Velocity – It’s More Than How Hard You Throw

Hey There Friend!

A pitcher’s job is to throw strikes AND help create outs for her team. She can do that by striking hitters out OR by controlling hitters and making them hit the ball to her defense. Every pitcher is a little different in which type of OUT she is best at creating.

Location, spin, movement and velocity all go in to determining which types of outs a pitcher can help her team create. When we look specifically at VELOCITY, there are many things to consider that will affect a hitter’s timing and get swing and misses or weak contacts.

Actual Velocity

This is the number on the radar gun. Checking actual velocity occasionally is a good way for to monitor progress over time. Improving actual velocity takes work! Make sure that mechanics are efficient so the entire body is used to generate speed AND that full effort is consistently used during workouts. Also, incorporate specific things into workouts to help build strength/quickness. Distance pitching; power circuits with a focus on legs & core exercises; assisted and resisted ankle & full body harnesses and over/under weighted pitches can all be beneficial in developing actual velocity.

Perceived Velocity

Have you ever faced a pitcher that “seemed” a lot faster than her actual velocity shows? If so, she has what’s called a HIGH perceived velocity. There are many things that can affect how hard a pitcher seems to throw:

1. Stride Length: A pitcher that throws 60mph with a 7’ stride will SEEM to throw harder than a pitcher that throws the same actual velocity (60mph) with a 5’ stride because the hitter won’t get to see the ball as long.

2. Hiding the Ball: 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.

3. Mixing Speeds: A pitcher that throws a change-up or off-speed pitch often will increase perception speed to her fastball. After seeing a pitch that is slower, the faster pitch may “seem” 2-3mph 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: Moving pitches closer to a hitter’s hands increases perceived velocity.

Effective Velocity

A pitch’s effective velocity is determined by combining the actual velocity with the pitch location. A 60mph pitch at the hitter’s hands is going to require a hitter to get to contact more quickly, meaning it seems faster, than a 60mph pitch thrown to the low outside corner. Understanding the velocity of each type of pitch and how to combine/locate them to keep the hitter off-time consistently is something that allows a pitcher to control hitters extremely well regardless of the actual velocity of the pitch.

Here's a short QUIZ that you can use with your pitchers and catchers to make sure they understand the information. Paying attention to EACH of these types of velocity, and understanding how to use them to create an advantage against hitters, is a BIG part of what can help your pitcher create OUTS!

All My BEST,

Myndie