Weekly 3-2-1
3- Things ways to get better 2- People to Follow 1- New trend in the game
Sup dog,
The Weekly 3-2-1 is a quick and simple way for you guys to get the best possible information in a quick and easy format. I am going to take drills and topics people at the professional level talk about every day and tell you how these relate and impact your youth athletes.
3 Ways to Get Better.
Drop Step/Turn and Burn LINK
These are pretty simple, and something that I think most kids could really benefit from. A staple of many professional throwers training, this drill helps pitchers translate the feelings of rotation and proper use of the back leg. Many times when kids are told “push hard off the mound” or to “drive with the back leg” they get into patterns that are actually not beneficial and can be detrimental in many cases.
The back leg is meant to rotate, rather than extend at the knee and ankle and leave the pelvis with nothing more to drive rotation. You do see some pitchers that are super jumpy/extended with the back leg, but these mechanics are much easier to break down and can lead to a lot of deterioration of the Hip joint. Tim Lincecum is a prime example of this, a pitcher who at his very best was one of the best ever, but had a litany of health problems.
Outfield throws to home
These are fun and simple, very similar to the pull downs that a lot of facilities like to do, but way more applicable to the game of baseball. If you stand in the outfield, and roll ground balls to the outfielders and have them throw to a catcher or a net setup where the catcher would be.
These kind of throws allow the athlete to self organize and feel what its like to really let the ball rip, this is why pulldowns are super common and are used to train arm strength and velocity. However, the outfield throws also give them a target, and instead of throwing the ball into a net you can watch the ball fly all the way to the catcher, using this time to evaluate the purity of the spin, and other factors.
Horse
The most fun of the three, and generally done on the pitchers mound. You take this time to throw different pitch types or even “trick shots” to a target. I recommend a 9 pocket so that the target is set in stone and doesn't move/is not biased. For example, I could choose to throw a sidearm fastball to the net, or a regular armslot slider where i have to pause at the top of my leg lift for 3 seconds. This game promotes athleticism and building coordination, and is a fun way to have some fun on the mound while challenging their movement capacity.
This one is meant to be a game, but you can make it as serious as you'd like.
2 People to Follow
@Arowthrows on instagram
Austin is a friend and a super high level throwing coach, who coaches some of the best arms in the game and has a really high level understanding of the throw. These are the type of people that high level throwers look to for information, and digging through his page will reveal a ton of gems about the throw and training to be a high level thrower.
@Adam.Datadriven
Adam is a friend/training partner and an MIT data scientist who has worked alongside Cy Young pitchers and many MLB players. He is focusing on health and wellness and how to optimize your habits to be the healthiest you can be. Not all his information is specifically for athletes, and in fact I recommend his page to anyone looking to be a better version of themselves.
1 New Trend in the Game
Micro Pitch manipulations
As the game goes on, there are more and more pitch variations that are being discovered, this also means that the game is getting closer and close to popularizing and “discovering” all the pitches that are easily exploitable. For example, the “sweeper” is a slider that moves sideways a lot more than the average slider. This pitch was recently popularized and abused by pitchers, because it was an uncommon pitch but was easy to throw relative to how difficult it was to hit. This pitch has since been adjusted to by hitters, as they adapted to it by its raised usage. This pitch has been around in the game forever, but its recent surge in popularity led to it being given its own name/subcategory.
This leads to pitchers throwing multiple different types of sliders like the aforementioned sweeper or a smaller slider that would be categorized as a gyro slider. Gyro sliders are noted by their bullet spin and smaller movement profile, so being able to throw both the big slider (sweeper) and the small slider (gyro) is a benefit as each have their own purposes/uses.
For example, the sweeper plays better against same handed hitters, while the gyro plays better against opposite handed hitters. Learning to manipulate pitches in this way is going to be a huge advantage in the future, as pitchers will keep tailoring their arsenals to combat the trends of relievers being forced to face more hitters, as well as lineups choosing to alternate handedness.
It does not simply stop here, you can throw a Four Seam fastball, Sinker, and a Cut Fastball. All of these pitches has very different movement profiles and purposes for the pitcher. The examples go on, as you can throw a cut changeup, or bounce between a changeup that has tons of downward movement and one that is more of a runner.
Cool John, now what does this even mean and how on earth do you expect my 9 year old kid to do this.
I don't.
At all.
But, next time your kid is on youtube looking up how to throw x,y, or z pitch…. Maybe give them a little more wiggle room to explore.
As long as you monitor the amount of times they throw these absurd pitches, they aren't really at risk of an injury. In fact, learning how to manipulate the baseball and manipulate spin is a great skill to mix in. Learning this can really pay off in the long run, and kids love it.
The injury risk really only comes into play if they are throwing the ball at high effort and way too much. But tossing the ball around at 70% and messing around is not only fun, but something they can get a ton of benefit from.
**ideally you let them just have their fun in practice and not throw these in game.**
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Best of Luck,
John