Tom House Pitching Approach

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Originally posted by Roger Tomas:
A lot of "releasing" closer to the plate is good posture and balance, good front side management to avoid doing those things that destroy timing (e.g. flying open with the glove), and good momentum. So, while you might consider this changing someone's mechanics, would you really disagree with any of these things?

Not at all. As long as those issues are what you are addressing. I'd rather use the word posture than balance but that's just me

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This is where the feedback from the towel drill comes in. You mark off the distance (stride plus 5 heel-to-toe steps) and have the pitcher go through the motion. Most times, pitchers start off not hitting the target. Then you start to make adjustments first correcting obvious flaws and then foptimizing inefficiencies. Eventually, they are hhitting the target. When a pitcher has a particularly tough time hitting the target, I will rresort to a reverse progression when I set him up in a post-stride position.

This is what I don't care for. A player gets used to just throwing this towel at a glove held in front of him. I just think it reinforces or introduces bad habits (which I mentioned earlier). I'd rather have him throw a baseball and use backwards chaining to address/improve any mechanical flaws.

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No, I will admit that with any drill the trick is taking from the drill into your live throwing. To address that, I intermix drill work and live throwing.

Agreed.

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For me I would strive to achieve ACTUAL velocity (what does the radar gun say?). Throw real baseballs (when doing drills try to find the best drills that carry over into real game situations). Use feedback (like a radar gun) to monitor results. Video your throws (more feedback). Make adjustments.

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No argument there. But doing what you said and using the towel drill are not mutually exclusive. Do both!

That's fine. I agree you should do both. Some drills a better than others I guess. That's the real key here. Finding drills, and finding out different ways that correct or improve a players throwing "efficiency". Some ideas may work better than others and some may work one on kid and not another. Figuring out how to make it work for the player to get results is what it's all about.

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Originally posted by RobV:

quote:

This is where the feedback from the towel drill comes in. You mark off the distance (stride plus 5 heel-to-toe steps) and have the pitcher go through the motion. Most times, pitchers start off not hitting the target. Then you start to make adjustments first correcting obvious flaws and then foptimizing inefficiencies. Eventually, they are hhitting the target. When a pitcher has a particularly tough time hitting the target, I will rresort to a reverse progression when I set him up in a post-stride position.

This is what I don't care for. A player gets used to just throwing this towel at a glove held in front of him. I just think it reinforces or introduces bad habits (which I mentioned earlier). I'd rather have him throw a baseball and use backwards chaining to address/improve any mechanical flaws.

I work with a lot of youth pitchers and I find that the towel drill is very valuable when trying to get a pitcher to make an adjustment. When kids throw a ball they try to be accurate and often end up resorting to that with which they are comfortable. That usually competes with any adjustment we're trying to work on. The towel drill eliminates any concern about throwing accuracy and allows the focus to remain on the task at hand. So, in the early stages of working on making a mechanical adjustment, the towel drill makes the work more focused and efficient.

quote:

Finding drills, and finding out different ways that correct or improve a players throwing "efficiency". Some ideas may work better than others and some may work one on kid and not another. Figuring out how to make it work for the player to get results is what it's all about.

Agreed. That is the "art" in coaching pitchers.