4 Baseball Pitching Goals You Should Aim To Accomplish Every Time You Pitch

As a baseball pitcher, you should work on at least one of these "pitching goals" every time you throw a baseball.

1. Sound delivery/mechanics - you cannot throw strikes consistently if you do not have sound mechanics. You also risk arm injury if you throw with bad mechanics.

2. Location - To be a successful pitcher you have to be able to locate the ball. Inside/outside, up and down.

3. Change speeds - You don't throw every pitch the same speed. You put a little more on, you take a little off. It keeps the batter off stride. There is an old adage about hitting that says: Hitting is all about timing. Pitching is all about disrupting the hitters timing. You disrupt a hitters timing by changing speeds.

4. Field your position - You can win yourself a lot of ball games if you can field your position.

Little League Pitching: Qualities Of A Good Pitcher

At the early stages of a baseball pitcher's development, there are a number of qualities that can really make a difference on the mound and for the success of the team. In this article, I'll share the three I feel are most important pertaining to youth pitching, little league pitching, and coaching youth pitchers.

1. The ability to pitch with control. - I don't care how fast you throw, but you must throw strikes. Walks will almost always come back to haunt you! On the Little League team that I help coach, the players that pitch are the players that can throw strikes consistently. Make the other team "earn" their way on base. Throw the ball over the plate and let your teammates help you on defense.

2. The ability to pitch with confidence and poise - I want you to know that you're going to get them out. I don't want you standing out there hoping you'll get them out.

3. The ability to throw hard - At the Little League level, throwing hard is not nearly as important as throwing strikes! It's nice to have a 98 - 100 MPH fastball like Tim Lincecum, but you gotta throw it for strike

You can learn more valuable Little League pitching tips in my latest baseball book series here.

Teaching And Incorporating Proper Pitching Technique

The most important aspect in pitching is throwing strikes consistently. In order to help young pitchers throw strikes, it's important to teach them how to play catch correctly. In other words, it's important to teach and incorporate proper pitching technique.

We have all admired how effortlessly Greg Maddux makes pitching appear. When in a groove, Maddux is so effortless with his mechanics that he merely seems to be playing catch. By aiding young pitchers in becoming simplified and effortless in mechanics, they will not only throw strikes more consistently, but also will develop confidence in their ability.

When evaluating a pitcher's mechanics, watch them warm up in a rather informal setting. While observing, look to see whether the following five principles of good throwing technique are being used:

1. Eyes are constantly on the target.
2. The athlete should be in a good goal post position, meaning both glove side elbow and throwing elbow should be as high as his shoulder.
3. The ball should be pointed back to allow for the rotation of the hips.
4. Glove side shoulder and foot should be pointed directly at the target.
5. Weight transfer and follow-through from post foot to glove side foot.

Pitchers seem to run into the most difficulty when applying the simple throwing technique in a pitching situation. Alleviate some of their anxiety by asking them to throw batting practice in the same way they play catch. Pitchers can experiment playing catch with the catcher in this batting practice setting.

When put into a live pitching situation, many problems occur in adding the windup. It is important, at this point, to stress that the windup does nothing to affect the eventual success of a pitch; however, it can be a reason for the failure of that same pitch. Try to simplify the delivery of any pitcher who has difficulty throwing strikes.

-Excerpts of this article contributed by pitching coach Terry Mularski of Westmoreland County Community College (PA).

Fundamentals Of Baseball Pitching: The Four Key Components To Success At The Youth Level

Not every youth can become a Roger Clemens or a Tim Lincecum, but everyone can become a more complete pitcher - more consistent, more successful. Here are the four fundamentals of pitching that I stress to the younger pitchers I work with. But of course, they also apply to every level of play.

1. First and most important, you should learn how to throw the baseball with your natural and proper motion. This includes both your arm motion and your pitching delivery (stance, leg kick, follow-through, and so forth). Your pitching motion is the foundation of everything else. It is what leads you to your best fastball, sharpest curve, and finest control. No matter how much you sweat and strain, you will never develop your best fastball unless you first develop a proper motion.

2. Second, younger pitchers should try to develop strength in your core, rotator cuff and lower body so that you can throw your best and most natural fastball. Strength training will help you reach the limits of your natural talent quicker. But it's got to be the right kind of pitching training (more info here). Additionally, the secret of pitching is to develop a good fastball first, and only later, for the times when the fastball will be insufficient, to develop other, less natural pitches, like the curveball or slider. I strongly recommend that you throw only fastballs until your teenage years. At that point, you can begin work on other pitches starting with a changeup, and then breaking stuff.

3. The third fundamental of pitching is control. While you are developing your motion and speed, you should simultaneously be developing your control -i.e., your ability to throw the ball over any part of the plate, at will. The first three pitching fundamentals are intertwined: the development of any one fundamental leads to the advancement of the others. The more naturally you throw the ball, the faster your pitch will be and the easier your ability to control it.

4. The fourth pitching fundamental is so intangible that it cannot really be taught. With time and pitching experience, you should develop what I call "pitchability," which is really your ability to pitch with a bit of savvy in all situations. Some say it is instinct. Others claim that pitchability can be learned, that all it requires is a modestly intelligent, willing, and attentive mind. The best you can do is to remain mentally alert and receptive to experience whenever you are on the mound. For example, when a batter takes such a hard swing at your pitch that he pulls your best fastball into foul territory, your intelligence should tell you that he will miss a slower pitch - so throw one.