How to choose the right baseball glove for a pitcher

If you're a pitcher, you'll want to make sure that you choose a proper ball glove. Of the few pieces of equipment you'll use (including a good jacket and maybe a pitcher's toe for your cleats or some long-sleeve Under Armour shirts) your glove is probably the single-most important piece of equipment you have.

Now this doesn't mean you need to go out and plunk down $300 on a brand new mitt. There are good deals to be had for much less money. But when choosing your glove, there are a few things I suggest your glove has: Purchase a glove that's 11-3/4 to 12 inches, that has a closed web (to hide the baseball, of course), and that's all one color (e.g., all brown or all black).

If you are a guy like me who leaves your index finger outside the back of your glove, then do try to get a piece of leather to cover it.

Some glove companies such as Rawlings are offering this on their gloves. (If you don't wear Rawlings, you can simply take your glove to a leather shoe repair shop and have a piece of leather affixed to the back of your mitt.)

The reason this is important is because often, without knowing it, pitchers tip off their off-speed pitches by making subtle movements with their index finger. If it's covered, however, those movements are shielded from view.

Rawlings, SSK, Mizuno, and Zett (shown above right) make good gloves. Wilson and Nakoma tend to be on the heavy side while Akadema and Nike tend to be a bit lighter in weight. Another company, comparable to Akadema, is Yennaco. These gloves are made by Jay Yennaco, a friend of mine and former Chicago Cubs player.

Most premium-leather baseball gloves have a "break in" time of about three or four weeks. Baseball blogger Joe Janish, a regular contributor to my Let's Talk Pitching Baseball Forum offers some helpful tips on "How to Break in Your Glove" here.

Baseball tryouts: How to impress the coach

Will you be trying out for a baseball team this spring? Do you have what it takes to impress the coach?

If you're like most baseball players, particularly those who live in northern states, school baseball tryouts are right around the corner. But even if they're a few weeks off, it's important to start thinking about them. (I'm sure most of you already are doing this.)

The key to making a good impression on a coach is showing up to the tryout with a good attitude. Hustle, look the coach straight in the eye when he's addressing you, and don't goof around with friends.

First impressions generally are made within the first few seconds of meeting someone ­ and "looks" are important, so dress the part. No jeans. No cutoff shorts. Remember: you're a baseball player. Wear baseball pants and spikes (if you're going to be trying out outside), and always wear your hat forward. Rock your cap backwards at the mall, not at the baseball field.

Of course, your preparation leading up to the tryout is as important as the tryout itself. You should be throwing on a daily basis in the weeks before the big day. Try to progress to throwing bullpens off the mound, too. It'll give you an edge over hitters. Make sure you're working on your conditioning, too. Most tryouts consist of a lot of running because coaches use this as a barometer to gauge your level of fitness. Be ready for it. Ask an upperclassman for tips on what types of running to do. If you're not sure what to expect, sprintwork (short-distance running) is the best type of running to practice. But mix in a couple of longer runs a week, too, and you should be is good shape.

At the tryout, control only what you can control, and don't waste your time worrying about the rest. Look, you can't control the weather or "when" your coach will give you the opportunity to pitch. All you can control is what you do when you do get the ball to pitch, so make the most of it. Show him what you got. Relax, have fun, and go get Œem!

Yoga training for baseball pitching

Yoga and pitching? What the ... ?

More and more pitching instructors are encouraging their players to take yoga classes. On the cover of today's New York Times sports section, click here for the article, California-based pitching guru Alan Jaeger (who's worked with major league pitchers Barry Zito and Joel Zumaya) gives us an inside look at his off-season yoga classes for pitchers.

He says that, in addition to developing balance and flexibility (which, of course, are great physical attributes for pitchers), yoga teaches players "be calm" in pressure situations. It teaches pitchers how to breathe correctly.

I never did yoga in college or professional baseball. I suspect it works from this "calming" standpoint. But I was a closer. My mentality was simple: kick a** and take names. I didn't like to be "calm." I liked to get the heart rate going in the bullpen and keep it going until I chalked up that save and was back in the clubhouse shower. Only then did I "calm down."

Yoga may be beneficial in training for pitching. But I think it's beneficial only to those pitchers whose "pitching mentality" or on-field personality matches it -- calm, soothing, laid back. Mine didn't. Does yours?

Pitching video: Tips for pitching from the full windup

Your mechanics ultimately will determine how far you go in baseball. Strength, flexibility, stamina -- they all take a backseat to pitching mechanics as a determinant of your success.

To learn more about proper pitching mechanics, let's revisit an old pitching coach of mine, Bill Thurston of Amherst (Mass.) College. In this pitching video (5:23 min.) learn how to maximize power and develop quality mechanics from the full windup. (I've pitched off this mound!)

 

Pitching mechanics: What happens at 'foot plant'?

The stride "foot plant" plays an important role in both the hip action involved with accelerating the baseball toward home plate ... and the slowing down of the the body and throwing arm once the baseball is released.

When I work with pitchers on foot plant, I generally encourage them to stride out and land with their toes pointed toward home plate or slightly closed (turned inward toward third base for righties or toward first base for lefties).

I also generally encourage pitchers to land flatfooted (heel and ball landing at roughly the same time). This keeps the hips from opening up, so you can then brace up over a flexed front leg.

