Cutting and yanking fastball in games

Your brain is getting in the way.

Turn it loose, and dont "guide" the ball. Throw "through" targets, and not "at" them.

You will get though this. Not that un-common of a problem.

demax is spot on. Instead of trying to fix it in the game have a teammate step in as a batter during your next couple of bullpens. Learn to focus only on the glove. Throw through it.

I think these guys are spot on but I'm going to add my 2 cents worth. Let me ask you this - does it seem like you settle down and get into a groove around about the 4th - 5th inning or so?

I think it is a mental problem but it can also be attributed to a little bit of adrenaline. I may be wrong but I have seen a lot of guys getting loose and they are relaxed and got a good mindset going on but when they step on game mound then the adrenaline sets in. They think they are giving the exact same effort as the bullpen but they really aren't.

It's hard to simulate game conditions in a bullpen but the batter will help (helmet on of course). If you could post a video of a bullpen session before the game and then video of the 1st - 3rd inning you might be surprised by what you see.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I may have figured something out tonight. I came in relief and pitched a 123 first inning with 3 k's. Then in my second inning I encountered my command issues. I started cutting the ball again and was also leaving pitches high. I walked the first 2 batters, hit the 3rd and walked the 4th. One of my teammates came out and talked with me and told me I wasn't staying back. From that point on I focused on staying back for as long as I could and my fastball was consistently in the zone. I did surrender a hit, which allowed two more runs, but I struck out 2 more and got another batter to fly out.

I hope staying back is all I need to do, because I've just about had it with these control issues in games. One thing I don't understand is that there are plenty of pitchers who don't stay back, but still are able to locate pitches. They may lose velocity, but can still throw strikes? Not sure why it would be different with me. I'll let you know how I do in the upcoming games.

All I know is I work with a pitching coach and I am almost flawless every time I throw with him. Im probably throwing 70-80% strikes. Then in games I get out of whack and probably only throwing around 40-50% strikes.

And to coach2709 it differs from game to game. Sometimes I start off bad and settle down and sometimes, like tonight, I start off good and lose it. I think my delivery and release point just completely fall apart in games.

Try wearing women's underwear underneath your uniform.
Don't laugh, it's been proven to work.

quote:

Originally posted by cball:
Try wearing women's underwear underneath your uniform.
Don't laugh, it's been proven to work.

Oh My Goodness that is funny!

I can see it now.….

Tom House discovers the Holy Grail of pitching.

Tom House discovers the key to pitching. On the advisement by HSBBW pitching guru cball, Tom House has discovered what pitching coaches have been searching for, for over 100 years. Mr. House stated, “we have found the holy grail of pitching by complete accident” One of cball’s students was having trouble finding the strike zone and by chance decided to wear a women’s bra while pitching. Since it did not fit properly NHBallplayer_38 loaded it with oranges and immediately started throwing BB strikes…it was amazing”

After analyzing the biomechanical effect My House discovered that the addition load of oranges completely balanced the pitcher perfectly. “Who would have known that such a simple change would have such an effect” added Mr. House.

Rumors were circulating in the Bay Area that Barry Zito had succumbed to the pressures of living in San Francisco and had become a cross-dresser, but these turned out to be false with Barry testing out Tom’s new pitching enhancement product.......

Darn this could be really good but got to run. Have a great week-end!

Haha womens underwear, what it is this bull durham? I think I definitley figured things out. I pitched 2 innings today and reall just focused on staying back and just pounded the strike zone. I did not yank any fastballs. I had 5k's, 0bb's, 0h's.

Thanks BOF.
I'm sure it's the first and last time my "cball" and "pitching guru" will be in the same sentence.
I'm getting misty.

NHBall,
So "staying back" was it?

Well it seems that staying back has been the biggest help. But it's also something that I do all the time when throwing bullpens. So my brain was getting in the way, in games, by causing my delivery to get out of whack. I started rushing and flying open probably because I was trying too hard as soon as the batter stepped into the box. But focusing on staying back in the games has seemed to corrected all that. It's just one game so far, so we'll see If I can continue to overcome the problem and throw strikes.