Offspeed Pitches:

• Curveball
• Slurveball
• Circle Change
• Forkball
• Knuckleball
• Gyroball
• The “Volken”

I am not saying that these pitches are junk or a waste of time, because many great pitchers have used them. What I am saying is this is always last resort. Especially when you are young. You should expect your velocity to improve all the way into your 20′s. If you have plateaued, then you need a velocity enhancement program like 3X Pitching and the Ace Pitcher Handbook before you need to learn another pitch. Also learning these offspeed pitches have proven to decrease velocity, because if not thrown correctly,  it can add more wear and tear to the arm and it also can change your mechanics. I have seen in my career guys loss a few miles per hour because they fell in love with a Forkball, or a Curveball. I am not saying this is the case for everyone but it is the case for most young pitchers.

My philosophy is, you should take a fastball change-up, or fastball cutter or slider combo, as far into your career as you can, before you add a third pitch. Those who have average to below average velocity in your current level, should use the fastball change-up combo. Those of you who have above average velocity at your level of play, should use the fastball cutter or slider combo. This is because when you throw hard, you should stay hard, and when you throw slow, you should change your speeds more often. The reason hard throwers will do better with staying hard, is because a lot of hard throwers make the mistake of going soft when the hitter is still trying to catch up with their velocity. Therefore going soft with a change-up would put the timing of the pitch with the timing of the hitters swing, even if there is a good difference in velocity. This is a very common mistake among young pitchers. I don’t know how many times I have seen, with a young pitcher, when he has just thrown two hard fastballs past a hitter and then he comes with a change-up, which is now timed perfectly with the hitters swing. This is why you need a hard cutter, or slider, to finish the hitter off. Stay hard and let it break just a bit, or just stay hard and get it off the plate inside or out.

The other problem with pitchers who opt for ball movement, when their velocity isn’t fooling hitters, is those who decide to change arm angles. I would say the same about this approach as the more pitches approach. Use this option late in your career, not early, because if you use it early, it could set you up for failure at a young age.

The 3X Power Stride Approach

The best example of this approach is Aroldis Chapman for the Reds. He has the longest stride length in the MLB and also is able to move through his stride at one of the top speeds in the MLB. His stride speed to stride length ratio is probably the best in the world. This and optimal hip to shoulder separation is why he has the fastest pitch in baseball.

To develop an average to above average stride speed to stride length ratio you must first learn the importance of triple extension. Triple extension increases both stride length and stride speed. To learn more about Triple Extension or 3X read this article here.

To implement the 3X Power Stride into your delivery you must follow these 4 key steps.

1. Lead with your hips. (View first pic below)
2. Load on your drive leg. (View second pic below)
3. Keep your front leg closed until just before front foot strike. (View third pic below)
4. Triple extend your drive leg just before front foot strike.(View fourth pic below)

The 3X Power Stride ends at front foot strike and then you must efficiently and effective transfer that energy into the ball to take advantage of the 3x power stride. If you fail to transfer this energy through hip to shoulder separation and front leg stabilization, you will see no increase in velocity and you could cause arm injury. Notice Chapman has achieved optimal triple extension and hip to shoulder separation at front foot strike.

Before you attempt to implement the power stride into your delivery you must first determine that you have the leg power to perform the movement. Here is a quick drill you can use to test your leg power.

3X Power Stride Strength and Speed Test

1. Stand in a full stride that is at least 90% of your height. If you are 6 feet tall then your stride should be roughly 5 feet 4 inches.
2. Make sure that both of your feet are facing forward in a straight line.
3. Make sure that you are on the ball of your drive or back leg foot.
4. Keep most of your weight on your drive or back leg.
5. When you are ready to perform the test lift your front foot and at the same time fire and triple extend your drive or back leg. Triple extension is the extension of the ankle, knee and hip flexor.
6. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TRIPLE EXTEND YOUR DRIVE OR BACK LEG BEFORE YOUR FRONT FOOT LANDS.
7. You also want to hear the drag of your back foot just before front foot strike.

