Improve Pitching Accuracy with 2 Unexpected Tools 🛠️

Hey There Friend!

Looking for some simple ideas to help your pitcher see just how well she commands the zone?

Need a way to make target work more FUN and COMPETITIVE and less monotonous at practice?

If  so, invest in a couple swimming noodles and toilet plungers to use with your pitcher during her next workout!

The video above shows how to set them up and how we use them during training!

This pitcher makes it looks easy, but it's quite challenging for most pitchers when they are learning. Be patient when you pitcher struggles to get the ball between them and breaks a plunger or 2 at first! ; ) 

Here are some things noodles and plungers help you do:

• Chart your pitcher's accuracy/improvement over time
  • Have her throw 10 pitches to both sides of the plate and record how many times she gets the ball between the noodle.
    • If she hits 2 on the left side and 4 on the right side, the next time set goals of getting 1 more pitch through on each side. If you use the noodles consistently, over several weeks, it's really fun to see the progress you pitcher is able to make with her command of the zone!
• Play competitive games with your pitcher
  • Pre-season is the perfect time to incorporate target challenges into your bullpens.
  • My pitchers LOVE competing against each other as they prepare for their seasons to begin soon! "PIG" is one of their favorite games to play. They get to call their spot (we have noodles set up on both sides of the plate) and if they hit it, the pitcher they are competing against must hit that spot to avoid getting a letter. The person that spells out "PIG" first loses the game (just like if you were playing this game shooting a basketball).
• Take the "guessing" out of target work
  • Using the noodles and plungers makes hitting a target objective, there is no one judging if the ball hit the target. If it goes between the noodles the pitcher hit her target, if it doesn't go between the noodles, she missed!
  • You've likely had arguments with your pitcher about if the pitch is a ball or strike. The noodles help get rid of the "disagreements" you have on this subject anyway! : )

The more FUN you can make target work for your pitcher, the more likely she will want to do it, my friend! If you can get your pitcher to improve ONLY one thing this pre-season, make it be her command of the strike zone!

Being able to throw the ball where she wants, with a high degree of consistency, will help you pitcher creates LOTS of outs for her team!

Let me know how your pitcher likes working with the noodles and plungers if you get the chance! You can reach me HERE anytime, and I always enjoy hearing how things go with your pitcher!

All My Best,

Myndie