So, I joined a co-ed team in a U-Trip modified league recently (I play 2x week in another ASA Slow-Pitch league, where I pitch full-time). They are pretty bad (Last in league - Work team that is more concerned with people playing than winning, but that's OK. Been there...). I did not even realize it was modified pitch rules first couple weeks, as all I saw were people pitching low to mid-height meatballs, but then ump actualy explained it before the game last week. In fact, before that, I did not even know what modified was.
So, sue me.
Not sure why I see nobody trying this vs. lob... ? Maybe it has to do with league starting counts at 1-1, and so less room for error with harder pitches? Or maybe nobody can do it well, or even thought of doing it? But I think if you could do it well, it could make a pretty big difference for a bad team, by not allowing placement of hits so much (and producing more grounders), and adding some K's in the mix (pretty rare now, and only from taking pitches). I threw a few for fun before our game yesterday to a girl from our team that is a decent hitter, and fanned her 3x. She asked out loud why I was not pitching (the main reason for that being it is the regular spot for a girl there before I arrived, but whom would be better suited playing at 2nd, in my opinion).
OK - A little brag.
Any way, I am now interested in taking a crack at pitching for them, and trying to heat some in there vs the meatball approach (been playing other positions for them so far, as they needed help in field more than pitching). Threw some in the backyard with my son the other day (he's 15, Me 42), and did pretty well at generating some good speed (guess 40-50MPH-ish on best), while still having decent control (height was the issue, more than in-out, as you would suspect). Think this could mess with batters only used to easy-to-hit lobs, and especially mess with the large majority of the girls.
So, I Googled around, but find very little in the way of info/instruction on good modified technique for speed (couple decent vids of a Canadian guy pitching with an unusual wind-up to help generate speed, but not much else). So, I figure this might be a good place to ask for any tips or practice ideas for learning to generate better speed and good release points (and tips for more advanced techniques, like curves and knuckles, if possible).
Any ideas, drills, tips, links (especially video) would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks!
So, sue me.
Not sure why I see nobody trying this vs. lob... ? Maybe it has to do with league starting counts at 1-1, and so less room for error with harder pitches? Or maybe nobody can do it well, or even thought of doing it? But I think if you could do it well, it could make a pretty big difference for a bad team, by not allowing placement of hits so much (and producing more grounders), and adding some K's in the mix (pretty rare now, and only from taking pitches). I threw a few for fun before our game yesterday to a girl from our team that is a decent hitter, and fanned her 3x. She asked out loud why I was not pitching (the main reason for that being it is the regular spot for a girl there before I arrived, but whom would be better suited playing at 2nd, in my opinion).
OK - A little brag.
Any way, I am now interested in taking a crack at pitching for them, and trying to heat some in there vs the meatball approach (been playing other positions for them so far, as they needed help in field more than pitching). Threw some in the backyard with my son the other day (he's 15, Me 42), and did pretty well at generating some good speed (guess 40-50MPH-ish on best), while still having decent control (height was the issue, more than in-out, as you would suspect). Think this could mess with batters only used to easy-to-hit lobs, and especially mess with the large majority of the girls.
So, I Googled around, but find very little in the way of info/instruction on good modified technique for speed (couple decent vids of a Canadian guy pitching with an unusual wind-up to help generate speed, but not much else). So, I figure this might be a good place to ask for any tips or practice ideas for learning to generate better speed and good release points (and tips for more advanced techniques, like curves and knuckles, if possible).
Any ideas, drills, tips, links (especially video) would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks!
