Undeniable Proof That You Need Spinning Pitches, Like Now

In 2017 we were holding our summer camp in Forest Park on the soccer field turf. One of my uncle's students came. Uncle John has been a pitching coach for 30 years and taught me and many of the Practice Pro instructors how to pitch, along with probably thousands of other players from this area. He still coaches, and that year he sent one of his 9-year-olds to my camp. We had each player throw a few pitches at the beginning to see where they were at, and lo and behold this kid could pitch the drop, rise, curve and screw with perfect spin! They weren't moving, but having control over different rotations at that age was amazing to me. The body awareness and athleticism this girl had was incredible.

I had always taught 9 and 10 year old's how to spin movement pitches (from standing at the release position), and was able to get a few players to execute one or two of them. But seeing that young player at camp made me have more confidence in their potential and in myself as a coach. If Uncle John could teach it, so could I.

The main reason I taught movement pitches as early as a their coordination allowed was because I wanted them to learn as much as possible when their learning capacity is the highest, before the age of 12. After that, learning speed slows.

Now I see even more benefits to learning to spin the ball different ways. It improves body awareness. It teaches pitchers the importance of moving their fingers when they pitch. It also reminds them that the only thing touching the ball is their fingers - so they better control them!

One way we teach this skill is to stand in a line and spin the ball to your teammate - HERE.  When we start our lesson with "snaps" we add tape to the balls so that girls can see the outcome of what their finger and wrist movement does. If the line is wobbly, they know they must have moved them the wrong way. If you want to become an expert ball-taper I shared my tips - HERE

My high-school player/assistants tell me the ball-on-a stick tool was their favorite for learning how to spin a ball. It forces your hand to go in direction it's supposed to go for each pitch. Common mistakes pitchers make include putting too light of pressure on the ball, trying to move the ball with their arm and shoulder and not their fingers, and not relating transferring the skill from the drill to the full pitch. Coach Sarah and I made a video that explains these with visuals.

Leaning body awareness takes many different forms. In addition to learning about their fingers and hands, we teach them full body awareness with our plyo ball program, looking at themselves pitching in front of a mirror, pitching left-handed, and analyzing their videos. The hands and fingers are easily overlooked so I hope you incorporate some of these drills in your practice, especially because they are perfect for indoor on a rainy day.