How to do a right-handed pickoff move to first base

Most "steals" in the game of baseball are on the pitcher, not the catcher. You and only you control the running game. That's because you have the baseball. So you have to take ownership, and you have to work on it, just as you do every other aspect of the game.

There are three ways to stop the running game when you're pitching:

1. be quick to the plate
2. have a quick move to first
3. vary your looks and holds

But before I describe some of the tips and tricks I used to keep runners from stealing on me, I want you to know that for a right hander, the term "pickoff" can be misleading. That's because 99 out of 100 times you're not actually going to be able to pick off a runner. After all, your back is to him when he's at first base. That's already a strike against you. But that's OK. Picking guys off shouldn't be your goal. Your goal should be to make the runner STOP. Keep him from leaning or walking toward the lead bag. Don't allow the runner to develop momentum toward the lead bag. See that he stops.

Then, you should be quick to the plate, so if the runner goes, your catcher can possibly throw him out.

You need to get the ball to home plate in 1.3 seconds or less. It's pretty quick, I know. But it's doable. So it's something that you're going to have to work on, because it's expected that you can do that at the college and professional levels.

But it's easier to do than you may think. Come set with your weight favoring the back leg 60/40, and maintain a slight bend in your back leg. That bend in your back leg is helpful because it's the one you'll push and pivot off of, if you make a throw to first base. It's also the leg that you're going to "load up" on when you make your pitch to the batter. By coming set 60/40, you're weight is already shifted into position.

I'm also big advocate of using JUST ONE PICKOFF MOVE, ALL THE TIME. I know there are plenty of baseball coaches out there who teach their right handers to use pickoff moves of varying speeds, in order to "trick" the runner. (You know the scenario, right? You do a "slow" move first to "lure" the runner farther off the bag, in order to use your "fast" move in the hopes of catching him off guard.)

But remember: the "pickoff move" for a right hander is NOT actually meant to pick off the runner. It's meant to keep him from leaning or walking toward the lead bag. Your goal simply is to make him stop. So, USE YOUR BEST MOVE, ALL THE TIME. And make it quick by using jump pivot.

As you jump pivot, keep your feet close. Pretend you have a 12-inch stick between your feet that you have to take with you when you jump pivot. Don't separate your feet wider than that imaginary stick, as it'll slow you down.

The rules say you must "gain ground" toward the base you're throwing to, but I used to cheat by jump pivoting in the same place, keeping the pitcher's rubber directly underneath my body. Most umps don't check. And if you follow your throw by walking off the mound, you can "hide" where you stepped. This may shave off only a fraction of a second from your time to first base – but every second counts. (Note: this is harder to get away with in pro ball than it is in college ball.)

Remember, you can't "fake" a throw to first base without stepping behind the rubber before doing so. But something that's equally effective as throwing the ball over to first base with a quick move is NOT throwing the baseball at all. You can use this move to peek if a runner is giving any indication that he may be stealing on the next pitch.

This is where varying holds and looks come in. I used to utilize 1, 3, and 5 second holds. I'd vary them with runners on base. Sometimes, I'd hold the ball for 5 seconds, quickly step back off the mound, and then peek over to see which direction the runner was leaning. This is how to see if the runner's cheating on you toward the lead bag. But you really have to sell it. Be deliberate. Hold the baseball for five seconds and step back hard. If you see him leaning toward the lead bag, throw over. The key is to make the runner STOP. You must make him stop on both feet.

On throws to first base, make a good hard throw and aim for the first baseman's knee on the inside part of the bag, so he can make a quick tag. The inside part of the bag is where the runner will be diving back. So that's where you should put the baseball. Don't throw it high or wide, making your first baseman have to lean in one direction only to have to switch directions to make a tag. The better you become at making good strong throws to your first baseman's inside knee, the better chance you have at picking someone off – not that that's your goal, remember? :-)

How to teach a left-handed pickoff move to first base

I wasn't a left-handed pitcher, but I learned how to teach the left-handed pickoff move in professional baseball, mostly from my good friend Carmen Pignatiello, a Chicago Cubs left-handed reliever.

