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PITCHING: PITCHING GADGETS TIP
PITCHING: PITCHING GADGETS TIP |
These drills were taken from an article written by Duffy O'Neill, Pitching Coach of the Ohio Emeralds
"One of my favorite gadgets is one I call the "changeup glove." In reality it is an old bowling glove which locks the pitcher's wrist so that she cannot snap it. The glove allows the pitcher to grip the ball and, with some decrease in stride. she can throw with the same motion as her fastball and still have a perceptible decrease in speed."
"These pitches can range from slightly offspeed to one that have almost a slowpitch arc to them. At the higher levels, the slower pitches give the hitters time to "reload" and crush the ball, but at the younger levels (through high school) there is nothing more entertaining than watching "the big floater" baffle a batter."
"Improper ball rotation on the pitch can be corrected with several gadgets. To acheive our goal of the 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock rotation on the ball as it travels to home plate, we use hockey pucks, rolls of tape and even cocktail peanut cans (for the cans, you need to add weight by stuffing them with bunched up paper, or sawdust, then tape extensively)."
Also in this article was a "weighted ball" made with 100 finishing nails (2" to 2 1/2") pounded sub-flush in the seam holes, using another nail to get them sub-flush. As I coach younger girls, I used 1 1/2" finishing nails and used every other seam (84 nails). I have the pitchers throw 8-10 of these weighted balls into a net,concentrating on the spin of the ball, then move to 40 feet and throw the movement pitches. The results have been remarkable!! |
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