Softball Drills to Increase Pitching Speed

Nearly every part of a pitcher's body affects her pitches. Her posture, stance, stride, grip, and follow-through changes the speed, curve and landing of the ball. This incredible opportunity for nuance makes throwing a softball difficult, and throwing a softball with speed harder still. The following drills help the pitcher steadily increase the speed of her pitches while retaining the integrity of proper throwing mechanics.

  1. Stride

    • An essential part of a fast pitch is the stride. A weak stride ultimately results in a slower pitch or a pitch that lands outside of the strike zone. To help the pitcher practice her stride, purchase or put together a bungee device. This device should consist of a harness that goes around her waist with a bungee cord firmly attached. The cord should be able to attach to a wall or fence at the opposite end. After putting the harness on, she can practice her stride at a faster speed without the danger of falling over or otherwise hurting herself. The added resistance of the bungee cord when attached to a wall or fence forces her to use more of her core and leg strength. The muscles involved in her stride are stronger and easier to activate.

    Weighted Ball

    • Purchase a weighted ball from a sporting goods store. For safety, the pitcher should never throw at 100-percent effort with a weighted ball, because it could injure her throwing arm. First, have her practice weighted throws at a moderate speed that is about 40 percent her maximum. Similar to the harness, the weighted ball strengthens her throwing arm and prepares her to throw a normal softball with more velocity.

    Knee

    • To isolate and strengthen the arm, have the pitcher take a knee. If she is right handed, she kneels on her right knee, and if she is left handed she kneels on the left knee. While kneeling, have her throw to the pitcher using only her upper body. The pitcher should keep her back straight, shoulders open and chest up. When she can hit designated targets, instruct her to throw fastballs to the catcher as seen in Maven Video's "Softball Pitching Tips and Drills---Increase Speed Video." Finally, when she stands to pitch at the end of the drill, her upper body should drive the ball forward with ease because of the added support of her legs.