When it comes to the left-handed pickoff move, most umpires are looking at an imaginary line on a 45-degree angle from the left corner of the pitcher's rubber. If the left hander steps to the left of the line, a balk is called. But many lefties can get away with cheating a little if after the right foot hits the ground, they immediately step and walk toward first base. You want to step, throw, and walk off the mound. Do not give the umpire enough time to look at where you step (which is why you'll want to walk off the mound toward first base).

The key to having a successful left-handed move is to decide whether or not you're going to throw to first base BEFORE you actually come set. This way, you can avoid balking. Only in rare instances, say, if the base runner "tips off" that he might be going on the pitch of if he takes a very large lead should you break the rule and throw over to the bag. But mostly, keep it simple: decide early.

If you can retain your balance until the last moment without bringing your lift knee back past your posting knee, the base runner will have a difficult time reading your move. That's because by lifting your leg straight up in a balanced manner, you don't "project" what you're going to do next – you could be delivering the baseball to home plate or you could be making a throw over to the bag. This will help keep the runner close to the base. Once you cross your knees, however, you have to go home with the pitch. So try to bring your lift knee straight up and down, not side to side.

If you have a deceptive move, I think it's OK to sacrifice "quickness" in your delivery in getting the ball to the plate. If you don't have a deceptive move, it's important to get the ball to home plate in 1.3 seconds or less, just like a right-handed pitcher. Remember: holding runners is important, but getting the hitter out is most important – even for lefties. So be quick to the plate if you don't have a good move.

Avoid tipping off your "intent" by moving your head. Most base runners know that if you are looking at the runner when you start your motion, you're going to the plate. They also know that if you're looking at home plate when you start your delivery, you're likely going to make a throw over to the bag. Work hard on relaxing out there on the mound. Don't be predictable. Use the same head movement all the time.

Some coaches like to teach two and three pickoffs to a base – usually a slow move, a medium-speed move, and a "best" move. I'm not a big fan of this. I teach all my pitchers to use just one move – their best move. HOWEVER, I do think that lefties can utilize a quick "step back" off the rubber with the left foot and throw over to the bag, to keep the runner from cheating. I wouldn't rely on this move as your main pickoff, because it can be stressful on the arm, but it's OK to use it every so often.

Perhaps the best way to work on your move is to practice it in front of a full-length mirror without throwing. This way you can work on the mechanics of the move and train your body to be balanced and deceptive without stressing your arm. Then when you get it to a point where you're feeling comfortable with it, have a friend or sibling stand on first base and yell out whether you're going home or making a throw to first base. Try to get to where the person on first base can't tell which direction you're going. Then you know you've got a great left-handed pickoff move!

I'll address the right-handed pickoff move in tomorrow's pitching article.

Youth pitching strategies: What to throw and when to throw it

Longtime youth baseball coach Bill Chapones has put together an excellent manual for young ball players in which he addresses how to get hitters out. He's given it to the players he's coached over the years, which is a terrific idea because it gets everyone on the same page – from players to parents.

With his permission, here's his chapter on "Pitching Tips." Members of my free Let's Talk Pitching Baseball Forum can request a copy of the manual (it's about 36 pages and includes hitting, fielding, and mental strategies, too) from Bill using the "Private Message" email feature.

PITCH INSIDE TO A BATTER WHO:

• Has his front foot in closer  to the plate than his back foot (called Closed Stance)
• Crowds the plate
• Holds his bat on end (straight up in the air)
• Swings a slow bat

PITCH OUTSIDE TO A BATTER WHO:

• Has his front foot farther away from the plate than his back foot (Called Open Stance)
• Pulls his head out (pulls his eyes and head off the ball on the swing)
• Pulls his stride  foot away from the plate toward the baseline on the swing (Called Stepping in the Bucket)

PITCH INSIDE HIGH TO A BATTER WHO:

• Is not agressive with the bat, or is nervous.
• Has his front foot in,and uppercuts the ball.
• Drops the end of the bat over his shoulder or "loops" the bat.
• Takes a extra long stride (strides too far) when swinging the bat.
• Does not rotate the hips or pivot the back foot.
• INTENDS TO BUNT  (This is VERY IMPORTANT to remember)

PITCH OUTSIDE LOW TO A BATTER WHO:

• Swings down on the ball (Chops down on the ball)
• Pulls his/her head  and eyes out  when swinging.
• Steps away from the plate (Steps in the bucket)
• Uses an open stance,and does not stride, just swings with the arms.

