Chapter 6:
The Mechanics of
Fastpitch Pitching
Fastpitch Pitching
Hundreds of books have been written, thousands of miles of video tape have been sold and numerous pitching coaches make a living from teaching all aspects of fastpitch pitching. So we won't reinvent the wheel totally.
Instead, this section of the Softball e-Manual will present the basic concepts that those girls new to the sport need to understand. We'll leave the rest up to the experts who make their living training the stars of tomorrow.
Let's talk about distances first. ASA and NSA regulations provide two distances from the pitcher's mound to home plate. These different distances are age dependent. For teams 12-and-under and younger the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound is 35 feet. For older age teams the distance is 40 feet. For pitchers transistioning from 12-and-under teams to 14-and-under, these five feet are a major obstacle.
Now the pitching rubber. The legal pitching rubber is 24 inches long by 6 inches wide. Only about a half an inch of the pitching rubber is above ground level. This provides leverage for the push off at the beginning of the pitch. Care must be taken to replace pitching rubbers when they break free of their spikes or the top of the spike is exposed through the top of a worn pitching rubber.
Where do my feet start? The rules of fastpitch clearly state that both feet must be in contact with the pitching rubber before the pitch begins. Technically, the push off foot must also remain in contact with the pitching rubber until the ball is finally released by the pitcher. This rule has been expanded to allow the pitcher to "drag" her push off foot away from the rubber. As long as the push off foot remains in contact with the ground, it is considered to "be in contact with the rubber". The push off foot can be lifted from the ground only after the ball has been released.
The normal starting positions for right and left handed pitchers above (isn't computer image manipulation great?). The push off foot (that's the foot on the same side as your pitching hand) is usually placed on the pitching rubber with just the toe part of your shoe over the front edge. The toe portion of your glove hand foot is just touching the rear porton of the pitching rubber.
If the push off foot leaves contact of with the ground before the ball is released, the pitch is considered illegal and will be called by the umpire. This action is often referred to as "crow hopping".
As
you can imagine, all this foot dragging leaves its impression
on the pitching area in front of the rubber. Occasionally during
the game fill in this area by pushing loose dirt into the groove
to keep the area safe for all pitchers.
Where do my hands belong? More will be discussed about the hands and arms later. For now, understand that your glove, ball and pitching hand must be in contact with each other for at least one second and not more than 10 seconds before the pitch begins.
The Windmill Pitching:
A Beginner's Step-By-Step Overview
A Beginner's Step-By-Step Overview
There are two types of softball -- slow pitch and fastpitch. In this e-Manual we are concerned only with fastpitch softball and will concentrate on the correct style for these pitchers. In particular, the type of pitching most often seen in fastpitch is called windmill. The name comes from the full 360 degree underhanded motion the throwing arm makes during the pitching cycle -- sort of "windmill like".
This style of pitching is favored because it produces the most speed, control and variety of pitches. In fact the speed of the ball can exceed 60 miles per hour. At a distance of 40 feet from the pitcher, the batter experiences the same timing/speed environment as a professional baseball player. Once again, there's nothing soft about fastpitch softball.
The following sequence of photographs breaks down the basic windmill pitch into some identifiable stages.
From
a "slight bend at the waist" position, the pitcher raises
her arm directly over her head (12 o'clock) from her ready position,
she simultaneously pushes off from the pitching rubber with the
push off foot described above. Remember, in order to keep the
arm straight throughout the entire motion it must stay close to
the body of the pitcher. Some trainers suggest the pitcher brush
her ear with her arm to ensure the arm is close to the body. If
we freeze frame the action at this point, it would look like the
following photo.
Notice
the right-handed pitcher is actually facing 3rd base at this point.
The left-handed pitcher is now facing first base. In both cases,
her arms and legs form an X when she is fully extended (open).
At this point, her foot is still in contact with the pitching
rubber and her pitching hand has reached a one o'clock position.
