Total Reading Time: 8 minutes

Happy Monday, today it’s a deeper dive into the idea of Command and how we can train it better, plus a look into a great way to train to have better Control Amid Chaos - and the results of our “resume zooms?” polls.

Let’s Go!

Your Pitcher’s Command - part 2

In last week’s issue I talked about the difference between Control and Command, and the importance of having Command. So, let’s do a quick review:

• Control - the ability to throw a pitch anywhere in the strike zone without really knowing where it will land. Just getting a strike.

• Command - the ability to throw the pitch where you choose to in or out of the strike zone.

Now let’s dive deeper into the issue of Command, and explore how it’s the bridge between what our pitchers can do in the bullpen and what they need to do in games.

Pitchers with bad movement require really good command.

Another type of pitcher that needs really good command is the pitcher with lots of vertical or horizontal movement.

After velo, chasing BIG vertical or horizontal movement is the latest craze. Don’t get me wrong, movement is great - but only if you can:

1. Throw the movement in the zone and get chases

2. Make your movement appear to be going into the zone. Without either of these, great movement looks good on Rapsodo but just leads to walks.

Commanding both your movement and the various zones within the strike zone is Command.

And awareness about Command is light years behind Velocity. Primarily because you can easily measure velocity with a radar gun. Command - well that’s far tougher to measure.

Historically, we’ve thought about command as the pitchers ability to hit the catchers glove - usually in bullpens. Sounds good, right?

The problem is that catchers are constantly pulling pitches back into the zone. They aren’t trained to stick a pitch outside the zone and just hold it.

Not only is this something that doesn’t translate to game success for catchers, but doing so in practice will result in a snarling glare from the pitcher.

To develop command, there are 2 important things we need to do right away:

1. You’ve Got to Measure It - measuring command requires a static target - you either hit it or you miss it. This comes with a warning!!!! Pitchers HATE this.

   Basically because it exposes their lack of command. So we need to take baby steps in this area.

   Get those 9-ball nets out (the smaller baseball sized one is much better since the zone is smaller), and either chart your pitchers pitches into each target (both Hits and Misses). Here’s a link to a sample hand-made Command Chart.

   Or, you can spend some money and get the Command Trakker system. If I had the budget I’d definitely look into getting this system!

   That’s step 1!

2. Embrace the Misses - Step 2 is to chart your misses and embrace them. Wait, what?!? Why are we accepting misses? Isn’t the goal to actually hit the intended target…

   Of course it is. But if you learn where each specific pitch-type misses then you as the pitch caller, and your pitcher, can learn how to throw each pitch to take advantage of their miss direction.

   I know this seems like a foreign concept. Almost like you’re accepting your pitcher’s lack of control - when it’s really the opposite.

   You might be shocked to see what good Command really looks like when we measure it versus what we think our Command should be. Command Trakker published these numbers for Command using their Command Trakker, and I was shocked:

51% was “well above average” for hitting a specific target. 🤯🤯 What I love about the concept of Command and how we need to measure it, is that it rewrites what we think we’ve known about our pitcher’s abilities to hit specific locations within (and without) of the strike zone.

We call pitches as if they have a 90% ability to hit these minute targets, and we react when they can’t. And yet, the realistic ability to hit specific targets - never mind with their 3rd or 4th pitches - is much, much lower than that.

Gaining Composure Amid Chaos

Getting our pitchers to maintain their mental control, or composure, under pressure is vital for their success. And yet, what do we know about it? How do we train it? How can we help our pitchers train it?

These are all questions I’ve wrestled with and I’ve basically read all I can get my hands on to help figure it out. That’s where Sam Martin comes in!

Sam Martin, Mental Performance Coach that trains world-class athletes and coaches, has a terrific eCourse called Composure Amid Chaos. It’s affordable ($99), packed with tremendous info to help our pitchers learn to train and improve their composure in the midst of chaos (think the pitching circle during the game).

It’ll help you and your pitchers - Check it out.

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 grace.

Make your week Great!

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