Thursday, July 16, 2015

Simplicity within the Complexity

To truly measure your improvement, count your ratio of pitches that finish outside your catcher's body compared to your total number of pitches thrown.
Measuring the number of times you miss your target outside your catcher's body tells you...
1. Whether your throwing arm balance is controlling you or a totally spontaneous throwing (re)action manages your results and
2. Whether you use your eyes to find your target area or  to fine tune your location within your target area.
The critical driver for your success is consistently delivering your pitches to within inches of your target.
Best - By keeping your hip level at the top of your front leg lift, you consistently deliver every pitch within your catcher's body.
Better- Even though your throwing arm balance controls your movements, your well-developed eye-to-hand coordination produce acceptable results.  (Unfortunately, eye-to-hand coordination is not a teachable skill.)
Ordinary - Your throwing arm balance takes over your movements and you possess minimal eye-to-hand coordination.
Using your results as your critical driver tells you what you need to address to guarantee success.
Should you struggle with your ratio of worst misses against total pitches thrown, contact me.
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248
   “My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Want to be ordinary... then focus on your velocity.

Without any consideration for pitch location, the pitching culture urges you to maximize your velocity.  Most pitchers, unfortunately, make this theirfocus.
Velocity with location comes from …
o Using your footwork to keep your hips level.
o Using your entire body to enhance your velocity.
o Throwing through a naturally productive arm slot.
o Using your eyes to fine tune your location within your target area.
o Continually moving through a Tommy John resistant delivery.
o Knowing your combined velocity and location lets your immediately compete at the next level.
o Always keeping your opponent off balance.
o Elevating your performances way above ordinary.
o Relies on a very repeatable execution.
o  Knowing you're going to dominate.
Velocity without location comes from a casual approach to your footwork.  You ...
o   Let you footwork use your throwing arm for balance.
o   Use your upper body to create your velocity.
o Throw through a naturally unproductive arm slot.
o Use your eyes to find your target area.
o   Become an extreme risk for a Tommy John breakdown.
o Hope your velocity is enough to get you noticed.
o Never fool a patient hitter who waits for your next pitch to miss over the plate.
o Compete against every other pitcher who's velocity driven, but not against pitchers with fastball command.
o Rely on eye-to-hand coordination for your survival.
o Hope you do well.
Instead of working on your velocity, you realistically have a better chance of reaching the highest levels by, instead of your footwork managing you, managing your footwork.
Want to reach the highest levels? … ask me to help you!
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248
   “My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

In-person instruction from hundreds of miles away.

Why a video-streamed bullpen session works?
Your body responds to your actions in extremely predictable action/reaction patterns.  I've trained myself to recognize your predictable action/reaction patterns and, better yet, know the subtle action adjustments proven to constructively change your current reaction pattern.
When I look at your action/reaction patterns, I know the solution to using less effort to produce better results lies within your footwork.
During your first couple of motions, depending upon what you show me, I may ask you to make a slight adjustments to your foot placements.

Next, I look to make sure your front foot lift keeps your hips level.
As soon as I'm satisfied with your front leg lift, I let you make your current throwing action.

As in all naturally productive, totally spontaneous and Tommy John resistant throwing reactions, your pitching process produces your sustainable fastball command.
That's all there to it! 
By adjusting your footwork, I’ll give you more control over your movements.

Every one of your follow-up sessions refines and reinforces the skills presented in your previous sessions.

Within a short time, you'll find your footwork producing the sustainable fastball command you always dreamed about.
No matter your skill level, contact me to use your footwork to have next level coaches notice your extremely efficient and totally fluid pitching actions.
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248
“My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Sunday, July 12, 2015

How do you use your eyes?

When you keep your hips level at the top of your front leg lift, your lower body delivers your pitches into your target area and you use your eyes to fine tune your location within your target area.
  •  Your pinpoint location allows you to do something only a few pitchers can do... follow your team's pitching strategy.
By doing so, you become an bigger asset to your team than pitchers whose footwork forces them to use their throwing arm for balance.

When you use your throwing arm for balance, you use your eye-to-hand coordination to try an "feel" your target area.
  •  By letting your footwork force you to use your throwing arm for balance, you use a process of trial and error to find a "feel" that consistently lands your next pitch close your target.
You inability to execute your team's pitching strategy gives you less worth to your team than pitchers who know how to follow their Team's strategy.

