There should never be a day in the game of baseball when you don’t try to learn and improve.  I had the great fortune to be a teammate of should be Hall-of-Famer Jim Kaat in the 23rd year of his 25-year Major League career.  On more than one occasion, I remember him greeting a rookie up from the minor leagues by saying, “Hi, I’m Jim Kaat.  How do you hold your slider?”

My thoughts were, “Good enough for Kitty, good enough for me!”

We live in an age of unprecedented opportunities to advance our skill sets.  Whether physically, mentally, competitively, or nutritionally, there is more information, more research, and more avenues are available to progress than ever before.  We owe it to ourselves to take advantage.

But let’s start simple like Kitty did.

Grips.

I heard a phrase I love from a college pitching coach the other day. “We are all looking for outliers and unicorns!”  We know there are five basics: four and two-seam fastballs, curveball, slider, and changeup.  But, putting aside command for the moment, what we can make each of them do is what makes us unique.

There are tons of articles and blogs written about how to hold the ball to throw a specific pitch.  There is no end to the combinations of grip, arm slot, and hand position at release to choose from; the key is finding what works best for you!  

So how do we determine what is best?  How do we know? Good pitching coaches and analytics, but most especially hitter’s bats.  And how do we remember that feeling?  Measure, mark, and compare.

One of the most underrated features of the pitchLogic baseball is the Pitch Variant function.  This function gives you the ability to try different things, but most importantly, to record and mark them according to what you try!

Too many times, pitchers walk away from a bullpen or throwing session saying, “Yeah, the third pitch is what I want to do, but I don’t remember exactly what I did?”  Now you can throw multiple different pitches and get the record of the numbers and mark what you did, along with all the other particulars and the video! Being able to go back and review and compare is invaluable! 

Have a plan. Throw three curveballs marked Grip A.  Mix in a fastball to maintain arm slot, then throw three curveballs with Grip B. The data very quickly helps you to choose your most effective pitch.

Now back to command for just a moment.  It’s great to throw 98 with 2750 Total Spin. But if 4 out of 10 bounce, and 4 out of 10 hit the guy in the third row and the other two are maybe close enough to swing at, you have a problem.  Find what you can control while learning to be consistent and continue ramping it up.

One other thing about changeups; if ever there was a time to think out of the box, this is it!  I have seen guys throw with the most unconventional grips you have ever seen.  I tried and couldn’t keep it in the stadium or couldn’t throw it 55 feet.  But it worked for them!

And it might work for you, so don’t be afraid to try it!  Find out what makes you different from the norm!

“Find what you do best and learn how to repeat it.” 

“Know your strengths and weaknesses.”

Simple, age-old phrases that still ring true.  But now we have different methods, terminology, and instruments to quantify, examine and analyze. The learning curve becomes much shorter when we take advantage of all the opportunities out there!