Signs You're a Movement Master
/For years, nothing has “wowed” the crowds quite like a fastball coming in at 70mph+. There is no doubt that a pitch thrown that hard (by the likes of Monica Abbott, Rachel Garcia, and Montana Fouts for example) will turn the heads of every Power 5 collegiate program in the nation. If you also have total control over the location of that 70 mph+ pitch, like Abbott, Garcia, and Fouts do, you have the potential to be one of the elite. But there are VERY few pitchers who will ever be able to hit 70+. So the new kid in school that is garnering all of the attention is “the movement pitcher.” And not just any movement pitcher, the one who amasses swings and misses with regularity. And creating true movement on a pitch (that will cause many hitters to swing and miss) is a skill that any pitcher can learn.
I want you to read that last sentence again: “Creating true movement on a pitch (that will cause many hitters to swing and miss) is a skill that any pitcher can learn. “
Throwing 70+ is God-Given talent.
Throwing with movement is a learned and practiced skill that any pitcher can attain. Any pitcher, including you! So how can you practice this skill and effectively measure if pitches are breaking when you don’t have a live batter who can hit against you during most bullpen sessions? THAT is what this article aims to answer for all the future “swing and miss” pitchers out there.
First, the best measurement tool that has recently been hot on the market is a device called Rapsodo. Rapsodo is a tool that you set up on line from the pitcher to the catcher to track everything from spin rate to spin direction to actual break to distance at break and so much more. That information directly and specifically tells you how true your spin is, which is the number one predictor for whether a pitch will break in the direction it is thrown. It even has a camera that takes a picture of you from the front at release that can help you to understand your hand position and how it is really turning the ball at the moment that matters most. And although this is the “pinnacle” tool to dictate whether you are “moving” a pitch effectively, it is also several thousands of dollars to purchase. So for most pitchers and coaches, we need to find other ways to help “see” true break.
For rise balls- there are a few good ways to see if you are actually getting “jump” on the ball instead of just throwing it high. One way is to throw a rise ball without your thumb on the ball. If you can throw the ball to your catcher all the way there without your thumb, you’re actually getting underneath the ball. If the ball falls out of your hand, it’s because of the direction you rotated the ball, which was likely a corkscrew. A thumb helps you with that “cheat.” With no thumb, you must get all the way under the ball (creating correct rise spin) to allow the ball to travel all the way to the catcher. Start short in the K/X position and just try it in a slingshot motion halfway between the mound and home plate. If you can be successful with that, back up and try it full. Another good way to see if the rise has spin that will actually make it jump is by using the double ball. This is where two balls are nailed or glued together and you try to make the balls spin to the catcher ball over ball. Again, start close in a K/X position and work it from a slingshot, mastering the correct spin from that distance before you try pitching 2-balls full distance. Limit your number of reps on this one because two balls together is a double weighted ball.
For drop balls, my favorite thing to do is set up a rope that is just below mid thigh height according to a hitter in her stance (the rope is held up by being tied to poles/tees) and place it 12 feet in front of the plate. You place this device 12 feet from home plate because a hitter’s eyes makes a decision on “whether” to swing and “where” to swing based on what they “see” 12-15 feet from the plate. If you can get a ball to go over or through the rope at 12 feet away (appearing in height above the knees) - a hitter is likely to swing. That is a strike. If that ball is actually dropping, it will go through the hitting plane at about mid-shin level (and you’ll see where the catcher actually receives the ball to be able to tell if it is breaking effectively. You can also place a short bucket on home plate and try to pitch the ball INTO the bucket. That visual cue of dropping it into the bucket can help you produce the spin at the distance needed to create effective break for the hitter. Last, while you are standing in place, you can roll or peel the spin of the drop off of your fingers and turn your hand over to catch the ball. It’ll take you a few tries but you’ll eventually get it… and that is the actual spin needed to make the drop ball break.
A curve ball that breaks sharply is another great swing and miss pitch. To see if you’re getting the break on your curve, I would start by using a spinner (looks like a hockey puck). You want to be able to throw that spinner to your catcher without it wobbling. If you can get the true side spin needed on that spinner to make it spin like a frisbee to the catcher - you will be able to do the same thing with a softball. And to measure that in real space and time, you can set up “pitch sticks' ' or a tee (if you don’t have the pitch sticks which were created with this in mind). You set up the stick or the tee 12 feet from home plate in a straight line out from the outside third of home plate. A hitter will swing at that pitch that is “on'' the plate and your “true spinning curve” should whizz past the tee to its right (appearing very “fat” in the strike zone) but end on the other side of the tee to its left (which equates to the outside corner or outside river as the ball enters the hitting zone). Have your bullpen catcher hold the glove where the ball lands at 40/43 feet and you’ll see if you’re getting the break on the curve. That visual aid of the stick/tee helps you to know where the pitch should be in space and time for a hitter to choose to swing, and then you can see if you’re getting the ball to end to the left of the stick by the time it reaches home plate. This is where you see late break on your curve!
Hopefully you can incorporate some of these drills and visual cues into your upcoming practices to help you become the next great movement pitcher. Go get those swings and misses, Girls!