If you can perform this drill by getting triple extension before front foot strike, with a 90% and up stride length, then you have the leg power necessary to implement the power stride into your delivery. For more drills and information on learning the 3X Power Stride see the Ace Pitcher Handbook and the 3X Velocity Camp. If you would like to submit a video of you pitching for video analysis to determine your stride speed to stride length ratio please submit it in the forums here:

Mechanics and Analysis Forum

Using the overload to underload approach to train the pitchers body and central nervous system to increase arm speed is the right concept but the wrong approach when using weighted balls. The problem with using weighted balls is that it sacrifices the arm to teach the body how to move weight more quickly. To understand how backwards this weighted ball approach is we must first look at what role the arm plays in the pitching delivery.

The Role of the Arm in the Pitching Delivery

The role of the arm is to get into position to allow for the transfer of energy from the lower kinetic chain into the upper kinetic chain. Once this energy has coiled the shoulder during external rotation the arm’s role is to deliver the pitch to its desired location. Never does the arm work to generate velocity except for using the elastic properties of the arm muscles when coiling during the energy transfer. To better understand the sequence of events through the entire kinetic chain, which leads to the top velocity of the pitcher, you need to learn the revolutionary approach to pitching velocity called 3X Pitching. 3X Pitching proves that to increase the coil of the shoulder during external rotation the pitcher must first increase linear stride power and then transfer that power into core torque at front foot strike.

Why Weightballs are a Waste of Time for Pitchers?

Based on the understanding of how velocity is generated through the entire kinetic chain of the body stated above and also in the 3X Pitching approach, you can see that training with weighted balls using an overload to underload approach is a waste of time because it does not work with power pitching mechanics. Yes, this weighted balls approach may increase arm strength, using the weights, and may increase some arm speed, through training the central nervous system to rotate the arm faster, but the final result will be much less effective than taking a total body approach to velocity like with the 3X Pitching Velocity program.

I used the Overload Underload weighted balls throwing program for years when Dick Mill’s once preached it back in the 90′s. He now credits it to causing injury. It happened that I was using this program the year I torn my rotator cuff. I am not saying that this program was the reason for my tear but it did speed up the process of the injury. My problem was I had bad mechanics. I was an all arm pitcher and when I used this program it made everything even worse. The overloading with the weighted balls put more wear and tear on my cuff and in the end, even if I had added a few mph, it wouldn’t have been worth the extra wear and tear that came with it.

If you are looking to use weighted balls to increase velocity, I really believe that you are looking for the easy answer here. Increasing velocity is developing power pitching mechanics and also developing yourself into a power pitcher. The 3X Pitching Velocity program gives you all of this with a revolutionary approach to pitching velocity. This approach uses the famous 3X Velocity System throwing program to develop the 3X mechanics and the famous Fusion system which is the strength and conditioning program to develop you into an elite power pitcher.So, stop looking for the easy way out and get serious with a serious velocity program like 3X!

What you need to do first in your young career is focus one becoming an exceptional athlete. Scouts are looking for players who are talented athletes with little wear and tear. This is true with any recruiters out there. They do not want damaged goods. So the less time spent on the mound, at a young age, and the more time spent improving your athletic performance, the better. Play every position if possible and if you get to varsity baseball in high school and you want to just focus on pitching, then I would so, “OK, Do it!”

This doesn’t mean you should NOT practice pitching mechanics before high school. Start learning proper pitching mechanics as young as possible because proper pitching mechanics mean proper throwing mechanics. Proper throwing mechanics also produce proper hitting mechanics. This is because a Coach who knows how to train proper mechanics, understands how to train the athlete and not just a pitcher or hitter. This is also why I encourage young athletes to play as many sports as possible, without them overlapping. This is because, once again, we must train the athlete and not just one specific talent.

