is taught to most young kids, but all it accomplishes is a loss of control. If I were a coach, I would prefer my pitchers to throw side-arm, rather than directly over the top. The best arm angle though, for almost everyone, is the 3/4 angle. It will allow you to stride far and maintain a centered head. It's also the best angle for throwing off-speed pitches. Similar to the high knee lift and bizarre batting stance, any extreme throwing position is mainly for show and may not be beneficial to a beginning pitcher.

There are numerous ways to position your fingers along the stitches of a baseball. Even the basic fastball can be thrown several different ways. Many pitchers throw a two-seamed fastball. For a right-hander this would mean positioning the index finger along the top of the left seam and the middle finger on top of the right. It creates a natural slice on a normal fastball, and a cutter can be easily thrown this way, by putting extra pressure on the middle finger. The other main type of fastball is the four-seam fastball. This is just putting your fingers across, rather than with, the seams. This type of fastball won't have as much movement, but it makes up for that with velocity. No matter how you throw your fastball, always remember to keep a loose grip. Many coaches tell you to pretend it's an egg, and I think that's a pretty good comparison. But remember it only applies to the fastball. The change-up is the opposite; you want to hold the ball way back in your hand and more tightly than other pitches. The circle change is thrown with the middle and ring finger. Your index and thumb come together to form a circle, hence, the name of the pitch. The curveball can be thrown in countless ways. The important thing, and the thing that is the same for all curveballs, is the wrist action. You must snap your wrist at the last second to give it the right spin. Sometimes curveballs can be frustrating. If it's not working, try striding farther and keeping your shoulder closed for as long as possible. A slider is basically a curveball thrown hard. Sliders put a ton of stress on the arm, so no sliders should be thrown until high-school. When questioned about this during an interview, you will notice that nearly all successful pitchers agree. Even such great "junk" pitchers as Greg Maddux worked on changing speeds and building the fastball in Little League, not putting any thought into his slider until later on.

The windup and knee lift serve to build up momentum. The rotation of your upper body and your stride are unique to you and there is no absolute distance here. The most common mistake of all, among struggling pitchers, is the short stride. The longer the stride, the more velocity and less time for the batter to see the ball. Control can also be corrected with a longer stride, all it takes is lots of repetition.

Knowing what to throw, and when to throw it, is what separates the high ERA pitchers, from the consistently winning pitchers. There exist a couple of things to consider when deciding what pitch to throw. A hitter’s weaknesses are a major factor. These can often be picked up by observation, perhaps during pregame batting practice. The other two components when making the decision are the specific situation, and the count. With mechanics and knowing what to do if the ball is hit to you or to another infielder, a pitcher has plenty to think about before every pitch. A good catcher should know what signs to throw down, where to position the target, and whether to call for a pitch out or a pick-off. The pitcher always has the last word, but good catchers usually call the right signs first try. If you shuffle your pitches right, the circumstances are always in your favor. This is why even the best hitters only get a hit one third of the time.

Walks are the most devastating thing to a pitcher. Most big innings for the opposing team begin with a lead off walk. For this reason, it is important to always work ahead in the count. True, there are occasional instances when throwing a strike is not your intent, such as a high, inside fastball to shake up the batter a little. Or, the "unintentional-intentional walk" in a situation where a base is open and you'd rather face a weaker hitter. Such as a tie game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, runners on first and second, and Barry Bonds is up. You might as well walk Bonds to get to a weaker hitter, since you have a base open and a hit will win the game either way.

For the most part, you should work quickly because it keeps your defense alert. However, when an aggressive batter steps up and appears as though he can’t wait, it may be appropriate to take an extra long time before a pitch or throw a back-door breaking ball. It would upset his rhythm. These types of mind games may not seem necessary, but it can cause a hitter to swing at balls or look at strikes, helping you out.

The ability to pitch with runners on base is crucial. You must become comfortable pitching from the stretch and doing a pick-off move to any base. When to perform your pick-off move can either be decided by yourself or your catcher. You must also vary the amount of time you pause in the set position before each pitch. This will not allow the runner(s) to time your motion and get a good jump. Also, when you come set, your weight should be on your front foot. In order to "step off" with your back leg (required for a right hander throwing to first or second base), you have to shift your weight to your front foot. Having your weight already on your front foot, will save you time and give you a better chance of a successful pick-off. If you do catch the runner in a rundown, you must know your role in order for it to work. This is a lot to think about with runners on base, which is why every pitcher must become absolutely accustomed to their stretch delivery and not forget to practice this part of their game. While you must keep the base runners in mind, you as a pitcher, must make a quality pitch as well. The power generated from the wind-up is not necessarily lost. All of the mechanics that I stated in the above paragraphs don't happen until touch-down anyway. The main thing that is different when pitching with runners on base is your approach to locating pitches. It's no longer all about striking out the hitter. Often, it is more advantageous with runners on base to get the batter to hit the ball on the ground. It might prevent a sacrifice fly or result in a double-play.

A baseball bat can be as long as 40 inches, but the only place on the bat that can do a pitcher real harm is in the sweet middle portion which is about 8 inches long. Good pitching is premised on keeping the baseball away from this danger zone completely or changing speeds so that the batter pulls the ball into foul territory or swings late and slices it foul. While the objective is always to get ahead on the count, it is not always to strike out the batter. If you are able to get ahead on the count, the batter is forced to protect the plate. This creates an opportunity for a pitcher to throw his best stuff and fool the batter into grounding out, hitting a weak pop-up, or perhaps whiffing. In other words, it becomes the pitcher’s game, something that all pitchers strive for.

Everything about pitching works in order, beginning with your very first pitch. Baseball truly is a mind game, so if you get off to a good start, the opposing team will most likely loose confidence. If you look intimidating and go right after the hitters, like Pedro Martinez, the opposing team might even lose confidence before you get the first out. Then again, you can be like Jamie Moyer and only throw an 84 mph fastball and frustrate the opponents to death. He does it by throwing a godly change-up and "hitting the black" (the edges of home-plate are black, but are not visible because they're underneath the dirt) with all of his pitches. You must treat every batter as a weak link within the opposing team. If you start a certain hitter off with an inside fastball and strike him out with an outside curve, then when your next opponent steps up, you might change up on the first pitch and then blow a fastball by him. This is what makes a pitcher unpredictable. Mixing up your pitches can really throw off a hitter’s timing. When a runner gets on base, say, by an infield error, it is your job to prevent them from stealing. If you manage to pick them off, you are not only granted a free out, but the next runner who gets on will be more cautious. It takes more than a great arm to win games. In order for things to go your way, you must be crafty with every pitch.

When it comes to pitching, there exists no certain way to do anything. It varies from person to person. One thing however, is for certain, when you are on the mound, you must have the proper mind-set. As Joe Torre put it, "you have to be intense without being tense." A pitcher must "trust his stuff" and be unpredictable to the hitter. Fulfilling one’s potential takes practice, good habits, and self-confidence. We all make mistakes, but our goal is to not make the same ones over and over again. As a pitcher, you must become accustomed to the feel of the ball, the mound, and the rubber. Becoming a great baseball player doesn’t happen by magic, but through dedication. Only through routine and experience can technique be improved.

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