Total Reading Time: 5 minutes

Happy Monday! Today we’ll look at an almost impossible Earned Run stat along with a pretty simple way to help put your pitchers “on-time”. Since it’s the middle of the season I’ll keep this short.

So let’s Go!

Table of Contents

• A Mind-Blowing ERA

• A Simple Way to Put Pitchers “On Time”

A Mind-Blowing ERA

We are definitely in the decade of the hitter - what with the makeup of bats, all the hitting technology, the advancement in knowledge, not to mention the shriveled-up strike zone.

And yet, there remain some incredible pitchers out there! A few of you have them. Most of us don’t - we can only gaze in wonder from afar.

Two names that are at the top of the current ERA list from the NCAA are Maya Johnson (Belmont) and Karlyn Pickens (Tennessee) - both with miniscule ERA’s.

In terms of number of ERA - Johnson barely nudges out Pickens with a .62 ERA. And in terms of Earned Runs Allowed - Pickens has only allowed 10 runs in about 7 weeks of games which is pretty dang amazing!!!

BUT…a long time friend of mine, who my sister caught for back-in-the-day, Tracy Compton, holds the mind-blowing NCAA Record for Season and Career Earned Runs Allowed:

Tracy only allowed 1 run in 168 innings in her freshman year at UCLA - 1 RUN!!! Think about that. And in 612.3 innings in her 4 year career only allowed 13 Earned Runs. 

Those are numbers that I think will never be broken. Sure, offenses are better now and the pitching rubber is back at 43 feet, but Tracy had to keep both feet on the rubber.

We’re missing the point if we argue “it’s harder now than it was then”… the point is to be amazed at the accomplishment. It. Is. Beyond. Incredible!

Tracy is on UCLA’s outfield wall, but she needs to be on a pitching statue somewhere. And definitely on the Mount Rushmore of Pitching!

🤯🤯

A Simple Way to Put Pitchers “On Time”

Since pitchers were babies they’ve been told to “use your legs”. Heck, we’ve no doubt all told a pitcher at some point this same thing. As if they were track runners, or high jumpers.

Before you lose your mind, yes, a pitcher must start their explosion from the ground (thus the legs), but what we usually leave out of our instructions is that all this ground-push needs to connect to the HAND.

Without the legs - or the ground-push connecting to the pitcher’s hand, the pitcher’s feet get way ahead of their hand so the pitcher will complain of feeling “out of time”. Or, “I feel off time”. And she’s right, she is off time. In other words, her feet are way faster than her hand.

What a pitcher wants to feel is that her hand lets go of the ball as her stride foot hits the ground. I said she wants to “feel” that - not that it’s actually what happens on video, but it is what the pitcher actually feels, and it’s that feel that’s important.

So here’s a quick fix to help put a pitcher on time - it involves her back foot, when she’s on the rubber.

• Instead of having your pitcher default to her back foot being 100 feet behind the pitching rubber - just like everybody else, and just because she can - have her move it a little closer to the rubber (not a lot closer, just a little).

• This will still give her that push without the push being out of synch with her hands.

• Every pitcher picks what works best for them individually - check out Jordy Bahl-Frahm and Karlyn Pickens - each are outstanding pitchers that have their own individual starting position.

• Pickens places her back foot really far behind the rubber and Bahl (Frahm) has hers fairly close to the rubber. Each pitcher is definitely on-time and on-power with their motion so their foot placement obviously works for them.

If your pitcher struggles with her timing try moving her back foot a little closer to the rubber. and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for reading this week’s Curveball Chronicles. I hope you gained some insight, some encouragement, some knowledge or some 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/