Pitching Drills

For Increasing upper, trunk, lower extremity power:

For Upper Extremity: with resistance tubing harness.
1. Apply resistance harness around the athlete's waste.
2. Apply other end of harness to athlete's wrist on the throwing arm.
3. Have athlete perform full arm circle pitching drills with this resistance tubing harness.

   This drill will increase arm strength and velocity by always being challenged from the resistance tubing throughout the entire pitching motion. Muscles will respond to the demands that are placed on them and allow the motion to become stronger and faster and be able to handle pitches that require a lot of velocity in order to move in the strike zone. Resistance tubing could changed to a higher resistance tension when the athlete is able to progress. This will also teach the athlete to control arm speed and and keep the arm stable throughout the pitching motion against different types of resistance. This will also result in a stronger deceleration phase to increase wrist snap speed and release the ball. Even as the athlete progresses, the athlete will be able to handle the resistance placed on it and still control where the ball is being released.

For trunk: With resistance tube harness.
1. Harness is placed around the athletes waste.
2. Coach is standing behind athlete holding the other end of the harness.
3. As the athlete performs leg drive/hip close down drills, or full pitching, the coach pulls on the harness as the athlete tried to hold against the front landing foot.

    A lot of times, a pitcher will have mechanical problems because of the inability to stay against that front foot. The resistance tube harness pulls them back as they try to move forward. This will increase landing strength, hip strength and, stand against strength to improve placement of the ball and control of velocity, and also help prevent injury to the lower back due to leaning over the landing foot. Resistance band could be increased if the athlete really has trouble staying against that front foot.

For lower extremity: with resistance tubing/bands
1. Apply resistance tubing around both ankles.
2. Athlete performs leg drive drills or full pitching with resistance bands around ankles.


   This drill results in the athlete increasing leg drive strength and distance using the same principles as the above drills. This drill increases abductor and adductor muscle strength while also increasing hip close down speed and strength which is crucial in the lower extremity part of the pitching motion. Without the transfer of power from the lower extremity, the upper extremity loses a lot of power. The basis of pitching is made from the ground up- lower extremity to upper extremity. This resistance training will help enhance pitching motion power and velocity.