Help Your Pitcher INCREASE her PERCEIVED Velocity

What is PERCEIVED Velocity?

Have you ever faced a pitcher that “seemed” a lot faster than her actual velocity shows?

Maybe your radar gun says that she is throwing in the 57-59mph range but your hitters are late so much she SEEMS like she's throwing in the mid-60's consistently!

If so, that pitcher has what’s called a HIGH perceived velocity.

If you'd like to help your pitcher appear faster (and who wouldn't want to do that), you should absolutely be considering ways that you can help her INCREASE her perceived velocity!

Here are FOUR key areas to consider that can affect perception speed:

1. Stride Length

A pitcher that gets CLOSER to the hitter with her stride gives the hitter LESS time to SEE the ball.

Let's say you have 2 pitchers that both have an ACTUAL velocity of 55mph. One pitcher takes a stride that is equal to 5 of her steps. The other pitcher takes a stride that is equal to 7.5 of her steps.

Will one of these pitchers seem faster than the other even if they throw exactly the same speed on a radar gun?

The answer is likely YES!

If you can get your pitcher to increase the length of her stride WITHOUT compromising her foundation/balance, it absolutely can help her seem faster. 

Oh and by the way, it will likely help her improve her ACTUAL velocity as well! ; )

2. Hiding the Ball

Have you every faced a pitcher that had a wind-up that was deceptive and really seemed to affect your hitter's timing?

Maybe it appeared your hitters couldn't SEE the ball until it was on them.

Using a wind-up that doesn’t show the hitter the ball until the latest possible moment is something that can create a high perceived velocity and make a pitcher “sneaky” fast.

Having your pitchers experiment with different wind-ups during the off-season is a great way to find out IF they can gain an advantage over hitters by being a little more deceptive at the start of the pitch.

3. Mixing Speeds

Does your pitcher use a change-up or off-speed pitch confidently anytime? Ahead in the count, behind in the count, first pitch, full count, bases empty, bases loaded?

If not, working to develop this ONE thing can make a dramatic difference for her!

A pitcher that throws a change-up or off-speed pitch often and in any count will increase the perception speed of her fastball.

After seeing a pitch that is slower, the faster pitch may appear 3-5mph faster than it would if speeds weren’t mixed!

It’s very hard for hitters to be on time when they must consistently guess what speed is coming!

4. Mixing Locations

Does your pitcher use both sides of the plate AND move the ball up and down well?

When I watch pitchers compete, I see many of them that live on the low and outside corner of the plate.

While that location is certainly a great spot to use, staying there pitch after pitch really decreases your chances of improving your perception speed and ultimately affecting the hitters timing!

Moving pitches closer to a hitter’s hands IMPROVES perceived velocity.

The pitch that seems the FASTEST to a hitter is the one that is high and inside WHICH also means the pitch with the SLOWEST perception speed is the low and outside pitch.

MIXING locations is an IMPORTANT part of keeping hitters off-time to contact.

If your pitcher isn't confident coming inside on the hitter's hands, work to help her develop it during the off-season. It will make a BIG difference in her effectiveness against hitters.

In Summary:

There are things that ALL pitchers can be doing that can help them disrupt timing WITHOUT gaining any actual speed.

While I absolutely want my pitchers to get FASTER every training season, I also want them to understand these other ways that can help them be successful at keeping hitters off-balance.

Find ONE of these 4 things to work on improving with your pitcher and let me know how it goes!

I'd love to hear the results you see by making some small changes to help her improve her perceived velocity against hitters!

You can reach out to me anytime at: [email protected]!

Best of luck as you get to work my friend!

All My BEST,

Myndie