Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Is your command relatable?

How your body works.

• Your body is a closed system.
• Everything within a closed system relates to everything else.
• By properly managing the movements within your closed pitching system, your throwing hand always comes through a very sustainable and extremely productive release window.

In pitching, your everyday life experiences matter.

Picture yourself walking down a busy city street. To navigate the crowd, you take a step, turn your upper body in the direction to want to move and, in the end, don’t bump into the person you wanted to avoid.

• What your body tells you? Your shoulders move your lower body.
• In pitching, your hips don’t move themselves and working on your lower body activity without shoulder involvement is a waste of time.

You walk down a hill. Your stride lengthens, your body tilts slightly up hill and your arms become more active.

• What your body tells you? Without thinking about it, you reposition your body parts to your environment.
• In pitching, the way your body moves is determined by the environment your movements create. Trying to change your motion without addressing the movements impacting what you want to change is a waste of time.

When perches on a balance beam, the same movements produce the same reactions.

• What your body tells you? Your body works in patterns. When one thing happens, you expect the same reaction.
• In pitching, by creating an environment where your shoulders turn your throwing action into a sustainable and very productive reaction, you expect each pitch to travel into your Catcher’s target.

Sustainable pitching performances use the way your body reacts to itself to create your spontaneous and highly productive throwing reactions.

Fast track your improvement.

By knowing how your body works, creating a productive and spontaneous throwing (re)action is simple. However, when using contemporary standards to control your movements, your sustainability becomes a hit-or-miss proposition. To fast track your journey to spontaneous command, visit the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to turn your throwing action into a reaction. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! 

Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Freelance Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Make Pinpoint Command Your Expectation

How your body produces results.

• A baseball is an object.
• As an object, you release point determines where your baseball lands and how it behaves.
• When you come into your foot plant using your throwing arm for balance, your throwing arm path interferes with what you want the baseball to do.
• Keeping your throwing arm free to respond to your hips generates the sustainable results that’ll help you succeed at the highest levels.

Using your throwing arm for balance.

As soon as your core moves from vertical, you force your body to use your arms for balance.

• When you let this happen, until your body gets back in balance, you lose control of your throwing arm path.
• By the time you complete your delivery, you’ve lost control of your pitching results.

Easily controlled decisions cause you to use your throwing arm.

Foot Placement decisions

• Beginning your motion with your feet wider than your hips.
• Having your hips and/or shoulder point away from your target.
• Starting with your back knee over or in front of your back foot.

Front leg lift responses

• Ending your front leg lift with your weight over your back foot.
• Letting your front knee finish behind your front hip.
• Rocking back to the top of your front leg lift.

In each case, something you did (and have control over), shifts your weight forward, triggers your “fight or flight” response and causes you to never really know where each pitch will end up.

Keeping your throwing arm free to respond to your lower body.

• By ending your front leg lift with your weight evenly distributed around your core, you keep your throwing arm free to respond to your lower body.
• You use your glove side to rotate your body down the mound.
• At foot plant, to get you back in balance, your body forces you to make a throwing action.
• As a spontaneous reaction, your body brings your throwing hand through a consistently tiny, yet very productive, release window.

Easily controlled decisions keep your throwing arm free to respond to your hips.

Foot Placement decisions

• Before your place your front foot in position, your back foot is level.
• You place your feet inside your hips.
• You position your back knee over the little toes of your back foot.

Front leg lift responses

• You roll your shoulders toward your bellybutton.

Throwing action

• Your glove arm action rotates you down the mound.

In each case, your actions into your front leg lift puts you into a position where your glove side action triggers a “fight or flight” known to deliver every pitch directly into your Catcher’s target.

Fast track your improvement.

Performing the skills presented seems simple, but, when measure using contemporary standards, become very complicated. To fast track your journey to high-level command, visit the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to keep your throwing arm uninvolved with your balance. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Automate Your Command

How your body works.

• Your body is hard wired to keep your weight centered between your feet.
• When your weight shifts from center, your body dictates your movements.
• When your weight is centered between your feet, you’re free to move your arms anyway you want.

Is your command something you do?

Performing your pitching motion in slow speed quickly answers this question.

• When, as your front foot hits the ground, your movements stop, your body is telling you your weight is centered between your feet.
• With your weight centered between your feet, your throwing arm is now free to complete your delivery.
• In these instances, your throwing action becomes less-than-automatic.
• As a secondary action, your command rightfully suffers.

A fair question is “why, when you do your motion at full speed, does your throwing action seem to be automatic?”

