Will Illinois Ever Rule the Softball World? Master Indoor Practice First

You know what they say about Chicago, “If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” Illinois is not known for it’s stellar summer sports, and we love to blame the weather. But sports are about overcoming obstacles, not using them as excuses. Our Big, Hairy, Audacious goal at Practice Pro is to make Illinois the powerhouse of pitching - with our pitchers competing on every team in the WCWS by 2035!

One way to do this is to make our obstacles our assets. Our cold weather could be one of our greatest assets as a Midwesterner. We do a lot of pitching into close nets in our basements. Pitching without a forty foot target or even “fake pitching” allows pitchers to throw with great fundamentals. You might have noticed that a pitcher can execute a fake pitch with perfect mechanics, but as soon as she gets the ball and tries to actually throw to a target - rotten they go. She reverts back to what is comfortable. She does what her neural pathways have been built for - incorrect mechanics.

If I could train a pitcher for a whole year into a close net without a target, I would. But 9-year-olds get fed up with that in about 10 minutes, unfortunately. So, if it’s freezing outside, and it’s very beneficial to not pitch a full distance, what are our options? If it’s snowy and fields are unusable, if indoor facilities are booked, if it costs $60 per hour to rent a cage, if parents don’t have time to organize and rent school gyms, what can we do?

Create your own practice facility at home! Check out what some creative folks have done to their basements below.

If possible, set up a 7 foot net in your basement and pitch real balls into it. Add pieces of tape as targets onto different sections. Even if it’s not full distance, looking at different location varies your release point, improving “feel.” Some players have hung blankets from the ceiling to throw into. When ceilings are too short, they pitch from their knee to practice their arm circles. One pitcher rolled out a pitching matt in her dining room and just did fake pitches. I’ve seen a person attach a ball on a stick to the wall at different angles to practice movement pitch spins.

The second best ball-choice are compression balls, the third are any other type of ball. Lighter balls improve arm speed, heavier balls increase body awareness. Don’t throw full speed with a full pitch using balls over 9 oz. Some studies show the increased weight is not worth the (arm health) risk compared to the benefit. If you want to get stronger, lift weights, don’t throw heavier balls. If you want to get faster, get more of reps in.

Pitching into a net can get boring if you don’t challenge yourself and get creative. Based on what we learned during Covid, long winters, and feedback about practice struggles, we created and online practice club. We give you daily pitch-by-pitch practices that are fun and varied so pitchers will never get bored. If you forgot how to do a drill we’ve added short videos so pitchers of any age and experience level can follow along. We have practice groups for beginners all the way up to college-bound athletes. The best part is the motivation! We give out Practice Pro merch for those who complete their weekly practice.

If Illinois is going to be the pitching powerhouse of the country, we’ll have to overcome weather and space obstacles. We’ll have to show our toughness in a time when other parts of the country have sun, warmth, and space. We’ll have to be relentless in our pursuit of advancing our game!