What's up slow pitch players. I' Dan Blewett. I'm a former pr
baseball pitcher, and a softbal throwing expert have worked wit
tons of softball and basebal players over the years on thei
throwing mechanics. In today' video, I'm going to give yo
seven ways you can improve you throwing for your slowpitc
game. And this is going to mak a huge difference. Because i
you want to play more positions if you want to play on a mor
competitive team, if you jus want to have more fun and mak
more plays, than improving you throwing is one of thos
fundamental basic things that'l make a really big impact. S
stick around these seven tip will be a huge help
Okay, so number one, this tip is for infielders. So the
fundamental way to feel the ground ball that's hit to your
center is what we call funneling. So when you square to
ground ball, and it rolls into your mitt, there's a common
error that most players make, which is then they start to take
it out of their glove and they start to move all at once, what
you want to do is called funneling, and funneling means
when it hits your glove, you're absorbing it right up to
essentially to your belly button. And from this place, now
you can move your feet, and you can make your throw to first
base. It's a lot like being a quarterback, a quarterback in
football keeps the ball in his chest until it's time to throw.
And because he keeps it as just until it's time to throw, his
mechanics are going to be consistent from one throw the
next when you feel the ground ball here, and sometimes you're
already on the move, where your arm start is going to be very,
very inconsistent. So to practice this, I would see to
get a concrete wall and a tennis ball, you can bounce on to
yourself, or just get a partner to roll you some at your feet or
at your knees. And just work on vacuuming them up to your
center. So become second nature when you're in the game. My next
tip is for slow pitc outfielders. So obviously
you're going to play lots o different positions. So if yo
do play outfield some of th time where you want to pla
outfield more than you do, the getting your footwork right wil
make a huge difference in ho well you throw. So the footwor
that's used in Major Leagu Baseball and all the highe
level players, you know, colleg Do you want all that stuff i
called the pro step. And the pr step is actually really simple
Once you feel the ground ball o you catch it, if your right han
throw like I am, your left foot gonna step forward, your righ
foot is going to step behind And then you're going to strid
out and you're going to mak your throw from there. So th
big thing with the pro step i that it gets your chest into
good throwing position righ away. So as I'm running, and
feel my scoop my ground ball I'm gonna bring it to my center
And as I step behind in rea time, it's gonna get my ches
close to my target. So I' perpendicular to my targets
that way, my chest is this way And then as my glove an
everything accelerates, an brings my torso and my hip
through, that's what's going t power my arm and get my arm t
wit back and then forward. S the pro step is critical fo
getting your feet and then thu the rest of your body into
good throwing position. Becaus your footwork is really lik
having four really good tire versus having one flat tire o
your car, if you have a fla tire. Doesn't matter if you're
Ferrari, or you got a Corvett or whatever, it's not going t
run very well. So you've got t get your footwork down first. S
the pro step is a huge help i that direction. Alright, my nex
tip here for slow pitch throwin , is moving your feet fast. So
a lot of players, they'll get a ground ball, and then right fr
m there, they have no moment m whatsoever, and their feet a
e hardly moving. And then they e d up pushing the ball. When y
u get a ground ball or when y u get a fly ball. Once you broug
t to your center move your fe t quick. The more you get yo
r feet moving towards your targe , the more your body will throw
s a unit, not just from your ar , and every mile proudly that yo
r feet are moving your bo y because if you're shuffli
g fast, you'll be going a coup e miles per hour just in yo
r lower half. That's going to g t added on to your throws. If y
u throw 40 miles per hour, 0 miles per hour, 60 miles p
r hour, but your feet are goi g three miles per hour, your thr
w is going to be 4353 63. So it s free velocity if you just mo
e your feet. Once you get yo r ground ball or you get yo
r flyball get your momentum, u e it it's free velocity. Alrigh
, my next slowpitch throwing t p is pulling your shoulder blad
s back. So once you get t flyball, or you vacuum up a
d funnel, your ground ball wan s your hands on your chest. T
e big problem that most playe s have is they take the ball o
t in front of them, then the r elbow is in front of their bod
. And it leads the way and th y push it they throw like a Dar
. So once you get it to yo r center and your feet are movin
, once your hands separat , they're gonna crack down kin
a like you're cracking an egg on a skillet. And then you're goi
g to pull your shoulder blad s behind you. You got to practic
s over and over at home. I've g t some other drills that I'll li
k to in the description below. B t when you're throwing yo
r shoulder blades pull back a d then your glove arm goes firs
, and when your shoulder blad s pull back, it hitches your a
m up with your torso, which s obviously connected to yo
r hips, and so then everythi g accelerates as a unit in t
e correct sequence. So all y u really need to know is that wh
