I remember during my freshman year sitting with a former college teammate one night having a discussion on performance after a late-night bite to eat. He was a division 1transfer, a highly sought-after MLB draft prospect, and 3 years my elder. We were talking about how I could get back on track during my outings after seeing a large decrease in velocity and command. I was so fixated on my velocityI was overlooking the main component of pitching: getting outs. He told me something that has stuck with me ever since that night. Velocity will get you there, but something else has to keep you there. It seems like he’s been sticking to that motto as he’s now serviced 3 big league ball clubs as a member or the back-end bullpen and has consistently run it up to 99 mph. I thought that saying to be so true, as I began to little by little regain velocity I still struggled with my command, something that I took for granted for so many years. In this mini-series I will outline ways thatI have improved my command along with hundreds of athletes that I have worked with.
1. Intentional catch play
This sounds so simple but is overlooked. I remember seeing a clip of DrivelineBaseball’s founder, Kyle Boddy, speaking about why athletes wonder why their command is terrible and inconsistent. He summed up his statements by saying if you have zero intention of where you’re throwing the ball whether it’s at 15 feet or 300 feet, then yes, your command will struggle. It reminds me of the movie American Sniper, when Chris Kyle consistently reminds himself to aim small, miss small. The reality is that pitchers only have a few times a week they can get off the mound. Whereas hitters can get in the cage and endlessly take swings. Let’s say we limit these bullpens to 30-40 pitches. If we are only working command for 60-80pitches per week out of the hundreds of throws that we make during that week, we are doing ourselves or our athletes an incredible disservice. Catch play is not meant to warm up, that should have been taken care of during your prep work. The main purpose of catch play is to home in on your ability to hit spots with every single one of your pitches. That is your lab time. If someone works command for 550 throws per week compared to someone who only works command for those60-80 throws, who do you think will have better command and consistency overtime?
2. 6-4-5 Command Pen
Once an athlete has a solid foundation of mobility, strength, and movement patterns we can begin to add variability to their training. One way we can add variability and improve command is to implement what we call a 6-4-5 command pen. With this sequence we start with a 6 oz baseball and make a pitch, we then grab a 4 oz baseball and make another pitch, finally we grab a normal 5 oz baseball and make our final pitch of that sequence. What you should notice is that your 6 oz throws will be up in the zone and your 4 oz throws will more than likely be low/spiked. We are forcing our body to adjust to the different variations in our hand and constantly challenging the athlete. As time progresses you will notice that all baseballs will begin to be in the zone, and you will see a drastic improvement in command of all your pitches. A great example of this is Kyle Gibson while he was with the Minnesota Twins link here. We can even expand on different conversation of throwing a different baseball each time making the bullpen completely chaotic with softballs, weighted balls, or light flite balls.
3. Variable Bullpen Distances
During my college career I played with a kid who was a2-time Utility All-American. He could jump on the mound cold and hit every spot throughout his outing. No matter the situation or preparation he was given he could toe the rubber and 9/10 times the catcher wouldn’t even move his glove. He could put the ball anywhere he wanted and would throw complete games in under 90 pitches. Once I put away my 20-minute hate of his Greg Maddux command I started to watch what his daily routine was like at practice. He never spent any time in the bullpen. His catch play routine was extremely strict as he would practice throwing off one-foot, opposite foot, and never made two throws in a row at the same distance. Even fielding ground balls at third he would move around everywhere and that is when it clicked for me. His command on and off the mound is so great because he is always challenging himself in a different position.Marcus Stroman and many others will incorporate this into their warm up and it can be seen below.
He had no idea what variability was, but he was doing it on every throw. That is when I began to take that concept and add it into my own routines. I would place three plates in the bullpen. One plate would be in front of the home plate at 60 feet 6 inches, the other would be behind it. I would have the catcher move back and forth between all 3 with all my pitches. After I established some comfort there, I would have the catcher move drastically side to side. This not only taught me how to command the ball from any distance, but it also taught me how to control spinning my baseball and gave me an enhanced feel of my secondary pitches out of the hand.
4. Breath Controlled Pens
The simplest way to control your performance is to control your breathing.
For example, this is why at sniper school one of the first things they are taught is how to breath. Along with that, tune into the next boxing or MMA fight on TV. When the fighter sits down, what is the first thing their trainer says? Is it, “man, YOU are getting rocked!!” No, it’s, “control your breathing.” You might say well the fighter just went 1-3minutes of punching, kicking, or wrestling someone as hard as they can and they’re out of breath. However, unless this is a Rough ‘n’ Rowdy fight, these athletes are in the top 1% of the world in physical endurance and do not get fatigued until late in the fight. Still unsure breathing is the root of all performance? Read this peer-reviewed journal or watch this video with Josh Waitzkins. Now to get back to the breath-controlled pens that we created that are now used in college baseball programs. The goal of this is to limit the amount of breaths the athlete can take in between pitches. By having a set number of breaths, the athlete is then forced to take full deep breathes utilizing their diaphragm and focus more on breathing. For a template of breath-controlled pens, click here.
If you're looking to improve your command, contact Training@Connected-Performance.com.