Pitching skills demonstrated by Kelsee Blackwell

www.winning-coach.com presents A quickstart guide to throwing the four pitches that spin. In this two-disc set, Butch Latey covers spinning pitches including screw/rise ball, curve/drop ball, and drop ball peel, as well as points such as: How can two different pitches have the same grip? What pitch has the longest/shortest step? How does your push/pull affect speed? What pitch should not be thrown for a strike? We also have other payment options please email me at winning.coach@yahoo.com for any questions, thanks

Pitching Lessons From an 8 year old. Fastball, Change-up, Rise ball, Drop ball. Shelby is getting lessons from Abbie Simms, a former professional Rockford Thunder fastpitch player from NC state who now is the pitching and catching instructor for the University of Houston

Like any other sports in our country, softball has been consistently being played by all ages, boys or girls. Since the introduction of this game by George Hancock, it already progresses to becoming one of the most-loved sports.

If you are interested in playing softball, you should carefully study the rudiments of it. You should know the basics and the rules on how to play. When it comes to skills, you should be able to bat, field, catch, run and pitch. Those are the common skills needed for you to excel well in this sport.

Discussing each skill would require a lengthy article, which is why softball pitching is the concentration of this article. In layman’s term pitching is synonymous to throwing. But throwing doesn’t is as easy as throwing a stone. One should master the art of pitching so that you may provide the game with extra excitement and elicit more applause from the crowd.

Getting started is quite easy, just be sure that you know how put your hands and feet in their proper places. Just remember that when you are already in the field, the following tips could help you carry out your tasks successfully:

1. Make sure that your pitching arm pass overhead (just like the 12 o’clock position) while your weight is on the drive leg.
2. Swing you arms up as your body moves along with it.
3. Land with your stride leg pointed at about 30 to 45 degrees to maintain your balance.
4. Release the ball once it is beside your hip.
5. Push your drive leg off the pitching rubber to give you more power.

Once you have tried doing those things, you will end up successfully in pitching the ball to the batter. But, there are also some nonsense actions that you should avoid while pitching.

1. Do not let your balance arm swing off to the side because this will diminish your pitching power as you throw the ball. As you bring your arms up, your pitching arm should make a 360-degree rotation while your balance arm will go up for 90 degrees.
2. As you raise up your hand, just stand straight. Do not lean over for this will cause you to let the ball go late.
3. If you do not want to have any ankle, knee or hip injury, do not land on the side ways of your stride leg.
4. The ball should be released behind the shoulders. Do not release the ball in front of your body for you can’t pitch it to your maximum power.

Softball pitching is one of those vital skills in winning the game because you will be the pitching the ball which starts the game. In your hands lie the winning or the losing of your team.

How are you going to dominate the diamond? One of the best cardiovascular exercises to build up the pitching power is the very popular softball game. It is a team sport popularized in the United States and is considered as a high recreational league of sport. Since softball is a sport that can be a natural mood lifter and a great way to relieve stress and fight depression, it is played by almost everyone in all ages.

Pitching a ball involves eagerness and a certain amount of decision-making and anticipation on the part of the pitcher and the catcher as well. In order to get the best pitching skill, particularly the catching and throwing of the ball, you need to be able to be a big element of the softball existence. Playing sports predominantly in softball can help you deal with the progress. Plus, when you are on a team, you have friends who support you both on and off the field. You’ll never have to be worried over and over again when someone throws a ball at you.

When you want to perform vigorously and safely in softball, you should be reminded of the following softball pitching tips. They are sure to keep the balls rolling.

Now, are you ready to boost your game with these performance ideas?  Please read below:

-  Relentlessly try to make your pitching arm pass over the head, as in the 12 o’clock position, while your weight is on the drive leg. Then, constantly try to swing the arms up with the body. Land with your stride leg pointed between 30 and 45 degrees. Try to release the ball at the hip. Push your drive leg off the pitching rubber.

-  For fast pitcher to improve or adjust on their drop, rise, and curve and changeup, take these surefire tips with you: Take a shorter stride to release your point. Keep your pitching arm close to your body to avoid injury. When releasing the ball, lean a bit forward so that your head and shoulder are over your foot. In dropping the ball, decrease your speed to 90 percent of your maximum speed.

-  In pitching a fast pitch rise and to increase the rise in your fast pitch, try spreading your fingers more and squeezing the ball out of your fingers as you release. Doing this will give your pitch more spin. Don’t try to force the ball to rise; it is the spin that should control this. Shorten your stride and monitor where you are releasing the ball. Always make sure that you are not holding the ball for too long.

