By: Jon Toner, President / Northampton Little League
A common problem with a lot of young pitchers (especially first-year pitchers) is that they look great in the bullpen, but just can't get it over in a game. The most common problem I've seen is the pitcher is afraid to hit the batter. (Ironic in light of how afraid most batters are of being hit). A great drill for this is to stand ADULTS in both batter's boxes at a practice. Get your pitcher on the mound and have him pitch. At first he'll just lob them over to make sure he doesn't hit you. Keep on him to add velocity. Pretty soon he'll be firing them in and will have confidence in his ability to throw strikes without plunking anyone. As his confidence grows, have the adult in the RHH batter's box crowd the plate a bit. Then move in from the LHH batter's box. This will definitely shake the pitcher up the first time you do it, but the results are well worth the effort (and an occasional bruise).
Date: April 29, 1998 at 23:39