How to quicken your pitching delivery with runners on base

When a runner gets on base, you've got to be quick to the plate. Can you do it in under 1.3 seconds?

As you advance to college and professional baseball, delivering the baseball from the set position to the catcher's mitt in under 1.3 seconds is mandatory. (This rule applies to right and left handers alike, unless a lefty has an above-average move to first base, in which case he can be a little slower to the plate.)

An excellent way to cheat at being quick is to come set with slightly more weight on your back foot than your front. I like to think of it as 60/40 -- 60 percent of your weight on your back foot, 40 percent on the front foot.

By placing more weight on your back foot, it takes less time to lift your lead leg, load up your weight on your posting leg, and deliver the ball to the plate. That's because your body is already favoring your back leg.

From this position it's easy to be quick: cross your lead knee in front of your back knee (I refer to this as a "knee-to-knee" delivery), stay tall, and lead the lower half of your body with your front hip as your lead foot moves laterally toward home plate.