When your pitching, you should always mix your pitching spots. Mixing your spots is sometimes called "climbing the ladder." If the catcher doesn't move the glove you should pitch to the catchers  knees, armpits, and shoulders. By doing this you can set the hitter up for your favorite pitch in his weak spot and be more likely to get a strike out or a weak ground ball or fly ball.

We found in a two year survey watching college and professional play that the letter high inside corner  pitch  is a effective strike out pitch  as it hand cuffs the hitters and they’re thinking "low and away."

Remember: if you try to strike everyone out, it will take four or five pitches to do it. This can strain your arm more (you have to throw more pitches).

If you pitch to a batter's weak spot, chances are, he/she will ground out or fly out on two pitches, this accomplishes the same thing as a strike out and saves on your arm.

If you should get wild, don't ease up and start aiming the ball. Keep pitching natural, talk to yourself on the  mound, tell yourself that you know you can hit the glove -- and just believe it and do it. Relax be confident!

Practice is the key to pitching, keep the same grip on the ball, the same motion , stride, and follow through. Practice doing the basics (the fundimentals) the right way and they will become ingrained in what's called "Muscle Memory" and, in the end, be automatic to you.

Visualization Drills: Visualize yourself throwing and hitting your target, talk to yourself and tell yourself you can do it with ease.

Keep your thoughts positive. You just throw to the strike zone and your end is done. Your  teammates take care of ground balls and fly balls.

If the ump misses a call, so what! Relax, we all know the umpire ain't using his good eye, ha ha! We know it was a strike! So remember, don't get frustrated out there, have fun. You'll pitch better and your ball will be faster when your relaxed, your breaking balls will break better when your relaxed too!

Try to watch the other team's hitting practice. Try to remember the opposing players "power zone" (the pitch he hits the best). Notice the pitch he has the most trouble hitting too; high in or out, low in or out, etc. Studying the hitters will give you a edge too.

[Thanks, Bill!]

Pitching velocity and Dice-K's training routines

I came across a couple of great articles on pitching – one's on Dice-K's training routine, the other's on pitching velocity....

1. Check out Boston Red Sox Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitcher-training program. He uses no ice on the arm, he performs 300-foot long tosses, and he throws lengthy bullpen sessions after a start.
   Click here [Sports Illustrated]
2. Check out this column on big league pitching velocity. It explores why more and more big leaguers are throwing 100 mph fastballs, who they are, and how to maximize your stuff without compromising your mechanics and location to find the extra velocity.
   Click here [ESPN]
   

How to throw on a downward plane off the pitcher's mound

Just about every pitcher has been told at some point in his career to "throw on a downward plane." Sound familiar?

But what exactly does that mean?

The degree of downward plane depends on a pitcher's natural arm angle. The higher the angle, the greater the downward plane. It is much more difficult for a batter to perceive and hoit a baseball that's coming in with a greater downward plane that it is to hit a baseball that's "flat." Therefore, the higher the arm angle, the more difficult the pitch is to hit. The smaller the downward plane -- such as the ball path of a sidearm pitcher -- the easier it is to hit it, all other things being equal.

Many sidearmers are sinker ball pitchers, which is how they achieve "downward" movement. But not too many sidearmers have good breaking balls. This is why.

Remember that it's important to find a pitcher's natural arm slot and not to change it in order to get more downward plane. (Of course, this would be done by raising the pitcher's arm angle up to a 3/4 or high-3/4 arm slot.)

That's because achieving the downward plane also encompasses proper arm and body mechanics. If the pitcher already has an arm angle anywhere around 3/4 and implements good pitching mechanics, he will throw the ball on a downward plane toward home plate.

