Baseball Pitching and Warming-Up Properly

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By Nate Barnett

Many baseball players warm-up the wrong way before they start playing catch. They tend to throw to warm-up and not to warm-up before they throw. Warming up the wrong way can cause injury to your throwing arm or any part of your body. Many injuries occur during spring training games or just before big super league tournaments when multiple consecutive games are played. Players often think they already warmed up enough from a previous game earlier in the day and they aren't as loose as they think.

Before a pitcher or any position player begins to play catch they need to warm up their entire body. Why? Players with good mechanics understand that you don't just throw with you arm, you throw with your entire body. Warm up the entire body to throw not just your arm.

What I like to do is start warming up my legs, hips, core, shoulders, arms and then fingers; yes fingers. I am not about to share with you all warm up exercises you should do because there are many. I just want to share some with you so you can get a fairly good idea how you should be warming up to play catch.

I will start with a light jog around the field followed by high knees forward and backward for about 30 yards each way. This gets the blood flowing. I will continue warming up much like football players do. Karaoke forward and back, jumping jacks, high knee skips, form running etc.

Warming up your core is also important before you play catch. I won't do old school sit ups anymore like I used to throughout High School and College. Prone holds serve the purpose, side prone holds with one leg in the air and so on. There are literally hundreds of core warm ups you could do, but I prefer the prone holds to simply activate the core and get it warm.

To get your shoulders and arm simply do arm circles forward and back; thumbs up for a set, thumbs down for another and then palms down. This ensures you warm up each of the three shoulder muscles. Front and forward claps are great and then fence shakes palms out, palms in and palms down.

When you feel loose you can start playing catch with your teammates. Again it is imperative that you warm up to throw and not throw to warm-up. Don't just start playing catch right away, you will increase the risk of injury.

Nate Barnett is co-owner of The Pitching Academy.

You can find The Pitching Academy's articles, blog, and videos on baseball pitching, and hitting mechanics when you visit the website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett

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How to Dominate With Only 3 Baseball Pitches

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By Nate Barnett

Nationals star Steven Strasburg has dominated on the mound once again at the Triple-A level this season. He threw six innings allowing one walk, and striking out seven hitters. But what I wanted to share with you is the command Strasburg has of his baseball pitches. He throws a fastball in the mid to upper 90's, a changeup around 90mph (must be nice), and a curveball around 80mph. This is not unusual since most MLB pitchers throw these pitches and more. But what separates Strasburg from the rest is his amazing command he has with all three baseball pitches.

Many of the youth pitchers I work with spend most of their time trying to figure out how to throw a blazing fastball but fail to prepare adequately their pitching mechanics that will promote command of their pitches. Just the other day I blogged about Moyer and his command he has of his pitches. Even though the 47 year old Moyer and 21 year old Strasburg have little in common with their pitching velocity, they share a common ability of being able to locate all of their baseball pitches in any count.

One pitching tip I can give you when working on your pitching grips and command is to practice throwing different pitches while warming up. This might not be effective with a curveball, however, I do remember working on different changeup grips all throughout my college pitching days. Put in the hours throwing different baseball pitches and you will build the confidence you need.

Nate Barnett is co-owner of The Pitching Academy.

You can find The Pitching Academy's articles, blog, and videos on baseball pitching grips when you visit the website.

The Pitching Academy's pitching mechanics DVD.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett

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Tips to Practice Good Baseball Pitching and Avoiding Injuries

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Tips to Practice Good Baseball Pitching and Avoiding Injuries
By Connor R Sullivan

Baseball is one game played by every other child as soon as he steps into school. Even better enthusiasm is seen in high school children. However, it is a dire need that one should have a good knowledge about proper baseball training aids and pitching techniques. Many people encounter serious pitching injuries because of limited knowledge about it. Pitching machines are hence a wise idea to select to avoid them.

Because pitching requires a great deal of wear and tear, it is better if you ensure that your body is in a proper shape before you even think about pitching. Arm injuries are one of the commonest of injuries faced by the players. It is also important that you should only start throwing pitches when you reach the maturing age. Bodies that are in their growing phase tend to easily get caught up by wear and tear. There are standard numbers of pitches thrown per day according to your age group and ability. Overuse will cause stress to build up in your tendons and ligaments and may even lead to ruptures in serious conditions.

Next area is of the legs. You should have strong and active legs if you have to start pitching. Training mechanics are usually seen to work out your legs at the primary stage. A tired leg will increase the stress on your arm as you will now happen to drag it once you get tired. This may lead to many leg injuries. Wear comfortable, running shoes to facilitate you while running fast.

Another trivial point is the warm up exercise. Players tend to be a victim of a lot of wear and tear if they fail to warm their body up before starting the game. A relaxed body is more likely to experience injuries. A small warm up exercise for about 5-8 minutes will minimize this problem.

