Category: Pitchers

How to throw faster as a softball pitcher

It’s a new year, but you have the same goal: you wanna throw harder. Good.

From tons of college camp experience, I can tell you that serious D1 college coaches won’t give a second look if you’re not throwing 60+ MPH on the Pocket Radar. If you want to increase your speed this year, you must work! There is no simple answer, but I will give you a few key areas to focus on.

To increase speed as a softball pitcher, you will want to

  1. Focus on generating power from the ground up.
  2. Maximize your arm speed during the pitch delivery.
  3. Get yourself into a targeted, balanced strength training routine focusing on hip and core strength.

Mechanics matter also, don’t forget. Even more important than speed, proper mechanics equal long-term health and the ability to go extra innings with even more fluid motion as the game goes on.

Generate power from the ground up

The lower body is essential for maximum velocity. This involves explosively driving off of the mound. When your coach yells, “Use your legs,” they just mean push hard off the mound and engage the glutes and the quads. Drive off the mound like a sprinter. Understand that this initial force can generate an additional 10 MPH when done with correct intent.

Arm speed matters

Arm speed by itself can generate up to 50 MPH when done efficiently. Follow that with a strong, powerful wrist snap to take the velocity up another notch on release. And don’t hold back. Ensure your arm fully extends the whip through the release for optimal power transfer.

Build core strength

Now let’s circle back to the hard work part. This includes proper strength training, especially in the core. Sit-ups, 6-inch leg lifts, and plank variations strengthen the core muscles so you can stay tall and prevent energy leaks. And keep in mind, targeted dynamic exercises for the rotator cuff are also vital. Keeping this collection of muscles that work together to perform complex arm and shoulder motions is key to maintaining velocity and shoulder health.

So in summary, if you want to increase your velocity as a fastpitch softball pitcher in 2025, it’s not rocket science. You have to put in the work and reps. I recommend you focus on lower body strength and leg drive, arm speed and whip, along with balanced strength training, because naturally, getting stronger means you will throw harder, and when done right, you will stay healthier. Good luck and enjoy the pitching journey!

3 things that can make a great pitcher look, well… not so great

From my experience as a head softball coach, a pitch caller, and from giving instruction to catchers over the years, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on a few things in the game of fastpitch softball that I’ve noticed can make a great pitcher—one that has worked hard over many years to become great—look not so great, even just plain bad at times. And on the other hand, when these 3 ‘planets’ align with the great pitcher, championships are coming!

Continue reading “3 things that can make a great pitcher look, well… not so great”

Pitcher rants on Twitter, ugh

So the other day, as I’m scanning through my Twitter feed, I noticed a pitcher (who had some success in college) sent a tweet that struck me odd. I’m not a big fan of broad generalizations, to begin with, and the tweet seemed to be a rant about a pitching style that is called ‘hello elbow’. The style, made popular by Doug and Jenny Finch, can be helpful, at times, in keeping girls from chicken winging their elbow out and rolling their wrists as they are releasing their pitch. This finish-high training aid can help to create less torsion (or pull) on the shoulder and less stress on the elbow joint if the pitcher is not keeping the elbow tight to the body on release. I probably would not have replied if it were just that single tweet, but I saw other college pitchers (that also had a bit of success) liking it.

I felt compelled to quickly reply with a video showing the great Cat Osterman releasing her pitch with a very, very high elbow. By the way, Cat has one of the nastiest drop balls on the planet, hmmm… I wonder why?

softball-pitching-tweet-rant

I felt compelled to quickly reply with a video showing the great Cat Osterman releasing her pitch with a very, very high elbow. By the way, Cat has one of the nastiest drop balls on the planet, hmmm… I wonder why?

The simple fact that two of the best pitchers to ever throw in the game of fastpitch softball, Jenny Finch and Cat Osterman, have either delivered pitches (at times) with a high elbow, or they have instructed young pitchers to utilize this (depending on what pitch they are throwing) points me in the direction that, at least for some girls, a high elbow may have a place. The reality that both of these softball pitchers have at one point or another utilized this style of a high elbow finish (in fact, see image!), and both have gold medals in the USA Olympics and are in the record books time and time again. Isn’t that a reason by itself to not totally discredit it, or at least, not rant against it? Don’t misunderstand me. I do not teach “hello elbow”, but I also do not lock all girls into a single pitching style where they cannot finish with a high elbow either. Outside of the safe fundamental mechanics, there is room for individual style and uniqueness.

What did I reply?

I simply stated that all girls are different. Some girls, especially when they’re very young, will benefit from something as pneumonic and straightforward as the phrase ‘finish high’ to alleviate a bad habit that is forming or even work on a more advanced version of the peel drop. In this situation, this effort could help keep them from potentially damaging their shoulder when they’re throwing a pitch. All girls are different physically! Again, beyond the core fundamentals that keep a girl’s pitching mechanics efficient and safe, they should be allowed to make these explosive pitching motions and finishes somewhat their own, especially when two of the greatest fastpitch softball spin pitchers to ever play the game are doing and recommending it on occasion.