Learning how to throw a baseball faster can set a player up for success as they progress from the little leagues to collegiate and beyond. Just look at the way Major League Baseball clubs are investing in fast pitching, and you can see the long-term opportunity.
In the following article, we are going to give you the tools you need to be successful on the mound. Put each of these into practice, and you’ll be striking batters out in no time.
1. Warm Up the Arm
The first step in how to throw a fastball is to make sure your arm is ready for it. That means tossing a few warmup pitches to get the form and distance down.
There are no hard and fast rules on how many pitches are best for a proper warmup. Just go until you feel that you can confidently get it to the catcher, and control the direction.
2. Get a Grip
This piece in the education of how to throw a baseball harder is something you need to work out while warming up. The four-seam grip is the most common way of holding a baseball for stability, control, and strength.
It consists of the index and middle fingers in a peace sign over the top seam and the thumb bracing the bottom. Practice how it feels in your hand before tossing it.
Also, experiment with your releases. Many pitchers prefer the overhanded throw, but you might feel more comfortable doing the sidearm. You never know until you’ve taken some throws both ways and measured the results.
3. Throw Every Day
All the baseball pitching techniques in the world won’t do you any good without repetition. Throwing the ball the same way over and over will get you more comfortable with your timing, distance, and strength.
The best suggestion here is to throw every day, preferably to a buddy. Doing so will save you time on retrieving balls, and it will get you more used to the live game environment.
4. Experiment With Distances
As you’re experimenting with baseball pitch grips, you’ll also want to practice with distances. The maximum distance that you’ll encounter from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 60 feet, 6 inches, according to the rules of Major League Baseball. For little leagues just starting out with live pitching, this distance likely will be shortened
Start with shorter distances if you’re not used to throwing a baseball. This will help you gauge your range and strength while also incrementally helping you maintain performance over longer distances later on.
5. Work Out
Make baseball pitching drills a part of your exercise routine, but don’t stop there. To be a great pitcher, you need to be in great shape.
That means hitting the gym. Arm workouts are a given, but you’ll also want to focus on cardio as the act of throwing a fastball requires heavy exertion between the upper and lower torsos.
In a nine-inning game, the average pitcher throws the ball about 146 times, according to one study. Go to the gym, and try to do 146 reps of anything. You’ll realize how difficult this can be.
6. Eat Right
A healthy diet is also the cornerstone of a good pitcher since you really have to be in better shape than anyone else on the team. Think about it. An outfielder is going to spend quite a bit of time standing around, but you have to exert yourself on every single play.
What does eating right look like for a pitcher? The same as it does for everyone else:
- Eat protein-rich foods
- Consume 20-30 grams of fiber daily
- Eliminate added sugars
- Go easy on alcohol or avoid it altogether
- Effective calorie management
Pair this with your workouts to ensure your body is in the best possible condition for 146 pitches. Otherwise, you could be needing relief a lot sooner than the later innings.
7. Rest the Arm When It Grows Tired
By now, you know to expect a lot of physical exertion during a baseball game. Unlike many sports, this is not the part where we would tell you to “dig down deep” and “push through the pain.”
If your arm starts bothering you, it’s time for a rest. Continuing to pitch through exhaustion can lead to a number of long-term health ailments. Some, like Tommy John Surgery where the ulnar collateral ligament is torn, can be career-ending.
Your Next Steps
You now have the education to throw a fastball, and you’ve been working at it for weeks. What are your next steps? Take these three suggestions to heart.
Work With a Pitching Coach
Ideally, you have a good pitching coach who’s helping to guide you during practices and the season. That’s particularly common at high school levels and above, where credentials are required and coaches are vetted.
If you’re just starting out, an experienced friend or family member will do. You also might consider hiring someone from the local personal trainer scene. Someone with a background in pitching, preferably.
Simulate the Game Environment
Throw to a human as much as possible. If you can find someone to stand in as a batter and even take a few swings at the ball, even better! The closer you can simulate the game environment, the easier it will be to make that transition into organized play.
Assess Your Training
Consider investing in special equipment, such as a radar gun for baseball, to log your progress. This will help you gauge those initial fastball speeds and see if your training is paying dividends.
Learning How to Throw a Baseball Faster Will Make You Game Ready
Once you have learned how to throw a baseball faster, it becomes easier to tweak the nuances of your craft. That is, it’ll be easier to put spin and curves on the ball to further confuse batters and log a win for your team.
Best of luck as you put the tips above to use. For more baseball tips and info, make sure you check out some of our additional posts!