How to teach pitching mechanics to young pitchers

If your coaching young pitchers this season, it's important to teach proper pitching mechanics. This means that you should have a general idea about what quality mechanics look like. Many coaches and parents find it helpful to visualize quality pitching mechanics during the learning process. Check out this Pitching Mechanics Checklist. Print it out. Then head over to the Baseball Pitching Clips & Pitching Videos library, where you can see how the pitching tips on the checklist compare to what more than 45 big leaguers do on the mound. These are valuable tools.

OK, so now how do you apply what you've learned about pitching mechanics to your young pitchers in practice? One drill that I think works really well with younger pitchers is the "Simulated Pitching Motion" drill. It's easy to do:

Line up your pitchers about 5 or 7 feet apart from one another. Have each of your players make a line on the infield dirt. This will be their pitcher's mound for this drill.

Next stand in front of your pitchers and walk them through their mechanics by having them mimic your movements. (This is why you must have a basic understanding of what the pitching motion should look like!) Take them through the shift of weight, pivot, arm down, arm back, arm up, step and throw. Call out each step as the players go through the motion. There's no throwing, so this drill can be done (and should!) at all practices. You can never work enough on pitching mechanics with young and beginning pitchers.

My Top 10 favorite baseball pitching blogs

Here's a list of the Top 10 baseball pitching instruction blogs that I read every day (in no particular order). They may be helpful in your development as a pitcher.

1. Coach Jerry Kreber, Baseball Ideas
2. Joe Janish, On Baseball
3. Dick Mills, The Pitching Rebel
4. Chris O'Leary, The Pitching Mechanic
5. Dr. John Bagonzi, The Pitching Professor
6. Alan Jaeger Sports News Desk
7. Baseball Tutorials
8. Cal Ripken Jr., Ask Cal
9. Dana Cavalea, The Major League Strength Dugout
10. Vern Gambetta, Functional Path Training
11. Steven Ellis, The Baseball Pitching Tips Blog :-)

How to determine a pitcher's natural arm angle

Every time a coach gets a new team or pitching staff, I think it's important to establish every pitcher's natural arm angle during the first few weeks of practice.

This is the arm slot from which the player most instinctively throws the baseball on every throw. Everyone's different. So it's important to find out what each pitcher does individually. Arm angles are something that you generally should not change with a kid. (Now I'm not talking arm path here -- or the direction of the hands when they separate from the glove. These can be changed and corrected, if a player is performing improper mechanics. Arm angle specifically is the angle of the hand and arm at the moment a throw is made.)

Perhaps the best way to determine a kid's natural arm angle is to have the pitcher go to the shortstop position and field grounders to the right and left of where he's standing. Have him come up and make a throw to first base.

After 5 or 10 throws, have the player go to the outfield and catch a series of fly balls, and make a series of 5 or 10 throws to home plate. (Try to get your pitcher to keep his throws on a line, with little arc. It's OK to one-hop the throw, if your player can't reach home plate in the air.)

Finally, have the pitcher play catch at about 80 percent effort at 60 yards.

After watching the pitcher throw from these three positions, you should be able to determine the precise throwing slot for the pitcher. This is where he should be throwing from every time he makes a pitch.

I feel strongly that a coach should not change a pitcher's natural arm arm as it can cause significant injury. Everybody's made to throw a certain way, so diversity among arm angles on a pitch staff is perfectly normal.

The coach should also refrain from the pitcher throwing at different arm angles -- for different "looks," to try and fool the batter. This never works. Pitching is difficult enough from one arm angle to experiment with various arm positions. And at the higher levels of the game, good hitters usually can pick up on the arm angle variations, so it's not particularly effective.

Each season, remember to determine a player's natural arm angle during early practices. Then have that pitcher throw only from that arm angle throughout the season.

How to distinguish yourself as a pitcher, not a thrower

I think it's really important to differentiate between pitching and throwing. A player who has no idea why he delivers a particular pitch to a specific hitter is a thrower. The player who knows why and where he is putting the baseball is a pitcher. To truly be a pitcher, every pitch and action you make on the mound must have a reason and purpose. Throwers generally rely on guesswork and luck.

