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Baseball - Pitching and Throwing
by
Terry
Doucet
Pitching
Coach McGill University
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Young
baseball players need to develop their arms by throwing.
Throwing with their Mum, throwing with their Dad, throwing
with their brothers and sisters, throwing with their friends; in
fact throwing, any time they can. When
the weather is nice, you should do it outside, but with our cold
winters, you need to find a place to throw in-doors.
Find a spot in the basement or garage where you can throw a
softer baseball against the wall.
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In a game, infielders need to get the ball to a base as quickly as
possible so that means any quick arm movement.
Whatever arm motion it takes to get the batter or base-runner
out. But outfielders and pitchers must throw very hard, so must
follow certain mechanical movements in order to protect their arms
and shoulders from injury.
During
practice sessions and warm-up, all players should follow basic
mechanics. In preparation to throw:
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Bring
the arm with the ball up, so that the upper arm (bicep) is parallel
to the ground. The ball should face away from the person receiving
your throw. This is the
most important skill to develop in order to prevent injury to the
shoulder and elbow. Watch the player and make certain that the upper arm does not
drop below the (parallel to ground) position.
Left:
Andy Pettitte of the Houston Astros demonstrating the classic
T-Position
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Keeping
the arm with the ball in the above position, rotate your whole body
and launch the ball to your catcher.
Left: Javier
Vazquez of the Arizona Diamondbacks rotating towards the target.
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There are hundreds of other factors involved with pitching
mechanics, far too many to list on this web site, but if young
players throw in the above manner, hundreds of times per week, they will build arm strength and accuracy that will make them better
baseball players for our next season.
There is nothing complex about this, but there is a lot of
work required. Those
who have the ability and determination to work will succeed.
NDG
Baseball Pitching Clinic
Terry Doucet heads a pitching clinic throughout the fall and winter
months every Tuesday at 19:30 at St. Luc High School which is
located on Kensington & Cote-St-Luc Rd. in NDG. These clinics
are free and open to all who want to develop their pitching
mechanics. The clinics are slated to begin in October, when the
exact date is known it will be posted on the main page of the website.
Throw
- Throw
- Throw
- Throw
- Throw
- Throw
- Throw
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