What's Holding Back Your Movement Pitches?

Making the ball move is one thing, but making it move with late break is a whole separate animal.  “Late break” means that your pitch travels straight and then changes direction very close to the hitter. About ten feet is about the standard for excellence.

It’s hard for a new pitcher to see the difference between a pitch that broke late or gradually moved from one side to the other. Some pitchers think a ball dropped when it just fell out of the sky because of gravity. You don’t want for a game to find out if you “have it.” If you haven’t seen too many pitches that actually break before, you might be judging incorrectly. You need feedback.

The easiest way to get feedback is to draw a black line around the ball so you can see the spin angle. I like using electrical tape. Here’s a video I made on how to make the line straight.

You can also buy a Pitchtracker to measure the actual rotations on the ball. When this works it’s excellent. However, the Pitchtracker has, since the writing of this blog, demonstrated battery problems. If you want to spend the big bucks, Rapsodo is the way to go - hands down.

Using visuals is another great way to see if a ball moves. For example, if you are practicing a drop ball, place a string tied onto two tees ten feet in front of the plate. Start the pitch over the string and try to make it drop below the string by the time it reaches the plate. You can also use a bucket or cone to pitch over. The visuals make it easier to see what the ball is doing.

If your breaking balls gradually move from one side to the other, rather than break sharply, it is because one of the following problems:

1. Not enough rotation on your ball.
Improve this by strengthening your fingers and forearm. Also practice spinning a ball as fast as possible with a ball on a stick or a puck spinner.

2. Incorrect axis - the ball is not rotating on the correct plane.
Break your pitch down bit by bit. First, start with snaps. Once you get that right move back to a “K”, and continue on until you get it right!

3. Incorrect body position/release point - your arm trajectory is going the opposite way of the intended ball movement.
Improve your foundational mechanics with a coach or take video of yourself and compare it to a pro.

You can't improve without knowing where you are and where you want to go. In other words - measure yourself!