To prove this, just look at Professional sports. Pro sports are full of multi-sport athletes. Greg Maddux is a great golfer, along with John Smoltz, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffy Jr. Cal Ripken loved to play a lot of basketball in the off season. Tom Glavine was drafted in the NHL back in 1984. Michael Jordan retired from basketball to play minor league baseball. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan, to name a few, played at the same time for the MLB and the NFL . The list goes on and on.

So, stop trying to fit yourself in the perfect mold of a pitcher at 14. Focus on your competitive edge and learn everything you can about the sport and all the positions. I always tell my pitchers, “Train the athlete first and then you can train the pitcher.”

http://chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Pitching/PitcherInjuryAnalysisProject/Patterns.html

It is always nice to find unconventional thinking when it comes to pitching instruction. I recommend you read his article. I was forced in my early career to overcome a serious shoulder injury, because I wasn’t taught this important piece of information. Ever sense my almost career ending injury, I have been coaching this theory, but never referred to it as the “Safe Zone.” I will now!

Here is another article from Dr. Harding at Wellington Orthopaedic, talking about the “Safe Zone.”

http://www.wellingtonortho.com/health/shoulder-safe.html

This theory of injury prevention, which you can read about in full detail in Chris’ article, is based around this picture of Mark Prior. Mark Prior suffered a rotator cuff injury after this picture was taken. What he is doing is “Scap Loading” with his elbows way above his shoulders. The problem here is he is impinging his supraspinatous muscle with this movement. Read my article on “How to prevent or overcome shoulder surgery?” to get more details on the rotator cuff and impingements. Chris recommends, in his article, that a pitcher should “Scap Load” with the elbows below the shoulders to prevent this impingement of the rotator cuff, which causes more wear and tear. I recommend this as well, because it not only will prevent impingement, it will increase “Separation” and create what I call the “Power Curve.” The “Power Curve” refers to acceleration in either a straight line or a curve. In learning about centripetal force, which I first studied for a science project in elementary school, you will find information about this “Power Curve.” I listed it here:

“The direction of an object in movement around a circle is changing; hence, its velocity is also changing and this in turn means that it is experiencing acceleration…..The acceleration of an object in rotational motion is always toward the center of the circle.”

This means that acceleration has more of an opportunity to increase when curving around a point in time, because velocity increases when either the direction changes or the speed of the object increases. If you have ever heard that old saying, “Thumb to thigh, then palm to sky” or “Get into the T position,” you have been coached to pitch like what Mark Prior is doing above. This also means, when your “Palm is to the sky,” the direction of the ball from that position to the release point, is more of a straight line. If you “Scap Loaded” in the “Safe Zone,” like Greg Maddux here, when the shoulders rotate and the elbow hits the “Wall,” your hand and ball is pulled behind your head like Tim Lincecum below. This means the path of the ball or the direction of velocity, is going to be more of a curve. Therefore more potential velocity and less wear and tear on the rotator cuff.

In conclusion, you must read Chris’ article because this will save your career and it questions these conventional thinking pitching coach’s about physics and how it applies to their coaching theories. Any questions please comment or post in the discussion board.

My advice to you is take two pitches as far as you can. You will see the best pitchers in the game taking two pitches through high school, college and even low A minor league ball. I know this may be upsetting to you but don’t take it negatively. When you see the improvements you will make as a pitcher when you focus on your fastball and one offspeed pitch you will be pumped.

Where should you go from here?

Start with reading my articles on velocity because these articles are teaching you the perfect delivery for your fastball. There is also a mental leap involved here. The reason a lot of young guys throw many pitches is because they do not have the confidence in their fastball. You must gain this confidence. I didn’t say find this confidence, I said you must gain it. So, set your sights on an explosive fastball and you will earn it. Your mental training starts with visualizing this goal. I want you to see yourself dominating with your fastball. See yourself throwing with perfect mechanics that you read about on this site or watched in the AcePitcher instructional videos. Using these visualizations along with reading and watching the material here you will with no doubt gain a top level fastball. We are here to support you.