Think Before You Mimic: What You See on TV Might Not Be So Great

I’m a big baseball fan, and I’m always excited when the beginning of the baseball season comes after a long winter. But what REALLY makes it feel like spring to me is the start of the softball season! I love seeing NCAA softball games on ESPN, and a few have started popping up this past week. However, while the games are fun to watch, and you can certainly learn a lot from studying great college softball players, I’m going to issue a warning for you today: be careful what you mimic.

My goal with this post is certainly not to call out any specific NCAA pitchers for having poor mechanics. In fact, I’m not going to mention anyone by name at all. I just want to share some tips for what you should and should not take away from watching games.

You won’t magically improve by adopting another pitcher’s pre-motion. This is something I’ve encountered with a lot of our pitching students over the years. A young pitcher will be throwing well and developing just fine. Then suddenly, at her next lesson, she’ll have a completely different pre-motion. When we ask why, she’ll say, “Oh, this is how so-and-so does it.” There are probably a lot of pitchers in the world who throw harder than you do. Their pre-motions are probably not the reason why. In fact, if your pre-motion is too wild and exaggerated, it can affect your pitch negatively. Also, when you’re developing as a pitcher, it can be detrimental to change your motion unnecessarily while you’re trying to get your muscles to memorize it and repeat it as consistently as possible.

Many pitchers pitch illegally. If you’ve been watching the college world series over the past couple of years, you may have noticed that illegal pitches, particularly crow hopping (when the drive through foot breaks contact with the ground) and stepping outside the width of the rubber, have been a topic of conversation. A major pet peeve of mine is how inconsistently the umpires at ALL levels enforce these rules, especially because crow hopping in particular is such a common problem. If you’ve ever been told that you pitch illegally, don’t let the fact that elite pitchers frequently get away with it be an excuse for you not to address the problem.

Many elite pitchers do not employ optimal mechanics. We know that it’s unrealistic to expect every windmill pitcher to pitch exactly the same way. However, we do believe that optimal mechanics that can achieve the best result for the greatest number if pitchers do exist. There are a lot of factors that contribute to a pitcher’s ability to throw 60+ miles per hour, many of which have to do with her individual body type. For example, a pitcher who is over six feet tall may be able to generate a lot of power without taking the most aggressive stride. The point is, just because one pitcher makes something work, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for you.

Unless you’re an expert, you may not even know what you’re looking at. Most elite pitchers have an array of pitches in their repertoire. Some don’t even throw a fastball as their primary pitch. I remember a specific lesson that I had a couple of years ago with a student who was struggling to gain speed because she was stopping her hand sharply right at the release of the ball. Her father asked me about a pitcher he saw on TV who was doing just that and pitching very effectively. It turned out that that pitcher had been throwing a lot of drops, which require you to stop your hand sharply.

I know the journey toward becoming an elite pitcher can be difficult and frustrating at times, and it can be tempting to look to others for quick fixes and magic cures. Before you blindly mimic another pitcher, I would encourage you to have confidence in the things you’re doing well, and always feel free to ask us questions via the comments or our contact page. We may even dedicate a post to your question!