• At full speed, you bring movement down the mound into the equation.
• Your body still centers your weight between your feet, but, as it does, your body senses your movement down the mound.
• To stop your movement down the mound and re-center your weight, your body asks you to make a throwing action.
• Unless you develop a “feel” for that day’s motion, your throwing hand comes through multiple release windows.
• Consequently, you never really know where your next pitch is going to end up.

Is your command something that automatically happens?

Performing your pitching motion in slow speed quickly answers this question.

• When you can’t help but end your slow-motion pitching delivery with a throwing action, your body is using your throwing arm movement to get your weight back to center.
• This spontaneous throwing action brings your throwing hand through the same tiny release window on every pitch.
• Your command becomes an involuntary reaction.

When you automate your throwing action, even at full speed, your body brings your throwing hand through a very productive and extremely competitive release window.

Every “what” deserves a “how”.

To discover how to automate a consistently productive release window, visit the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for not programming your throwing action. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Stress-Free Command.

The way your body works.

• Your body functions under the same set of rules as everyone else.
• Everyone’s body is hardwired with the same action/reaction patterns.

Impersonating a Pitcher.

When a Pitcher or Coach doesn’t know the rules, they use their experience, beliefs and acquired knowledge to explain what they see.

Sadly, every time you go against the rules you get penalized.

• Instead of managing every at-bat, your opponent ends up controlling you.
• When you battle these rules, your results continually reflect your struggles.
• Without asking for your input, your lack of results gives influential people the right to make your unwanted and life-altering decisions.
• Finally, your motion creates the small throwing arm ligaments tears and fraying that’ll potentially take you out of competitive baseball.

Becoming a Pitcher.

When your motion functions within the rules, you’re certain to create high-level dominance.

• You know what is needed to hit your spots.
• Rarely do you experience 2 unacceptable results in a row.
• No matter your grip or release, you challenge your opponent with a fastball arm speed.
• No matter the pitch, your ball breaks so close to the plate that the hitter battles to make solid contact.
• Your motion self-corrects.
• By using your body the way it’s meant to work, your throwing arm becomes extremely injury resistant.
• Influential decision makers fight for your services.

Simple rules and simple solutions naturally combine to produce extraordinary results.

Signs you may not know the rules?

When you think in these terms, you’re fooling yourself and, unfortunately, limiting your pitching success.

• You obsess over the way your motion looks.
• When you know the rules, you know how to instantly make anything within your delivery more efficient.
• You use other MLB motions to justify the way you move.
• Pitching isn’t about using someone else’s delivery to justify the way you move. Elite pitching success comes from the way your body reacts to itself.
• You try to copy someone’s MLB motion.
• When you know the rules, you understand why it’s not only a waste of time, but also virtually impossible to copy someone else’s motion. 
• You try to change your movements as you move down the mound.
• The rules revolve around an unstoppable chain reaction. In order to change anything you see within your pitching chain; the rules dictate you address your starting position.

When you think in any one of these terms, you need us. To have us get your pitching back on track, visit the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to use the rules to supercharge your pitching. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Simplifying Command.

The way your body works.

• Your brain listens to your movements.
• While you move, to make sure your body stays upright and balanced, your brain constantly sends instructions back to your body.
• At the same time, your brain orchestrates micro-adjustments that’ll smoothly transition you from one movement to the next.
• When you combine every adjustment your brain makes, the likelihood you fall over is minimal.

“Whisper Down the Lane”

In case you’re not familiar with “Whisper Down the Lane”, the object is to whisper a secret message among a group of people and have the last person speak the original phrase. 

In pitching, like in “Whisper Down the Lane”, your movements send a message to your brain, your brain interprets how your movement impacts your balance and fires a new command.

When your new directive differs from the intended message, your body fails to produce the results you expect.When you send your brain the right messages, nothing is misinterpreted and, consequently, your throwing arm generates a very consistent and totally sustainable result.

Distorted messages.

When playing “Whisper Down the Lane”, too many people in your “lane” limit the possibility the last person repeats the original message.

Too Many Pitching Whispers.

1. One whisper - When something as controllable as your foot placements tell your brain to end your front leg lift with your weight centered over your back foot, as you move down the mound, your brain fights to keep your body in balance.
2. Endless messages – Because you move down the mound (see any of the last 10 posts for an explanation), you see your ball often miss your target, decide what you need to do to make your next pitch more competitive and, instead of changing your foot placements, you adjust a random movement within your motion. 

Sadly, when you let this happen, you’ll spend your entire pitching career trying to get the message right.

Simplified messages.

When you limit the number of people in your “lane”, you increase the chance your secret message makes it to the last person. To take this a step further, when you make your original message so simple that people couldn’t misinterpret it, the chance your original message makes it to the end increases exponentially.

Two Pitching Whispers.