I'd say most pitchers fall somewhere between being a pitcher and a thrower. And it can vary from game to game, particularly if you don't prepare properly and consistently for your appearances. The players that play pitcher more often, of course, will experience more success on the mound and go the farthest in their baseball career.

Here are some tips and tricks that I did to distinguish myself as a pitcher and not a thrower. Can you think of any additional things that you can do to improve your pitching performance?

• Around the mound, I was taught that the first rule for success was dressing and acting the part. It's essential to realize how little actions around the mound not only make you look good, but can relieve tension and anxiety. They give the pitcher "polish." Wear your uniform properly. Pull your pant legs down below the calf, but don't "sag." Wear your hat forward. Be clean-shaven. Don't wear eye black when you pitch. Tuck in your shirt. Ask yourself this: What would Roger Clemens do on the mound? What would he wear? How would he act? Then do that!
• Get the first pitch over the plate, around the strike zone. Attack the hitter from the get-go. And when you get ahead, keep pounding the strike zone. Don't waste pitches. Go right at him early and often.
  
• Throw your best pitch in tight situations. When the pressure is on, don't try to trick the hitter. Heck, he and everyone else in the ballpark should have an idea what's coming. Who cares? Have confidence in your pitch (it is your best pitch, after all) and throw the hell out of it.
• Don't get careless when you get ahead 0-2 or 1-2. Again, attack the strike zone with authority. Throw a strike. Make the hitter hit your pitch, or send him packing if he doesn't offer at it.
  
• Work with your catcher. Become friends. This is important. You need to be on the same page as your catcher. You both need to know "why" you're throwing what you're throwing. You both need to know where every pitch should go. Then you need to execute it.
• "Quick pitch" when necessary. Show some savvy out there on the mound. In every lineup, there is at least one or two guys who you can mentally defeat just by quick pitching them. Which one is it? That's what you need to find out. When you find him, exploit it. Pitch quickly, but always under control.

It's important to remember to always be working on becoming a pitcher, not a thrower. And do it on every pitch. Don't have the one pitch you're not paying attention or thinking (i.e., by being a "thrower") cost you a run or the game. Do whatever is practical to become more effective by being smart and pitching with a purpose.

How to build a pitcher's mound

Thinking about building a pitcher's mound in your backyard this year? Or are you responsible for fixing the team mound this season? Here are some tips for doing it correctly.

A regulation pitcher's mound is 18 feet in diameter, the center of which is 59 feet from the back of home plate. The pitcher's plate (or pitching rubber as it is commonly called) is 18 inches behind dead center of the mound. The slope from the rubber shall begin 6 inches in front of the rubber and will slope toward home plate 1 inch for every foot.

The rubber rests 6 inches inside the front edge of a level area 5 feet wide and 34 inches deep and shall not be more than 10 inches higher than the playing field. This was not always true, however. During different periods in baseball history, the mound had been much taller.

The mound in Philadelphia's Shibe park, for example, was rumored to be 20 inches high at one time, and the mounds throughout baseball in the late 60s were as high as 16 inches. It wasn't until 1969 that it was lowered to today's standard.

The original rules stipulated that the pitching rubber be 45 feet from the plate. It has been moved back twice, first to 50 feet, then to it's present day measure in 1893, presumably to give batters a better chance to hit and/or get out of the way of errant pitches. Daniel Adams, the first chairman of the Committee on Rules and Regulations, was the man who claimed to have set the original 45 foot distance. It has been said that the precise distance it stands today was the result of a measuring error (it was supposed to be 60 feet) and that they simply decided to leave it.

Additional history of the pitching mound comes from statistician Bill Deane, who says, "The first mention of the mound in the official baseball rules appears in 1903. Installed "to prevent trickery," rule 1, section 2 required that "the pitcher's plate shall not be more than 15 inches higher than the base lines or home plate."

The height was reduced to 10 inches in 1969.