Total Reading Time: 9 minutes

Happy Monday! You’re crazy busy so let’s get straight to it - today’s issue includes a deep-dive into 4 keys to help you better develop your pitchers this fall, another look at our upcoming Pitching Zooms, and some much-needed self care tips (yes, for you).

So Let’s Go!

4 Keys to Your Pitchers Development -

Fall is the perfect time to find out what your pitchers really have and to make sure their strengths get stronger come Spring.

It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start this Fall, and easy to try and do too much so you can easily end up getting nowhere. Most of us have too many pitchers and too little time to make things more complicated than they need to be.

So, without trying to oversimplify things, I’d like to give you 4 keys to help you better help your pitchers, and figure out just how to best spend your Fall.

1. Test It - Let’s face it, technology can often see what we can’t, so measuring where your pitchers are right now is vital to creating growth. Things like Trackman, FlightScope, Hawkeye, Hittrax and Rapsodo are options depending on your budget.

   • While Rapsodo is the definite budget-friendly option, the others can produce in-game data which is tremendous. Having your pitchers throw their pitches using one of these devices is the starting point for determining what pitches to improve, to modify or to eliminate, by creating a Horizontal-Vertical Pitch Break Grid. Have each pitcher throw at least 5 of each of their pitches to get enough data to start making decisions.

   • Once you get the Horizontal-Vertical pitch break grid for all your pitchers you can start to see what you’re dealing with. An example of some typical pitch grids are below: (NOTE: if you need help understanding these profile grids, check out my article explaining how to read it)

2. Log It - Once you’ve tested all their pitches you need to log them all so you can notice their progress over time. I know this might seem daunting, and it can be a time consuming exercise but having this data down - AND DATED - will make it much easier for you to target areas for growth as well as notice when growth is happening.

   • It also gives you a clearer picture of where the growth needs to happen, and allows you to show your pitcher an objective picture of where they need to spend their time improving. Players really respond to technology, and data makes things objective instead of “I think” vs “you think”.

   

3. Simplify It - Once you’ve gotten all your numbers it’s time to make decisions that will simplify things to your pitcher’s natural movement direction. Most pitchers are much stronger in one direction (typically down and glove-side), but you’ll be able to figure this out by looking at their movement graph.

   • A pitcher might call it a Riseball but if it moves -7 (down) on the grid and the Spin Direction is 6:00 then it really needs to be called a DROP (unless she has a Drop that moves down more than -7 inches).

   • Emphasize their natural movement direction and hit PAUSE on the pitches that don’t have any spin in the direction they should for that particular pitch. Also - watch for scattered dots for her best movement pitch/es. Scattered dots mean her timing is inconsistent, so as long as the spin direction is right for that pitch type, the first order of business would be finding and fixing her inconsistent timing issue.

   • Pausing pitches doesn’t mean they’ll never throw these pitches, just not until they can better dominate their natural movement and their changeup. Remember that more pitches means less time dominating each one. Crappy pitches make crappy pitchers.

3. Video It - The final element in your development path is to video the pitcher’s hand position at release. Now you can use an expensive $8,000+ Edgertronic video camera to capture an up-close, slo-mo video of each pitcher’s release, and if you’ve got the budget then grab this option with both hands.

   • But, if you’re like me, the Edgertronic camera is out of reach, so grab your iPhone and use the SLO-MO Video option: get fairly close to your pitcher from the back and it’s amazing how clearly you can see her hand position to the ball.

   • Here’s how they both look with a Drop - where the pitchers 1st and 2nd fingers are behind the ball and the last to leave the ball:

And here’s how they both look with a Rise - where the pitcher’s 1st finger is the last to leave the ball from the inside of the ball:

Sure, you can get far more detailed than these 4 Keys in your development plan, and if you can manage that amount of detail while making forward progress - then do it! But most of us have too many pitchers and too little time to make things more complicated than they need to be.

If you’ll Test It, Log It, Simplify It and Video It then you’ll be putting your pitchers in a great place to be their best come Spring.

ZOOMS ARE BACK!

Starting next Monday, September 15 - we’ll be bringing back our Pitching Zooms with a bang!! 💥💥💥💥 On 3 consecutive Mondays you’ll be able to watch one of these 3 great pitching coaches give their presentation:

You definitely don’t want to miss these!! But, first you’ll need to upgrade your FREE Newsletter Issue to become a Premium Zoom Member. This level not only includes access to the Live Zooms, Recordings of All Our Zooms, as well as access to Special Content and Special Zooms…but you get all this PLUS the Weekly Newsletter!

I strive to bring you timely articles, quotes and information in my newsletter, as well as deliver special content monthly in the form of zooms & special emails.

If you want to jump on these upcoming zooms I’d love to have you - simply signup on the link below and you’ll be ready to go! Links will be sent out to all Zoom Level Members.

Fall’s Exhausting - Don’t Forget Your Self Care

I don’t need to tell you that the Fall has become the most chaotic season of all! Once Sept. 1st hits it’s non-stop calls, practice, visit-planning, visits, more calls, more practice…you get it.

The worst part (as if that’s 👆 not it) is that YOU aren’t getting any SLEEP. No doubt you’re excited and exhausted all at the same time…not a long term recipe for being your best self come Spring.

In a previous issue I mentioned that I stumbled across a meditation app. Of course I ignored it for a while because I thought meditation was lighting candles, humming and sitting cross-legged with dreadlocks.

None of that sounded like me, so I did my usual coping mechanism - I ignored it.

Then one night I thought, why not, just try it. Wow - was I wrong. About all of it. Now I just lie in bed before going to sleep and pick a topic I think I need that night, like Sleeping Better, Managing Stress, Managing Emotions, Enhancing Focus, Connecting Better…all topics that apply to coaches.

Each program is from 3 to 10 minutes long and the best part - the voice is Australian, who I think have the best accent on the planet.

Every single time I do it I’m amazed at how perfectly relaxed I get.

It’s Awesome, and it’s FREE. Do yourself a favor, and just try it ONE NIGHT. You deserve the break!

Thanks for reading this week’s Curveball Chronicles. I hope it helped give you some insight to help your pitchers, and to give yourself some encouragement, knowledge and grace.

Go make this a Great week!

Missed some previous issues? Don’t worry, I’ve got them all on my website: https://pitchingcoachcentral.com/curveball-newsletter/