So, the tips are given. Following these softball tips can definitely help you move on the right track towards achieving the great softball play. These powerful and swift steps to prevent underperformance in softball should be taken sincerely. Who knows, these might be the start of your continuous expedition to a more dynamic play in the softball diamond.

www.mavenvideo.com – Softball pitching drills and tips on how to create essential techniques for destroying the batter’s timing and the drills and tips by coach Bob Todd. This video is a preview from his full DVD from mavenvideo The Change Up to be release in 2010.

www.mavenvideo.com – Softball pitching drills and tips on how to create essential techniques for hurling the most effective pitch in fast pitch softball by coach Bob Todd. This video is a preview from his full DVD from mavenvideo The Killer Rise with Bob Todd. Releasing 2010.

So you want to pitch faster? You can choose to focus only on strengthening your muscles, or you can take a smarter option and take a complete approach to your pitching.

But before I get misunderstood, I’m not discounting the importance of strengthening your muscles to be able to pitch faster. What I’m saying is that it’s not all there is to pitching. And becoming a smart pitcher means you can pitch more effectively with lesser effort.

Want to be a smart and efficient pitcher? Here are some tips I have for you:

Focus on the mechanics first. Many players focus too much on strength training to make them pitch faster. But nailing the mechanics before anything else should be your priority as a pitcher.

The proper pitching mechanics teaches you to throw the ball correctly. Throwing the ball correctly solves two problems: it teaches you how to throw the ball without exerting much effort, which at the same time minimizes your chance of injuries due to incorrect mechanics.

Do your warm-ups and stretches. How fun would it be to be able to pitch fast right out of the dugout? However, it doesn’t work that way. If you want to pitch fast, you must do your warm-ups and stretches first.

Why? Because doing these helps loosen your muscles which helps you pitch better and prevent injuries due to pulled muscles.

Keep yourself relaxed. While stretches and warm-ups help loosen your muscles, tension can cause a reverse effect. So try to keep yourself relaxed before every game. Try to breathe regularly, loosen muscles on your upper back, neck and shoulders. If listening to music helps, you can do that too. Improve the strength muscles involved in pitching. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not at all discounting the importance of strength training to improve your pitching speed. So work out your schedule to include training your muscles involved in pitching such as in your forearms, wrists and shoulders. Don’t forget accuracy. Although this isn’t exactly an advice on how you can pitch faster, I just thought I’d remind you to take the time to focus on your pitches’ accuracy as well. After all, pitching isn’t just about speed, but also on how well you can pitch inside or outside the strike zone. Vary your throws. An arsenal of different pitches is the bane of any batter out there. It keeps them guessing what you’ll be throwing them next, especially in tight games. So work on having different pitching techniques and don’t just focus on speed alone.

It takes more than just these short and quick tips on softball pitching to help you throw faster. It also takes a huge amount of time, training and practicing incessantly until you refine your technique. So work on them and at the same time take into consideration the tips I have for you here. And I’m pretty sure how they will positively affect your game will be evident soon enough.

Among all the roles in the softball team, one of the important, crucial ones is softball pitching where it doesn’t only involve simple case of ball throwing.  It involves agility, endurance and strength as to how to pitch the ball properly so, that the opposing hitter’s bat won’t be able to collide with the ball.

In addition, you can do a fastpitch curve where the movement of your wrist and shoulders make the ball spin more.

Other than taking in these softball pitching tips and putting them into practice, here are some softball pitching equipment that you can use to improve your game.

Throw Max

The throw max is a tool that assists players on how to throw the ball in a correct manner by letting them experience this themselves.  This way, they would be able to develop a stronger muscle memory in an easier and more consistent way without risking injury.

Power Throw-Ball Softball

This excellent tool helps players enhance strength, especially the shoulders, and endurance so that, they would be more used to the throwing motion.

Rev Fire

Rev Fire is a wonderful tool that you can use to monitor your speed in throwing a ball.  This includes three softballs as well as a monitor provides you quick feedback on how quick you pitch a ball.

Glove Radar

Glove radar is an electronic gadget that accurately measures the throwing speed of not just pitchers but also of infielders, outfielders as well as catchers.  It’s easy to use as you just have to attach it to any glove that you use when practicing the sport.

Weighted Softball Training Ball

The weighted softball training ball can be used either for enhancing shoulder strength or for shoulder rehabilitation.  The set is composed of four balls that weigh about nine to 12 ounces so, you can different balls once your arm strength improves.

Xelerator

The Xelerator is a lighter, softer and shorter tool that you can use when practicing throwing motions as it aids you in learning overhand and snap motions without stressing out your shoulders at the same time.

Tightspin Trainer

The Tightspin Trainer allows players to improve their ball throwing capabilities as it increases your speed as well as the rate of the spin.

Finch Windmill

The Finch Windmill aids you in improving your throwing prowess, making it harder and faster as it enhances muscle strength, endurance and balance of the whole body.  You would see a difference in you when you use this regularly.

What are you waiting for?  Improve your game with these softball pitching tools.