n you don't pull your should r blades back, your arm sort
f acts alone and doesn't get t e benefit from your lower body a
d your hips. When your should r blades pull back, now, it ge
s the benefit of all the rotati n and acceleration from your low
r hal
So once you separate your hands, the shoulder blades need to pull
back. Alright, my next slowpitch throwing tip is improving your
glove arm. So for a lot of players, their glove arm will
just sort of fall right in front of their body. Or it'll be kind
of right in their center like this, it'll just dangle here or
it'll be here. If you're not actively running at your target
and throwing on the run, which is a high level advanced throw
anyway, if you're just feeling it, and moving to your target,
and your glove is here, it sort of blocks you and it doesn't let
you rotate as powerfully as you could. So what your glove arm
should, is, once you're ready to throw, it should sort of swim
out. And it should fall to this side of your body. Whether it's
completely down like this, that's okay. Or if it sort of
tucks in, that's fine, too. The way I would I would characterize
the glove arm action is that it's kind of like petting a baby
elephant, you'd go ear to ear like this. And then when it gets
this side, it falls down or it tucks in the glove arm action is
really important because whatever happens with your glove
side, also happens to your arm side. So really hard throwers,
whether it's baseball, or softball, their glove arm helps
them rotate towards their target. So fixing your glove arm
action, which I also have videos, for more more complete
videos on that are in the description below. All right, my
sixth tip for improving your slow pitch throwing skills is t
throw more regularly. Now I kno you play slowpitch, because yo
want to just show up have fun drinkable beers, whatever it is
and that's great, I completel understand that. But if yo
struggle with your throwing it's not going to get bette
from not throwing. So what would say to do is this, if yo
really are serious abou improving, and you really wan
to get a lot better invest in $60. net that you can get fro
Amazon, I'll link to some belo that I think are good. Invest i
a dozen softballs. So you hav them. So then you can go to
field by yourself, you can se up a net in your backyard, yo
can play catch thrown to the ne once or twice a week, jus
there. The other thing I woul say to do is get to the fiel
and just hound somebody to b your throwing partner. So I kno
a lot of times people don't eve play catch before a game. Bu
ask so ask around find someone Hey, can I go play catch wit
you, I'm working on my throwin or I just need to loosen my arm
whatever it is you can lie yo can use the real reason doesn'
matter. But just find someone t be your throwing partner. S
obviously people that show up t the game. They're there becaus
they want to play and they wan to be ready to play as well. S
spend the extra effort show u 1015 minutes earlier to you
games, and play catch. But i you can go from one day o
throwing per week, which is i the game to two or three days
week, that's going to make really meaningful difference no
only in working on you mechanics, but also getting you
arm into shape. As a former pr pitcher who's had two elbo
surgeries, I know that takin care of your body is extremel
important that includes a slo ramp up for the season, a goo
arm care regimen, exercises good mechanics, all that stuff
So take it for me get to two o three days a week of throwing
if not more, if you want to it's going to make a really bi
difference. And lastly, when yo throw whether it's betwee
innings, if you throw betwee innings, I know a lot of team
don't. Or if it's before you game, or if it's at home, jus
playing catch throwing a ne net, you want to create
routine of drills that are goin to help improve your game
They're going to help improv your mechanics. So there'
drills on my channel. S obviously, I'll link in th
description below to someone think you're really really good
But your routine can just b things that you do in a game
what you don't want to do i when you do warm up, just thro
like this catch steppin throw This is something that you know
if your son or daughter were t take up baseball or softball
that's not how you want them t warm up. That's not teachin
high level throwing skills i teaching lazy throwing skills
So if you're throwing steal need to improve, every time yo
touch a ball is an opportunit to get better or to get worse a
it. So the very least thing yo could do and this is obviousl
honestly really, really good i just work on the footwork stuf
that you would do in a game. Yo know, if you're an infielder
just sort of Phantom groun ball, and play catch if you'r
an outfielder. You can work o your pro step. Just act like yo
field one, boom, work on you pro step. That's great. That'
really really good. That's eas to do. There's also dedicate
throwing drills that will hel you work on your glove ar
action on different parts o your throwing motion in general
Again, I'll link to some o those below. So hopefully thi
video is helpful. Obviously there's not a lot of resource
for slowpitch players out there Most of my channel is dedicate
to fastpitch. I also have baseball channel but I want t
do some dedicated videos for yo who just want to have more fu
playing more positions, and pla a little bit of a higher leve
in slow pitch. Thanks f r watching, and be sure to che
k out the links in the descripti n below for my online courses a
d other helpful video