Pitching Mechanics-Motion

The Proper Way to Achieve Solid Baseball Pitching Mechanics, Consistent Baseball Throwing Motion, Balanced Baseball Pitching Form and a Smooth Baseball Pitching Motion

All pitchers who experience a level of success over time have one thing in common – they tend to throw the ball with a smooth and functionally correct baseball throwing motion.  There are pitchers who will have flashes of greatness with awkward baseball pitching motions but those flashes to be short lived and burnout quickly.  Just like in hitting a baseball, there are many different pitching styles, each allowing a pitcher to place their own signature on their fine art.  When you look at the baseball pitching mechanics & motion with more scrutiny we find that each of the great pitchers all share the same common elements.  They each have a proper baseball pitching techniques with solid fundamentals and proper mechanics, they have the ability to place the ball in a location that they desire and they appear to throw the ball in an effortless manner. As a result of these solid pitching techniques and baseball pitching mechanics these pitchers tend to get batters out. I will now discuss the proper pitching mechanics and pitching techniques for a right handed pitcher.  For left-handed pitchers the information is the same only reversed.  These baseball pitching lessons are designed to be shared, so please pass them along to other players and coaches.  A goal of this web site it that all youth baseball players will have a common place to go in order to receive solid pitching instruction.

The Pitching Stance

At the base of the proper pitching motion is the stance from which the pitcher receives the signal from the catcher.  This stance is important in the development of correct pitching technique by helping the pitcher to establish a primary level of balance.  This pitching fundamental is so important that it has had complete pitching instructional videos dedicated to it. 

When there are no runners on base the pitcher will receive the sign with his right foot on the pitching rubber and his left foot slightly behind and about shoulder width apart.  He will be facing the plate with squared shoulders. The pitchers left leg is usually flexed and slightly bent while the majority of the pitchers weight is on his right leg.  The primary teaching technique to take away from the stance is to be comfortable and to hide the way the ball is being held while receiving the signal from the catcher so we do not tip off the batter as to the type of pitch being thrown.  The glove should be up near the middle of the chest so the arms are comfortably flexed and the right hand should be holding the ball in the glove.  If a batter could see the ball it would likely tip them off about the type of pitch to next be thrown.  Pitchers assume a couple of different positions when receiving signs from the catcher.  They can have their glove hand at their side and the ball hand tucked behind their back, or the ball and the glove can be joined together and held directly in front of the pitcher. I prefer to have the ball and glove joined together in the mitt of the pitcher at chest level.

The Rock Step

The next movement in developing correct pitching techniques and fundamentals in the motion is to set the proper rhythm to allow a pitcher to generate the most power from their body.  The benefit derived from the proper motion is that it allows the right foot to be properly placed against the pitching rubber to be used as a push off device to generate additional velocity moving towards the plate. 

The pitcher will begin this rock step motion with their hands together in front of them at the chest level.  Most pitchers raise both hands above their head while rocking their weight back onto the left foot, stepping slightly back with their left foot and having it naturally turn to the third base line.  When the pitcher’s hands reach the point over the top of their head, just about all of their weight will be resting on their back leg.  During this back-step the right foot is only slightly touching the pitching mound.  Several pitchers appear to tap the mound as they take this back-step, this is fine and many times helps to build the rhythm into the motion.  While the weight is on the back foot the pitcher will take his right foot and place it directly in front of the pitching rubber in a parallel mode, having his right toe pointed exactly at third base.  Young pitchers are often concerned about losing contact with the pitching rubber during the delivery of the pitch.  There is no need to have that concern because umpires know that an indentation can occur in front of the rubber over the course in a game and it can occur naturally.  A player could get a twisted ankle if they stayed in contact with some of the mounds we have played on - stepping in front is just fine. 

Placing your hands over your head to begin the delivery of a pitch is a method that I did not learn until I was in junior high school.  Prior to that time I used a method that began with both hands placed together at my waist and had the same back-step procedure described above but never raised my hands over my head.  My hands stayed at my waist and then separated at the point in the delivery when it was time to throw the ball.  My coaches thought that raising the hands could potentially cause a loss of balance and that keeping the hands at my waist kept the pitching motion to a smaller set of more manageable tasks.

Now that we have begin our discussion on the proper way to achieve solid baseball pitching mechanics, consistent baseball throwing motion, balanced baseball pitching form and a smooth baseball pitching motion, we will describe the Pitching Mechanics of the Leg Kick in the next segment.

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