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Click Above And Visit This Great Hitting Guru's Site. Visit Mike's Hitting Forum And Pick Up Some Great Hitting Tips ! Mike Epstein Carreer Highlights: Member, first United States Olympic baseball team [Japan, 1964] Still holds highest lifetime batting average at the University of California, Berkeley [.384] Class A California League Rookie-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year, League MVP [1965] Class AAA International League Rookie-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year, League MVP [1966] Sporting News and Topps Minor League Player-of-the-Year [1966] American League record, most putouts, first baseman one game, 32 [versus Chicago White Sox, 1967] Hit three home runs in one game [versus Chicago White Sox, 1969] Won prestigious Major League “Player Win Average” award in the American League, given to baseball’s most productive hitter. (Willie McCovey won it in the National League) [1969] One game, career-high eight runs-batted-in [versus Baltimore Orioles, 1970] Tied Major League record four consecutive home runs [versus Washington Senators, 1971] Member, World Champion Oakland Athletics. Led team in home runs [1972] Came in third in the American League home run race, 1972 Washington Senators club record, most home runs by a left-handed hitter, season, 30 [1969] Coach, San Diego Crush, 3-time Amateur World Champions [1991, 1992, 1994] Minor League Manager and Roving Hitting Instructor, Milwaukee Brewers, [1993] Minor League Hitting Coordinator San Diego Padres [2000
All of these drills improve speed and control/direction. 1. Stand facing toward the wall in your stride position (standing sideways). Take a ball and flick your ball straight to the wall and it should come right back to you. Only use you wrist no windmill. This drill can be done indoors with a rubber or incrediball, or outside with a regular ball against a pitchback. 2. This drill is also to be done in or outdoors. Stand 8ft. Away from the wall in your stride position, do your windmill and close your hips and the ball should come right back to you 3. This one is also to be done in or outdoors. Stand 6ft away from a wall in your stride position and just do your windmill do not close your hips, the ball should come right back to you, time yourself for 15 seconds and see how many you can do. Every time you do it see if you can get more than the time before. 4. The last drill should be done outside with a catcher. Get a weight ball and kneel down on one knee with your other knee facing the catcher. And only using your wrist snap flick the ball to your target or catcher. As you do 15 move back a couple of feet. When you're about 10ft from the plate use a regular ball. Then when you're about 20ft away from the plate do the windmill, until you can do this all the way from the rubber.
As far as drills for a curve the most useful is having the pitcher throw from the slingshot position. Concentrating on the proper position of the hand at the hip. Instead of the ball facing the batter when it is at the hip, the hand should be palm up to the sky and the ball laying in the hand so if you were to stop the motion the ball would stay in the hand. Once the pitcher starts her push off the rubber she should concentrate on bringing the hand around with the hip and peeling the ball off the side of the hand. The forefinger (the middle one) will be along the seam and the index finger under the forefinger ( basically the same grip as the rise). The forefinger will peel the ball off sideways by using the seam, in effect spinning the ball. Be careful not to get under the ball that will cause it to rise. As far as in and out all you can do is try different release points, the more a pitcher throws the more comfortable and accurate she will become.
Softball Fast Pitch FOREARM STRENGTH
Posted by Patrick Piteo at Nov 12, 2002 4:00PM PST
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Heres a tip a coach told me about quite a number of years ago. This drill can increase your strength in the hand, wrist, and especially the forearm. Using this exercise really helped me in my pitching. Put a pile of single sheet newspapers in an area you would normally walk by the most times during the day. Every time you walk by, grab a sheet and wad it up, using only one hand. This is the kind of exercise that you hardly notice doing after awhile.