Throw harder! Often baseball trainers deny this as this would cause an added strain on your arm, but this is how you will get used to it. Throwing harder is the only way how you will learn to be perfect at this game. However, you must not throw harder the very first time when you start. Begin with throwing with a little strain and gradually learn to throw harder and harder.

You should learn to stay healthy and eat a well balanced diet. Eat well but do not eat too much. Drink a large amount of water at least six to eight glasses per day to avoid dehydration of your body but do not drink too much water just before the game. Consult your coach or training mechanic to learn more about batting tees, handheld trainers, hitting machines, and soft toss machines. Health is the basic requirement for every game, so make sure you stay healthy and take full assistance from your coach. Discuss about your lacking areas and he will help you for sure. Work on these little areas and who knows, you might become the star player of tomorrow. Good luck!

Connor R. Sullivan owns and operates a top ranking web site to help people find pitching machines to improve their baseball skills. He offers a variety of baseball training aids for youth baseball coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connor_R_Sullivan


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Pitching Mechanics - Become a Robot on the Mound

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By KC Andrus

Alright, so you want to become a robot on the mound. Pitcher's have control over everything that happens on the field, in a lot of regards they are the most important people on the field. Now, everyone enjoys watching a finesse pitcher think his way through a lineup and get people out, but the best way to become a consistent pitcher that consistently gets outs is to throw hard. It is true that certain people have naturally gifted, golden arms but it is also true that everyone can improve their velocity by tweaking some things within their throwing motion.

Pitching mechanics are a living, breathing thing and the most important thing to accomplish within your windup is to establish consistency. The first thing you want to is to find the most comfortable spot on the rubber. Once that is out of the way you are going to want to keep things as simple as possible and try to keep everything going towards home plate. That means take a short, straight step back and then go straight to your balance point. When you reach your balance point you should be able to maintain pretty good balance, don't worry about whether your toe is pointing down or anything like that just make sure you are balanced.

When you land you should be a little more than shoulder width apart. Then it is vital that you fully extend your arm forward and release the ball out in front with a quick flicking motion in your wrist. All of the top power pitchers implement these things into their motions and it not only builds power but also improves command.

Be sure to use all these basic tips to help improve your throwing motion. If you really want to improve your velocity on the mound and add 10 mph to your fastball be sure to follow the link below for all the best professional tips you can get:

Pitching Mechanics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=KC_Andrus

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The 3 R's of Pitching

By Rick Harig


Realize the basic premise that the pitcher has the advantage. This is the foundation for a successful pitcher. Hitting a baseball is said to be the hardest thing to do in all of sport. The pitcher needs to remember that. "If the swing by a right-hand batter is seven milliseconds (.007) too late, the squarely hit ball will sail foul past first base." - Robert Adair, a Yale physicist who has studied the science of baseball, referring to a 90mph fastball.

Recognize when you, as the pitcher, lose your focus. How do you avoid a big inning? You avoid it by recognizing that you have been taken out of your game and only then can you adjust and refocus to the task at hand. Many pitching plans include some avoidance of "the big inning". It is easy to talk about, but after one of these "big innings" takes place, the pitcher usually only understands it when reflecting back on it after the game and on the chaos that surrounded him while it was going on. The pitcher needs a thought-stopping cue from himself to help recognize that he has lost his focus. It is important to do this so he can pitch in the present and not in the past. The thought stopping cue could be as simple as "STOP", or "play in the now".

Refocus to the task at hand. Once the pitcher "snaps out of it" and concentrates on the present, then he can pitch to his potential and win the situation. The pitcher who analyzes and frets on how all those guys got on base will not be able to refocus into the present to do the job. A routine or mental cue can help with focus. The pitcher needs to let it flow and let the right side of the brain take over. He can only do this if the mind in clear and free of distracting thoughts. Here is an example of how a pitcher can get back into the now by letting his left brain guide him and set his right brain up for the actual pitch. Use the dirt circle of the mound as the positive / negative ground. Whenever he catches himself being negative he goes into the grass. At that time, he can tell himself anything he wants, he can worry about all the runners, the errors and walks that got them there, whatever he wants. However, the second he gets back onto the dirt he is positive and ready to get the next guy out! A routine like this combined with some proper breathing can get the pitcher to stay in a positive, non-distracting mode. Hopefully he spends most of his time in the dirt and stays in the now.

Every pitcher needs a plan. There is not one pitcher in the history of baseball that has gone through his career, let alone a season, or even a game, without adversity. No matter how good a pitcher is he will face dilemmas in games that he needs to have a plan for. It is too easy to say, "Be a bulldog, go get them". Sure successful pitchers have bulldog characteristics and competitive success models built in that they do not even know about, but there is no need to analyze that. It is the pitcher's past experiences, successes, and failures that have given him those built in characteristics. It is the future challenges that the pitcher will face as he progresses to higher levels of competition in his career that he needs the above to help advance his success rate.

Rick HarigCopyright 2009
Cognitive Advantage Programhttp://www.play-in-the-now.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Harig

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The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!

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