Busy, Busy

For those of you who are keeping track, you may have noticed that I haven't posted in a few weeks.

I've been swamped.

And while I occasionally have the chance to "question and answer" over at my LetsTalkPitching.com Baseball Forum, most of my "free time" has been spent preparing the final touches on the TuffCuff™ Program: Off-Season Strength & Conditioning Manual.

The cover was sent out and designed by a graphics designer in Chicago; we've taken more than 700 pictures of which 500-or-so will appear in the manual; we've explained how each circuit, each program and each movement specifically relates to better pitching -- and it's almost completed.

It's all there, too: upper and lower body strength, scapular stabilization, core stabilization, speed and agility drills, balance prep, shoulder conditioning, running, swimming, forearm circuit, cone drills, dot drills, jump rope, agility ladders, medicine ball and total-body plyometric training, rope flex, static flex, total prep, quick prep, nutrition, hot/cold contrasts and more... you get the point.

In the mean time, bare with me as the blog remains essentially "inactive." I'll be back with some baseball articles and pitching tips very soon.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher®
www.thecompletepitcher.com

How To Promote More Accurate Pitching Accuracy

I got a kick out of this.

I get a lot of e-mails on a weekly basis asking how pitchers can be more accurate. Of course, the short answer is: there is no short answer. The long answer is that pitching (and throwing) accuracy has a lot to do with a lot of little things working together... like throwing with proper mechanics, throwing with a proper grip and good balance.

There are endless pitching drills that tackle the subject, and they all work to varying degree, too. But perhaps the best throwing-accuracy drill is one my dad implemented early on. When we'd play catch or long toss in the back yard or at the ball park, if I didn't hit him in his chest (or in a spot he could easily handle), I'd have to chase it down. The chasing part, as you can imagine, gets really old, really fast.

So, it didn't take long before I was hitting him in the chest every time.

Dads, when throwing with your son, make him chase the ball down if he misses it. And, it won't be long for you, either, before your son 's accuracy gets a little more accurate.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher®
www.thecompletepitcher.com

The Subtle Differences Of The World’s Top Pitching Coaches In The “Pitching Instruction Arena”

It’s funny, but until very recently I didn’t realize how cutthroat the “Pitching Instruction Arena” was. You’ve probably seen it, too. Google “baseball pitching tips” and you’ll get a hoard of different baseball Web sites and pitching philosophies. And, with that, you’ll get a smattering of different opinions on “proper pitching mechanics,” “proper conditioning programs,” and “proper throwing routines.”

Of course, this all makes it extremely difficult for coaches, parents and pitchers to decipher the proverbial wheat from the chaff… you know: the good stuff from the bad stuff.

In fact, the Pitching Instruction Arena in some venues is so cutthroat that I’m sometimes left with a not-so-good-feeling about being a pitcher. There’s nothing worse than reading something you hope to be informative about pitching, only to realize you’re getting beat up with one instructor’s gripe against another.

I’m sure you’ve seen this, too: You’ve got “Instructor A” taking potshots at “Instructor B’s” pitching philosophies, his mom, his wife and his kids. Then Instructor B swipes back at Instructor A with even more bickering. Maybe calls him “fat,” or a “loser.” It’s crazy. Before long, the pitching discussion – about actual pitching topics that could help you become better – is all but non-existent.

That, I’m afraid, is today’s Pitching Instruction Arena. Not good, right?

Well here’s something that I’ve strongly believed for some time. Maybe it’ll restore a little faith.

All of the top-pitching instructors (by “top,” I mean instructors with a proven track-record of a successful personal career and a successful coaching career) actually agree on about 95% of the same stuff.

I’ll say it again: most pitching instructors actually agree on about 95% about what it takes to become a successful, more complete pitcher.

It’s the %5-or-so where the differences occur. But if you have a FAQ-sheet on each instructor, you’d see that those differences are over some of the most minute aspects of pitching. So much so that it doesn’t really matter which philosophy you prescribe to – so long as the instructor is qualified.

I grew up a product of Bill Thurston’s pitching instruction. I worked with Thurston for more than seven years (1994-2001).

I was then coached by Major League Pitcher Mike Dunne, my pitching coach at Bradley University. I was then coached by more than one dozen other Major League pitchers and professional pitching coaches in collegiate summer-ball and in professional baseball. And you know what?

They all literally preached the same things.

Sure, they called it something different (the way a Texan speaks with a different accent than my New York accent), but all of the outstanding, top-level pitching instructors were teaching the same things.

So, where does that leave you? In a good spot, really! When looking for a professional pitching instructor to work with, take a look at his credentials, of course. Then maybe take a look at his success-rate. However, I’d also urge you to check out his personality. Ask yourself if you feel comfortable working with the guy…

Because from what I’ve read from some of the other instructors, I’d be hard-pressed to invite a lot of them over for dinner for fear that they might start ripping on my wife.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher®
www.thecompletepitcher.com

Pitching Tips From A Rickey Henderson Article In The New Yorker Magazine

I was reading the Sept. 12 issue of The New Yorker magazine in which there is an outstanding article about Rickey Henderson called "Stealing Time," by David Grann.

Grann spent a few weeks with Rickey in the Golden Baseball League, a semi-pro league out in southern California. Rickey's team, the San Diego Surf Dawgs, managed by one of my former coaches, Terry Kennedy, a 14-year Major League veteran catcher, was finishing out the summer season.

The article, a look into the mind of Rickey, asks -- and essentially answers -- why Rickey, at 40-plus years old, keeps playing ball in a semi-pro league. His response: I want to make it to the Major Leagues! Of course, this, coming from a guy who is the all-time Major League base-stealer -- a record most in the baseball world will stand the test of time like Cal Ripken's game-streak or DiMaggio's hit-streak.

It's one of the best baseball articles I've ever read, and if you happen to come across it, I think you'll agree that there is some really great insight for pitchers, too.

But perhaps the most beneficial tip is found in a quote from Kennedy. (Kennedy, known as T.K. around the clubhouse, was a long-time Chicago Cubs minor league director before coaching the Surf Dawgs, which is how I was associated with him.)

"I remember at the end of my career I began to doubt my ability," Kennedy, whose dad also played Major League Baseball, told Grann in the article. "I knew what I wanted to do, but my body wouldn't let me do it. And I called my father and said, 'Dad, did you ever start to think you weren't good enough to play this game.' And he said, 'I did, and once you do you can never get it back.'"

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher
www.thecompletepitcher.com

The Difference Between Jugs Guns And Ray Guns In Tracking Pitching Velocity

As you advance in pitching, velocity guns will become a big part of your playing experience. It's what scouts most certainly talk about. Now, it's not the most important element in getting drafted, as I've talked about on this blog, but, let's face it, it's a big part of it. And... like a player's height, for example, it's an identifying factor for pitchers.

With that said, there are essentially two velocity guns that track pitching velocity, and both are used by scouts: 1) the Jugs Gun, and 2) the Ray Gun.

The difference?

The Ray is about 4-5 mph slower than the Jugs, but that margin of difference becomes less as pitching velocity increases.

For example, 90 mph on the Jugs may only register at 86 mph on the Ray (a 4 mph difference). But 95 mph on the Jugs registers at 92 mph on the Ray (a 3 mph difference).

Pro scouts use both the Jugs and Ray depending on the type of gun used in their organization. However, the tendency in recent years has been toward the Jugs Gun (even scouts like to see bigger velocity readings!).

As you've read on my blog, to become an effective pitcher you need a lot of different qualities. Pitching velocity is one of those qualities. And Jugs and Ray guns are just one way to track it.

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher®
www.thecompletepitcher.com