With her momentum now driving her entire body forward her push off foot begins to drag on the ground; and she begins turning her hips back toward the batter. Bringing her hand through the one o'clock position and onto the 6 o'clock position is actually the downward power motion of the arm.
By
the time her arm reaches the 6 o'clock position, the hips are
once again facing the batter, and the push off foot has been dragged
to a point immediately behind the glove side foot.
With a snap of the wrist the ball is released. This snap added to all the forward momemtum the young pitcher gained from her push off as well as the additional momentum generated by the rapid returning of her hips to their original position provides a huge amount of motion energy that is transferred to the launching of the ball.
Finally,
the pitching hand and arm complete the follow through motion.
Ultimately, the pitching hand comes to rest near the pitcher's
shoulder and the push off foot ends its journey just behind the
pitcher's glove side foot.
NOW GET READY FOR THE BALL
TO BE HIT BACK TO YOU BY THE BATTER!
Once you've released the ball you're once again an infielder.
Piece of cake?
Well, the entire process of fastpitch pitching is much easier to describe than it is to perform. Today's accomplished pitchers spend hours each week with special instructors and time every day practicing their special skill.
Practice:
Each day is the same for an aspiring pitcher -- practice. If you don't want to practice, then don't start pitching. In addition to lessons that you take each week during the winter, here is a typical day's schedule of practice. Each at home practice take about 60 minutes.
- Stretching exercises to warm up and stretch your muscles. Your coach probably has a regular stretching routine for the team. Use these same exercises.
- Wrist snaps. Wrist Snaps is an exercise you do with a ball. Hold your pitching hand down at your side at the same place you normally release the ball when you are pitching. Using only your wrist snap throw the ball to your catcher (or against a concrete wall). For this exercise, you stand about 5 feet from your catcher or wall. This exercise last for about 30 wrist snap throws and helps strengthen the wrist while helping with your release timing.
- Open Position Warm Up. This warm up exercise has you stand in your open position with your hand over your head. From this position, take your normal downward power motion while turning your hips back toward the catcher and pitch the ball. In essence, this exercise is half of the pitch cycle.
- Finally, start the entire pitching motion. You can practice with a catcher or use an sturdy wall (like the concrete walls in your basement). If you use a wall, it helps to draw a strike zone on the wall to give you a target and more practice at hitting specific areas of the strike zone.
- When your done with pitching, don't just stop. End your session by moving closer to the target and pitching about 20 slower but extremely accurate pitches to ease you body out of the exercise period.
A few practice tips:
- Always practice as if you were playing a real game. You can even keep track of the balls, strikes, outs and innings as you pitch.
- Always practice your full motion pitching from a distance as close to the real field distance as possible. (understanding the limitations of your home facilities)
- Always practice at full speed. Don't slow down. Remember: the way you practice is the way you play. We want you muscles to learn how to throw a controlled and fast ball. They won't learn if you pitch in slow motion.
- Don't practice to just kill time. Concentrate on each segment of the pitching motion and see what you can do to improve your dellivery, speed and control of the ball.
- Always end your practice with a perfect strike. It just feels good.
- Don't be too hard on yourself. With continued practice you will get better. It just takes time.
- Yes, you'll eventually learn the curve ball, the change up, the rise ball, and several other pitches -- but -- it all starts with a good fast ball. Focus on an accurate fast ball FIRST.
Want more information? (I will add to the following list from time to time, but here's one web site that will help you right now.)
Bob Pelle's FP Softball Camps & Clinics
Bob has been holding pitching and hitting clinics for many years. His web site is full of tips and useful information for new and advanced fastpitch pitchers. His site can be found at:The Official Pitching Regulations for Fastpitch Softball are available from Triumph Books in their publication "Official Rules of Softball". Pitching is covered in Rule 6. These are the rules formulated by the American Softball Association.
Attention Windmill Pitching Instructors: You are invited to contribute to this page of general pitching instructions. In return we will be happy to place your email or web site address on this page as well as listing you as a contributing author to the Softball e-Manual.
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