1. One whisper - Your foot placements and front leg lift whisper to your brain to complete your front leg lift in a dynamically balanced position.
2. Second, and final, whisper – One movement rotates your body out of your starting position.
   
   As you move out of your starting position, to keep you from falling over, complete your stride. Your front foot hitting the ground stops your rotation which, you get your body back in balance, forces your brain to bring your throwing arm forward and across your body.

Your throwing (re)action becomes a spontaneously productive and very repeatable outcome.

Every “what” deserves a “how”.

To discover the foot placements that’ll produce sustainable results, visit the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to send your brain the right messages. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Gravitate toward command.

Gravity is the elephant in the room.

Baseball treats gravity as something that applies to everything except pitching, when, in fact, it’s gravity that rules your pitching motion.

The way your body works.

• Your body is driven to equalize gravity.
• Since you’re born with the ability equalize gravity, reacting to the impact gravity has on your body is something that happens, not something you do.
• Movement occurs only when your body needs to equalize a shift in gravity.
• You get the best results when you trust the way your body reacts to gravity.
• Interfering with the way your body works diminishes your results.

Does your set-up work against Gravity?

Your body position into your front leg lift either forces gravity to take over or neutralizes gravity’s impact on your body.

• Ordinary - When you begin with your feet outside your hips, your front leg lift works against gravity which, to equalize gravity’s impact on your body, forces you to end your front leg lift with your weight over your back foot.
• Elite – At no point during your front leg lift does your body work against gravity.

How gravity influences your body determines your command!

As soon as your body senses a gravitational pull, your body automatically goes into equalization mode.

• Ordinary command – By beginning your motion with your weight over your back foot, only a weight shift moves you toward your target. As soon as a weight shift moves you down the mound, your body goes into equalization mode. Once your body equalizes gravity, your body stops moving.  Without a movement to react to, your throwing action becomes in independent event and, as such, you never really know where your next pitch will end up.
• Elite command – Rotation down the mound creates two well-planned-out reactions. As you move toward your target, your stride neutralizes gravity’s impact on your body. Your front foot hitting the ground stops your body’s rotation. Consequently, by plan, you land your foot plant with your weight to your glove hand side. At this point, the only way to equalize the gravitational force on your body becomes a spontaneous throwing (re)action.

With elite command, your throwing reaction takes your throwing hand through a very natural and consistently productive release window.

Every “what” deserves a “how”.

To discover the movements that’ll generate elite command, visit the Home Page of the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to use elite command to supercharge your pitching. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018

Pro Pitching Institute Blog - Your front leg lift predicts command.

The way your body works.

• You have complete control over where you place your feet.
• When you lift your front foot off the ground, your body interprets your new state of balance.
• As a result, your body either places your weight over or in front of your back foot.

Dynamic command.

Dynamic command comes from your front leg lift centering your weight just in front of your back foot.

• When you make this happen, as you move down the mound, your hips and shoulders rotate around your head.
• Your rotation causes you to begin your stride with your back hip to the home plate side of your back shoulder.
• Your body gets itself back in balance by forcing your back shoulder to catch up with your front hip.
• With your back hip-to-shoulder relationship forcing your throwing arm to whip forward, you spontaneously generate command, maximize your throwing arm speed and create extremely late ball movement.
• As an instantaneous reaction, you come to expect your ball to travel into your intended target with the ball movement you expect.

Through the simple act of repeating the same foot placements, your dominance becomes incredibly sustainable.

Static command.

Static command comes from your front leg lift placing all your weight over your back foot.

• When you let this happen, as you move down the mound, your body moves straight down the mound without any hip or shoulder movement.
• You end your stride with your front shoulder closed to your target and your body already in balance.
• Without your body having any imbalance to react to, your throwing action becomes something you do, not something that happens.
• As a separate action, you never really know where your ball will end up, your ball takes a more predictable path into your target and your arm slots/speeds tip your off-speed pitches.

A simple change in foot placements will turn your static command into dynamic dominance.

Every “what” deserves a “how”.

To discover the movements that’ll generate dynamic command, visit the Home Page of the Pro Pitching Institute.

No excuses, only reasons.

There’s no excuse for you not knowing how to use dynamic command to supercharge your pitching. Your first step to removing this tragic flaw is to pick up your cell phone, call “Skip” at 856-281-2596 and schedule your FREE 20-minute, Pro Pitching Institute Pitching Session.

Tell a friend! Have a friend struggling with their command? Make sure to tell them about the Pro Pitching Institute posts!

Skip Fast
Expert Pitching Coach
Professional Pitching Institute
WWW: http://www.propitchinginstitute.com
E-Mail: skip@propitchinginstitute.com
Cell or Text: 856-281-2596

Copyright © 2018