7 Little Changes That'll Make a Big Difference With Your Mechanics

Have you plateaued on speed? If so, you’ve reached the point where every movement of the body becomes important.

When a pitcher begins to learn, the speed piles on as she executes on basic fundamentals. She’s also growing stronger and taller quickly. After the initial building phase, usually a year, we start to focus on error correction in lessons. One of the most common mistakes is a 'swimming” left arm. Luckily, it’s the easiest to change.

The opposite arm plays a big role in both accuracy and speed. The glove is supposed to move vertically up and down as the throwing arm moves up and down. However, the tendency of most pitchers is to “swim” the left arm out to the side towards third base, not the target. The breast stroke is great for the water but not for the dirt. Below you can see the difference between Ellie’s old motion compared to her new one.

Correcting this error can add a few miles per hour. It’s also one of the easier things to fix - if you work on it.

When a pitcher’s arm stays in line with the catcher her shoulders look like this at release (below, open). When the arm swims way the chest is facing the target instead.

Pitching into a net, not to a catcher, when attempting to change fundamentals speeds up the learning process. It enables a pitcher to focus on one thing at a a time, helping her perform the movement correctly more often, which in turn builds neural pathways.

Here are 7 ways to improve your glove-arm action.

1) A coach holds a noodle to the left of the glove-arm. The pitcher tries not to touch it when pitching.
2) Pitch next to a wall or fence with the left side against the wall. Try not to touch the wall with the glove.
3) Stand to the glove-side of a pitcher and hold your hand up at shoulder height. Make her hit your hand at 3 o’clock then push her glove down for her. She’ll learn how high to move her glove and how fast it needs move downwards.
3) Try to pitch 10 in a row with a correct left arm movement. The catcher says if it is correct or not.
4) The pitcher guesses if the arm is correct. Then the catcher confirms if her guess is correct or not.
5) Have a teammate video each pitch. Watch the video every time to see if it was correct.
6) Pitch full speed into a mirror and make sure the glove arm moves correctly.

Keeping the glove arm in line with home plate helps with resistance. It allows the back side (drag leg, hip, shoulder) to rotate around the front side (stride leg, glove shoulder) creating torque.

It’s just like when you throw overhand and pull your glove side downwards. It helps with leverage. Watch a pitcher throw overhand. If she doesn’t pull her glove hand down overhand, she probably isn’t doing it underhand.

Pulling your glove down at about the same time as your pitching arm engages your rhomboids of your upper back and your lats. Just using one arm overloads your pecs on the front of your shoulder. You need to use both sides of your shoulder to stabilize the scapula, or shoulder blade.

The fastest pitchers use their glove arm as a leverage point. Imagine doing a cartwheel. Just as you swing your lead arm down to the ground to create momentum, you also pull your glove arm down first as the ball comes down to the delivery point. The glove actually reaches the release point a millisecond before the ball does.

Your glove is allowed to be a little bent, just like your throwing arm. In fact, it’s athletic and natural. If it’s stiff, your throwing arm tends to get stiff, too, limiting your “arm whip.”

If you don’t use your glove in a vertical sense, but move it outward “swimming” it pulls your torso hips, etc. and arm circle off the power line. If you pitch it inside a lot this could be one of the reasons why. Finally! You’ve discovered how to stop hitting all of those batters! Remember, once you’ve improved one aspect of your motion others may be forced askew. Always check back periodically with your 5 fundamentals.