Teaching Pitching: Timing The Full Wind Up And The Stretch

Today, you see relievers come in and throw from the stretch all the time, even with no runners on base. Perhaps you do that. I did in pro ball when I went from being a starter to a closer.

I can't tell you the name of the first guy to do that, to throw from the stretch without runners on base, but my guess is the guy who made it catch on probably played in the late 1970s. It was in that era that relief pitchers started to become more and more essential to big league play and started developing their own "sub-species of reliever" called a "closer." These pitchers grew comfortable pitching from the stretch because they had normally inherited runners on base and just did it that way. They never had the luxury of the full wind-up.

But, really, the difference between taking your drop step and making your turn from the wind-up is just all timing. It's a timing mechanism.

Remember, there are six stages of pitching mechanics. Your "1-2-3" stages are all your opening timing mechanism. You get into the slot, you make a good turn, you keep your shoulder closed... and your "4-5-6" stages are your explosion. That's where you fire the ball to the plate. That's basically how a pitcher counts it. The first "1-2-3" is calmly counted, the "4-5-6" just explodes out.

When you go to the stretch, however, the timing of the delivery is different. It's now not "1-2-3-4-5-6." It's "3-and-a-half," if you will. You start at 3-and-a-half. Your leg comes up, the ball comes out, and then you explode to the plate.