To find out how you can use your eyes to fine tune your results, contact me.
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248
“My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Friday, July 10, 2015

Stop letting analysis paralysis hold you back.


A pitching motion is a fluid process with each movement impacting the next movement.

The right analysis takes you to the single point where your movements forces your hips to move from level.

  • When done properly, you analysis points toward something related to your body position at the top your front leg lift.  Otherwise, you're wasting your time and solving nothing!
Using any of these items to improve create chaos and prolongs your learning curve…
  1. Look at your motion and tell you a simple item within your motion that you need to improve.
  2. Base their finding on someone else’s motion.
  3. Think that what you need to improve is a correctable action.
  4. Try to improve a single item without consideration that the action associated with that action.
  5. Hold you responsible for figuring out how to fix what they think you need to fix.
  6. Fail to lessen the amount of effort you use to produce the results you do.
  7. Maintain your naturally unproductive arm slot.
  8. Forces your motion to remain as injury prone as it was before the analyst presented you with the adjustment.
On the other hand, when you manage your footwork, you …
  1. Look at your motion and let your movements tell you what you need to fix.
  2. Base your findings on the way your body reacts to itself.
  3. Know the difference between an action and a reaction.
  4. Adjust your footwork accordingly.
  5. Instantly see the correction within your delivery.
  6. Use less effort to produce better results.
  7. Turn your naturally unproductive and unhealthy arm slot into a naturally productive and Tommy John resistant arm slot.
Your footwork gives you a measurable and repeatable way to shrink your target area, generate much later ball movement and show each hitter an extremely deceptive arm action.

Ask me to use your foot placements to stop your analysis paralysis.

L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248
“My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

6 Pitches to Motion Mastery

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to condense a remote bullpen session with a 26 year old free agent pitcher into 6 pitches..
To say the least, the results were extraordinary!
-   1st pitch was used to show me how I could help this pitcher.
-   2nd pitch I asked this pitcher to make a simple back leg adjustment that would immediately transition him from an arm to a back leg balanced motion.
-   3rd and 4th motions were used to make sure and I was that this pitcher understood the adjustment.  During these couple of motion, I pick up on and introduced a very simple front leg adjustment proven to drive more energy into his throwing arm.
-  5th and 6th motions - This pitcher successfully included both adjustments into his delivery.
-  After the 6th pitch, the pitcher was called into the game.
When the game was over, I received this response this pitcher.
“Your (2) tips dialed me into my target much more than usual and made my movements flow much more than usual!”
In just 6 pitches, just like all consecutive year, Cy Young pitching motions, I showed this pitcher how to get his glove arm to trigger his throwing action and forced his foot plant to pull his throwing hand through a naturally productive release window. 
The two adjustments I introduced let him, for once, manage his movements instead of his movements managing him.  He finally used his body the way it was built to work, not the way he forced it to work!!!
Knowing I can make this much progress in just 6 motions, imagine how productive I can make your next bullpen session.
Ask me to help you today ... your pitching future is at stake.
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248

“My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”

Monday, July 6, 2015

Consecutive year Cy Young winner can't be wrong?

Every consecutive year,  Cy Young winner ends their front leg lift with their hips levels and their motion completely under their control.

  • Their level hips means, instead of using their throwing arm for balance, they force their mind's "built-in response mechanism" to keep their arms uninvolved with their balance.
  • Since their arms are free to move the way they want, they use their throwing action to shift their weight to their glove hand side.
  • They then rely on their mind to make the totally spontaneous, naturally productive and Tommy John resistant throwing reflex that'll get their body back in a balance.
  • Consecutive year, Cy Young winners know how to get in the same position at the top of their front leg lift ... they realize their mind's "built-in response mechanism" makes them a Cy Young contender ever year.
For consecutive years, these Cy Young winners use their mind's "built-in response mechanism" to bring their throwing hand through a highly productive release window. 

  • They use their eyes to fine tune their location within their target area, no matter the pitch or release, shows the hitter a fastball arm and relies upon their lower body energy to get each pitch to break extremely close to the plate.

You have two options...

  • Spend hours on end trying to figure out how to end your front leg lift with your hips level or 
  • Ask me to show you how to end your front leg lift in balance. 
L.A. "Skip" Fast
Independent Major League Pitching Coach
Pro Pitching Institute
856-524-3248

“My simple, yet extremely powerful, business rule: fix it once and move on!”