"I just cant find the zone"
Trust me, we have all been there.
Sometimes you are standing on the mound and it feels like you will literally NEVER throw a strike ever again.
This is the exact opposite of what we wrote about last time, but equally as present in today's game if not more so. I know hundreds of good arms, professional arms, who struggle to really find the zone at times.
It happens to us all at some point, it can come in spurts or it can really be a longer term issue.
But how do we fix it? That's the million dollar question.
Generally speaking, the approach depends on the time of year and whether or not you are in season or out of season.
In season, it's much harder to make a lot of progress as in professional baseball you are required to pitch 2-4x a week in games.
My base instruction for pretty much everyone that has this issue is some variation of the same:
Try to get off the mound as often as you can.
Even if it is super low effort in season, getting repetition off the mound is important.
For example, I am currently in season relieving for an Indy Ball Team in the Atlantic league, in the last 9 days I have had 4 outings with a few of them being multiple innings. My biggest priority in my time between outings is to recover and bounce back. Throwing a ton of extra pitches off the mound can really crush my ability to bounce back and recover for the next outing.
It is more important sometimes to be rested and recovered for your next outing than it is to be 100% sharp. Fatigue negatively impacts every facet of your pitching, command, velocity and movement profiles.
It's not worth it to try and throw 20-30 pitches on the mound before your outing and be cooked when it actually matters, no amount of mechanical improvements can overcome being tanked.
My worst outing of the year came the day I got 3.5 hours of sleep and then took a 5 hour bus ride.
Fatigue matters.
A lot.
So what do we do about it?
Microdosing volume in between outings is king for relievers, shorten your catch play by 5-10 throws, and then hop on the mound for a few and see what you can accomplish. Every little bit matters, so why not try and get 7 throws off the mound on a day where you know you aren't going to pitch.
This is the best you can really do during the season, and it's the technique that a lot of major league relievers use to stay sharp and get better in season.
Out of season however, is a totally different deal.
You essentially have unlimited volume to deal with your issues and move towards your goals, so what should you do?
This depends on age, young athletes especially the youth category should be more cautious with their volume.
But the answer is generally high volume low intensity work. For me, as a 24 year old free agent it was throwing 100+ pitch bullpens 3 days a week into a 9 pocket at the public park.
For a 12 year old its probably 2 low effort bullpens that are 25-30 pitches each in addition to his weekend outing.
For the 18 year old heading into college its probably two 75 pitch bullpens.
Find a comfortable amount of volume, and get your reps in. Do drills off the mound, find different ways to test your athleticism.
Do your best to get better and challenge yourself every opportunity you get.
Now, if you crush these but struggle to throw strikes in game, it's a tad bit more complex.
It is more or less the same answer, but substitute bullpen for throwing “Live At Bats” to hitters.
Find some time to get your friends in the batter's box, and throw 30-40 pitches to them 2-3x a week. Throw to them, take 2 days off and then do it again.
The reason this will get you better is it is getting you past the anxiety and barrier to entry that comes with throwing to hitters.
It helped me
It has helped thousands of other pitchers
It will help you.
Getting better takes a lot of time and effort, don't be scared to try something completely different.
John