Here are two good examples of what I'm talking about -- one of a right-handed pitcher; the other, a left-handed pitcher. Both of these guys are in the big leagues. Each picture provides a nice visual cue of a long stride and a proper foot plant. (Do you notice that in each, they're front foot is slightly closed?)

Pitching velocity: Simple ways to throw harder

If you want to throw harder, you've got to throw -- every day. It's really that simple. There's no magical potion, secret formula, or nutritional supplement that'll help you throw harder -- other than simply throwing.

Professional pitchers at the major and minor league levels throw just about every day, 285-or-so days a year.

In the Chicago Cubs organization, for instance, where I played for three years, pitchers performed a 10 minute throwing program daily:

• 60 feet ( for 3 minutes)
• 90 feet (for 3 minutes)
• 120 feet (for 3 minutes)
• 60 feet (for 1 minute) to finish.

Once or twice a week we'd "air it out," with some long toss beyond 120 feet. But 10 quality minutes a day and you're on your way to developing a great arm!

Another way to develop pitching velocity is not to throw curveballs until you're about 14 or 15 years old. The truth is, you really could get away with not throwing a breaking ball until you're 17 or 18 years old, but I realize the fact that kids get "antsy" about throwing breaking pitches early.

If you want to develop fastball arm strength, you have to throw the fastball. If you're wasting pitches throwing other pitches than a fastball, such as the curve, you're wasting time!

Finally, a good way to improve velocity is to track it. Professional runners keep detailed journals of the miles they run every day. You should do the same thing with your pitching.

One thing I observed in pro ball — and consequently did — is that pitchers at the higher levels of the game are students of the game. But in order to be a student of the game, you've got to keep track of what you do.

Write down every time you throw a practice bullpen. Write down how you felt. Write down what was working and what wasn't. This way, you can begin to see what works and what doesn’t, so you can eliminate that which impedes your success on the bump -- and can continue to do that which does work!

Holding runners with better success

Holding runners and making strong pick-offs are a necessary tool in your pitching development. If you can't stop the running game — in the rare event a hitter gets on base, of course :-) — base hits turn into extra-base hits, walks turn into doubles and triples, and potential wins turn into disappointing losses.

Did you know the average pitcher will naturally hold the baseball for three seconds?

It's true -- and good base runners at the higher levels of the game know it. Good runners are taught to "time you" (by counting to three) and then take off on your first movement.

That's why it's so important to vary your holds and to vary the amount of times you look at the runner leading off the base.

For example, when holding a runner on first base, use one-, three-, and five-second holds. Keep the runner guessing. Keep him close to the bag.

The good thing about being a pitcher is that nothing happens until you make your next pitch. You control the game --  because you control the baseball: it starts and ends in your hand on each pitch.

Varying your holds and looks enables you to pitch without patterns. And that, my friends, keeps runners from easily stealing on you: they're flat on their feet, they're overanxious, or they're too tense to steal effectively.

Aside from varying your looks, there are three additional ways to squelch the running game:    

1. Make short-arm throws to bases. Short-arm throws are quick throws. Abbreviate the backward arm-path of the throwing arm, and instead turn the baseball away from the ear, such as the throwing mechanics of a catcher. It'll speed up your pick throws.
2. Know which counts runners may go (ahead of time, of course). Typically 3-1 and 3-2 counts are "running counts." These counts are good times to utilize your pick-off moves, such as the inside pick-off move or the "fake to third base, throw to first base" move.
3. Avoid trickery. It's not necessary and it, more times than not, confuses you and your teammates, not the runner.

Pitching control: How to locate an outside fastball

Ted Williams said it's the single-most difficult pitch to hit. Leo Mazzone said it's "the best pitch in baseball." They're talking about the same pitch. Know what it is?

It's the low, outside fastball. Did you guess correctly?

Sure, it's a fastball, but the low, outside fastball is tough to consistently locate for a strike. That's because this location forces you to make a pitch across your body -- and across the heart of the plate. As a result, you've got to make an mechanical adjustment: Your upper body must turn more quickly than, say, a fastball thrown middle or middle-in.

So what can you do? Get your trunk rotated quickly. Off-mound training such as medicine ball rotations can help train the movement. When you work on it in the bullpen, gauge your progress by looking where your pitches end up. When throwing that fastball low, outside, you should be missing outside — not middle or middle-in. Pitches middle or middle-in mean your trunk isn't getting around quick enough.

Work on it.

Your iPod: A pitching aid?

Jayson Stark, writing for ESPN, has an excellent article on the iPod’s influence on baseball. Stark has put together a great piece.

The article centers around Jason Jennings, whose ERA (earned run average) was effectively cut in half by watching film on his iPod.

“The great thing is, it’s so easy to use,” said Jennings, who became a happy iPod convert in a hurry. “It’s such an easy thing to have access to. You can go to Best Buy and, by that night, you can have all your starts for the last four years on there.”    

Cool. But you’re no doubt thinking: Does any of this really matter? Well, yeah. In fact, Jennings actually thinks his iPod turned his whole season around.

He also found out something else.     “I admit I’ve got a bunch of country music videos on there,” Jennings said. “And I think ‘Prison Break’ was a big hit on our team last year. I know a lot of guys were watching that. ... I mean, sometimes you need a break, you know? It’s not just for baseball.”    

Hmmm. Sounds like a catchy slogan for the folks at Apple once this really catches on: “The iPod — It’s Not Just for Baseball.”

[Thanks, Jayson Stark]