In this article, we’ll be focusing on the importance of the throwing and some basic baseball throwing drills that everyone needs to master to improve their throwing skills. According to Branch Rickey, the famous American Baseball player and Sports executive of the 1950s, to be a successful baseball player, one has to master the four aspects of the game including Throwing, Running, Fielding and Hitting.
He further adds that even if a player masters at least two of these aspects, then he’s well enough to play the professional league. And the one who masters all the four will definitely become the superstar of the game. When lots have been talked about fielding, hitting and pitching, not a lot of importance has been given to throwing like the other three aspects.
In baseball, throwing is also an important aspect and players who can’t throw accurately during the game are sure to lead to the downfall of their team. Coaches must ensure that players are provided with as many drills as possible to improve their throwing mechanics. When it comes to throwing there are a few aspects that need to be taken care of that is detailed below:
The Grip
One of the important aspects that help in your throwing accuracy is about how your grip the ball with your fingers. One of the best grips to achieve straight backspin without tailing the ball while throwing is the 4-seam fastball grip.
For this, assume the ball as a clock and place your index and middle finger on both side of 12 o’clock and place your thumb at 6 o’clock, so it would be positioned exactly right below your index and middle fingers as shown in the picture above. Also, make sure that the pads of your index and middle fingers sit on top of the seam of your ball and there should be some gap between the palm and the ball to achieve a firmer grip.
Arm Action
In baseball throwing, another important aspect is the arm action, which refers to how your throwing arm travels from throwing to the release point and follow through motion. It is extremely important for players to make a good sweeping motion with their arm in order to achieve a strong power position. And by power position, it means where the throwing arm is in the sweeping motion right at your back and in level with your shoulders and with your elbows bent.
To become a good thrower, you need to master the art of power positioning. Without having the ball in hand, try to practice this power position and focus and having your throwing arm comes right back of your shoulders and your elbows bent at the same time. During the time of release, the throwing fingers should stay put pointing upwards to achieve good straight backspin.
Staying On Line
Another important aspect of baseball throwing is to stay on the line while you complete the throw. To achieve this, just think of an imaginary line running from the edge of your pivot foot straight towards your target. The idea here is to keep you always in the position of the line while you are preparing for the throw, releasing it and following it up.
In all these three positions, you always need to stay focused that you don’t stray away from that line. The moment you stray away from the line, your accuracy will be largely decreased. Always try to keep your body on the line while you are releasing the ball and the follow through after the release.
Squaring The Pivot Foot
The 4-steps throwing technique will help the youngsters to learn the correct way to throw the ball along with improving their arm strength as well.
Step 1 – Kneeling and Flicking
The first step is to help the player strengthen their wrists before throwing the ball. Here the player kneels down and flicks or throws the balls to his partner in the opposite direction.
To start with, the player should kneel down on one knee and face his partner situated on the opposite side. The elbow of the non-throwing arm is placed on the step leg and the right elbow is placed on the glove and the player flicks the ball to his partner. This ensures that whole of the throwing arm is not used to throw the ball and only the wrist is used to flick the ball. Practicing it for 5-10 sets will strengthen their wrists to a great extent.
Step 2 – Kneeling and Throwing
Once the player completes step1, the next step is to allow the player to throw the ball in the same kneeling position. This step ensures that the player focuses mainly on the arm positioning during their throw. It helps the players to maintain the arm at or above the shoulder height and the fingers pointing back towards his partner on the opposite side.
Since this step is only to develop their arm positioning, the position or posture on the lower body is not concentrated that much. In this position, only the position of the arms, the wrist and the hip position is only focused. If kids don’t practice this step, then it will result in having the arms below their shoulder while throwing leading to a less accurate throw.
Step 3 – The Power Position
In this positions, the players stand up from their kneeling positions and throw the ball to their partners. The main focus of this step is to ensure that the feet is firmly planted to the ground and hip turns accordingly. The emphasis is mainly laid on how the player moves their hips, turn and throws the ball without moving their legs.
Step 4 – The Follow Through
The fourth and the final step is the follow through technique where the players are taught the most important skill of throwing about how to step and throw. The players need to step and make a perfect follow-through while the back legs come around while throwing.
Conclusion
Hope the above article on baseball throwing drills have provided enough information on the basic skills and techniques that need to be adopted to master the art of throwing in baseball. These basic techniques and drills are very important for any basketball player and without these techniques, you can never master the art of throwing. Please post your comments and suggestions in the comment section below and we’ll be happy to revert back as soon as possible.
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