Baseball Throwing Part Six - Throwing Technique

How do you get your players to improve on their throwing technique?

Well, I believe that you leave the pitchers out of this. I am not referring to pitchers at all. Pitching is just glorified throwing. Throwing taken to the next level.

I also don't believe pitchers should shag. I know a lot of you use pitchers to shag and I have used them in the past.

When you put them in the outfield to shag, a magical transformation takes place and suddenly they become Willie Mays. You get guys knocking outfielders out of the way and making diving catches. They are throwing the ball in from 180 feet and suddenly arm problems occur.

I think pitchers need to be taken care of. I think they should all throw to the same position when warming up and doing throwing drills.

Infielders should throw with infielders, outfielders with outfielders, catchers with catchers, and pitchers with pitchers, and I think the coaches should walk along and observe the important throwing points like hand position, grip, location of the back foot, and see if they are closing the front shoulder, their striding foot.

If you don't have polished guys to start of with, I would suggest that while you are observing, you wear a helmet if you are walking behind. I think those guys should warm up but once they get good and loose, then they should start expanding the distance that they throw. Your infielders are going to work up to where they are throwing around 150 feet or so, the outfielders can get up to 180 or more, and you catchers should get around 130.

They should be working on the proper throwing technique and, of course, working for accuracy throwing through the circle.

In the game when they have to make that throw, and they don't do a good job, it may be our fault as coaches because we didn't create the right kind of throwing drills to enable them to work on these special throws that they are going to have to make in the game.

You are kidding yourself if you think when you go out and take infield that the outfielders are going to get the proper amount of work or throw to that cutoff man or throwing to those bases, when he makes one or two or three throws before every game. It has to be more detailed than that.

I think we need to create baseball throwing drills that are going to help and encourage these fundamentals.