How to Increase Your Speed as a Baseball Pitcher

Adding speed or velocity to your fastball is a goal of just about every baseball pitcher. The fastball is the most used pitch in your arsenal and can also be your most important. Several factors go into throwing your fastball at a high speed, including your arm angle, genetics and practice habits. Making tweaks to your mechanics and strengthening certain areas of your body will help increase your pitching speed.

Instructions

    • 1

      Increase your leg strength to enable you to drive off the mound toward the plate. Perform squats, hill sprints, lunges and jumping squats as part of your strength workouts.

    • 2

      Perform core exercise with a medicine ball to strengthen your midsection for greater pitch speed. Lie on the floor holding the ball overhead and come up into the pike position, touching the ball to your toes. Hold the ball up over one shoulder and chop it down to your opposite hip to simulate a wood chopping motion.

    • 3

      Strengthen your arm, shoulder and upper back muscles with resistance band exercises. Stand in the middle of the band and press the handles overhead or attach the band to a fixed object and simulate your throwing motion with resistance from the band.

    • 4

      Increase your overall arm strength by throwing regularly. Count off 90 or 100 feet and play long toss with a partner. Use your pitching motion for 20 to 30 throws per session.