MENTAL IMAGING
Some of you may think I am crazy when you read this, but I now live by it, and
have a successful pitching staff because of it. This is a direct incorporation
with the 4 Step Approach to Pitching in another drill. So you may need to go read
that if this doesn't make sense.
Mental imaging is getting a picture in your mind of what the task at hand is.
Psychologically, a person will tend to be more successful if they can get a mental
image of what they need to do in their head.
So what I have my pitchers do is play catch with their partners. The get the idea
of how far apart they are and play catch to warm up. Then I have them close their
eyes. Before they throw they get that picture of where they are throwing and how
they are throwing. Then they throw. Most often then not their first throw is off...bad.
This is more than likely due to the fact that they think they can't. Can't never
did anything. Once they get serious and think about what they are doing, they
play catch better then they did with their eyes open. Most of them are surprised
and gain some confidence.
When this is done we go to the pen and do the exact same thing...at full speed.
Here is where we break down the motion into the four steps. The pitcher goes through
this same process each pitch:
He looks at the catcher's glove and closes his eyes. He gets the mental image
of where he wants the pitch, what the pitch is going to do, and even as far as
seeing a batter swing through it. He also sees his perfect motion delivering the
perfect pitch. He then goes through the 4-step motion counting out loud or to
himself every step. Step one is the rocker, step two is the foot in front of the
rubber, step three is the post position and step four is the explosion of the
hips and release of the baseball.
He opens his eyes and sees the pitch hit the spot he saw in his head. The confidence
there is addicting and priceless. He now has the ability to gather that information
in a game and use it when he has to.... with confidence.
Submitted by: Coach B
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