7 Tips to Improve Your Pitch
By Amber Cottrell
Working to excel at a sport takes a lot of time and committment. Certain aspects such as technique, form, and timing play important roles at improving your individual skills. Here are 7 easy ways to improve your softball pitch.
1. Foot Placement
The first step to a good softball pitch is your foot placement on the rubber. Both of your feet must be placed on the rubber, and at a comfortable stance. It is important for your feet to not be too wide, because you need to be able to push-off of your plant/dominant foot to generate your power.
2. Wind Up
Many people think that your windup needs to be complicated, or fast to generate power, but it is smart to conserve your power during your wind up. This is simply used to get your arm circle into motion. A nice simple wind up not only saves you energy, but it also allows you to concentrate on the rest of your body.
3. Arm Circle
It is important, that when you start your arm circle, that it stays tight to your body. Your arm should also come straight back, because if your arm strays, then your follow through will probably do the same, making it harder for you to throw where you want to.
4. Arm Speed
Another aspect that goes along with your arm circle is your arm speed. Arm speed is crucial because the tighter and faster your arm speed is the more momentum you will gain, which will generate into a faster pitch.
5. Jump Off the Rubber
When your arm is coming around and you're ready to throw your pitch, you need to know how you will jump off the rubber. The more pressure you put on your plant foot (dominant foot) the harder you can push-off the rubber, which will give you more power behind the ball. This hard push-off the rubber will help you gain more speed behind your pitch.
6. Wrist Snap
Probably the most important part of your pitching technique is your wrist snap. Without snapping your wrist, your pitch will lack speed and power. The wrist snap also helps you be able to throw different pitches. It is important for pitchers to have strong wrists to gain more power, throw different pitches, and also guide the ball where they want it to go.
7. Follow Through
Your follow through will also vary with what type of pitch you want to throw. For a straight fast ball, it's important that your arm follow through straight up towards your face, as if you were trying to punch yourself in your chin. If your follow through doesn't stay straight, then the ball will not either. With other pitches such as your curve ball, you will want your follow through to curve across your body. If you are trying to throw a rise you will want to finish up high, and if you want to throw a drop you will want to finish down towards the ground. In general, your ball will end up wherever you follow through does.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amber_Cottrell
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