Why “Throw Hard” Does More Harm than Help
Telling a pitcher to throw hard is probably one of the worst things you can do as a parent or a coach. It’s common that every pitcher’s main goal is to increase their velocity behind their pitch and consistently throw the ball harder. What outsiders don’t realize is that gaining speed is much harder than it seems and maintaining that increase of speed is even harder. We have all witnessed that “AH HA Pitch” that seems to blast into the glove significantly harder than the others. We refer to these AH HA Pitches as little glimpses of promise or potential. Every pitcher has that potential in them, the tricky part is incorporating that AH HA Pitch into an EVERY TIME Pitch. These once in a while extra glove pop pitches tend to get catchers, parent spectators, and even softball pitching instructors excited.
The biggest mistake onlookers make is making remarks such as “See I knew you had it in you”, “now we need that every time”, or the classic, “keep throwing hard like that”. Let’s just say, it’s much easier said than done. Don’t you think if pitchers knew how to throw significantly harder every pitch they would settle in and do it every time? You better believe it!
What actually happens when these remarks are made towards a pitcher has the exact opposite effect. When inexperienced pitchers hear reference to “throwing harder” the natural thing to do is grip the ball as hard as they can and let it rip. The outcome of these pitches will almost always be slower. Why, do you ask? Think about it for a minute. If the pitcher grips the ball harder, it tightens up the wrist, resulting in a limited snap. Since a loose wrist snap will produce more speed, tightening up the wrist takes the snap away. When this happens the wrist isn’t the only thing to tense and tighten up. The whole arm actually gets tighter, it starts in the hand, then moves to the wrist, and all the way up to the shoulder resulting in a slower arm circle.
It’s okay to relay to pitchers that you would like to see more velocity behind their pitch. Nine times out of ten they want the same thing. We know parents and coaches get excited and that “THROW HARD!” can come out like word vomit. Try using the saying “stay long and loose” when you notice a pitcher has tightened everything up. Another way to try to increase the speed with words is suggesting the pitcher “increase arm speed” or “sit and push with the legs”. Increasing speed is something that takes time and is determined by a lot of factors. We hope to continue the speed topic in future articles by providing insight on the different components that contribute to speed as well as drills that can be practiced for the arm circle and leg drive. Until then, hang in there, trust the process, and use the substitute phrases mentioned above.
Feature Image by: Sam Janicki
