Simple Tips For Becoming A Better Pitcher

Becoming a successful pitcher is much more than being able to throw 100 miles per hour. To get better at pitching you need to develop mental toughness, arm strength and leg strength. Here are three simple tips to succeed on the mound.

Developing Mental Toughness
Baseball is a game of constant failure, batters strike out and fielders make errors and pitchers. But pitchers give up balls, base hits, walks, stolen bases, hits, runs and home runs. So being a successful pitcher takes more mental toughness than other baseball positions.

Just think about, a pitcher must overcome adversity every single game. A pitcher is constantly fighting adversity. He must be able to control his emotions, regain his confidence, forget his recent failure and get back to focusing on the job at hand, whenever he gives up a hit, run or home run.

Pitchers can build mental toughness for baseball using positive thinking and visualization. Developing mental toughness is essential to succeed as a pitcher.

Developing Arm Strength
The best exercise for anyone wishing to develop arm strength is the long toss exercise. It is especially beneficial for pitchers looking to increase their arm strength and increase pitching velocity.

The Long Toss is exactly what it sounds like, tossing a baseball with another teammate over distance between 100 to 150 feet. The distance can be increased over time. The long toss will stretch the arm muscles, add arm strength and increase pitching velocity. For maximum effect, the exercise should be done on a daily basis. Developing arm strength is key to becoming a better pitcher.


Developing Leg Strength
Anyone who knows about pitching will tell you that successful pitching is all in the legs. However, many have the misconception that jogging long distances is the best leg exercise for pitchers. Nothing can be further from the truth. Running sprints, like the 60 yard dash, is the optimal exercise for pitchers. Not only does the 60 yard dash help build up leg muscles, it builds stamina and closely resembles the act of pitching. Developing leg strength is essential to pitching.

If you heed these simple baseball instruction tips, you're on the road to being a successful pitcher.