Mechanics Sequence

Read the Catcher Signal

You can do this however you want. You can leave the ball in your glove and lean over with your hand on your back hip or alternatively you can keep the ball in your hand the whole time. At this point you can twist and turn to look at the base runner on 1st base without fear of a balk. Once you have received the signal you then start to get into your pitching ready position known as the set point.

Set Point

Once in your set point, you cannot move any part of your body except your head to look at base runners. You cannot move your shoulders, body, legs or anything else, only your head. Once you get to your set point it is best to stay there for at least a half to 1 full second so the ump clearly sees you came to a set point. Otherwise the ump may call a balk. You want to bend your knees slightly at set point. This will help keep your head on a line during the rest of your delivery as it presets the head drop that occurs during normal delivery.

Leg Kick

The leg kick is the initiation of your pitching motion. This can be done how you want but in general you want to have two styles of leg kick, a 90 degrees kick and a quick kick.

The 90 degree leg kick can either be straight up or slightly angled back towards second base. This leg kick is good when there is nobody on base, a runner on second, or a runner on third.

The quick kick is literally just moving your leg straight forward without lifting your knee in the air. This leg kick is good when there is a runner on 1st who might steal. The quicker leg motion gets the ball to the catcher faster allowing for a better pop time trying to get the runner out at 2nd.

In both leg kick situations, you want to focus moving your hip towards home plate versus slinging your strike foot leg or pushing with your drag foot leg. Pushing with your drag foot leg tends to lift your head during your motion towards the plate.

Arm Separation

Arm separation begins just after the leg kick starts but before the strike foot hits the ground. When you separate your arms, you want your glove arm to point to the right of the catcher (if a righty) or the left side of the catcher (if a lefty). Pick a landmark somewhere to use as a reference point. Your throwing arm and glove arm should separate the same amount. This is called equal arm separation. You want your throwing wrist to be pointed roughly to third base. Pointing your wrist to 2nd base requires extra rotation to bring the wrist around which can lead to arm trouble in the future.

Foot strike

The foot of your leg kick leg is called the strike foot as this is the foot that strikes the ground. Your foot should strike the ground on a line drawn from your drag foot (the foot on the rubber) to the catcher. The goal is to reach a distance of your own height between your two feet. At this point your glove arm should still be pointing to your landmark to the side of your catcher.

Hip/Shoulder Orientation at Foot Strike

Once your strike foot hits the ground your hips and shoulders should still be “closed”. If you draw a line through both shoulders, it should extend straight towards the catcher, ideally to the right of the catcher (if a righty) or left of the catcher (if a lefty). If you draw a line through your hips it should extend towards the catcher as well.

Checkpoint

At this point we should be in the following position… Strike foot on the ground, arms fully and equally separated with some bend at the elbows, hips pointed at the catcher, and shoulders and glove pointed to the side of the catcher depending on lefty or righty.

Hip/Shoulder Separation

Moments after your strike foot hits the ground, your hips should start rotating. You want to delay rotating your shoulders so that you generate rotational torque. This torque is responsible for 80% of your velocity.

Arm Whip

Now that rotation has started, you want your hips and shoulders to end up “squared up” to home. Your arm should follow around laid back during this rotation time. Your elbow pointed to the catcher and your hand pointed towards second base. Once your shoulders and hips are finally squared up, your arm should whip forward to the catcher. This accounts for 20% of your velocity.

Release and Follow Through

As you are releasing the ball, which should be in front of your strike foot, your glove should be right above your strike foot. You DO NOT want to whip your glove arm around. You want your chest to come towards your glove.

Head Motion

During your whole motion from leg kick to ball release, your head should have stayed steady on a line. Imagine a string connected to a pole behind you, through a loop on the top of your hat and to the catchers mitt. Your head should stay on this line the whole time until AFTER ball release.