Switch Pitching 101

Switch-pitcher comes to Rays with 42nd pick Despite rare ability, Vettleson likely to make name in outfield By Bill Chastain / MLB.com  06/08/10 ST. PETERSBURG -- Drew Vettleson, a high school outfielder/pitcher from Silverdale, Wash., became the third and final pick of the Rays on Monday, Day 1 of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. The Rays selected Vettleson with their "sandwich pick," which was the 42nd overall of the Draft. Vettleson is also a high school player and possesses the rare ability of being able to throw right-handed and left-handed. Though he can touch 90 mph on the mound, he is known as a better outfield prospect with power potential from the left side. Read More Switch-pitcher: More than just a novelty act Carla Swank | Rivals High  April 19, 2010 New York Yankees pitcher Pat Venditte got the attention of the sports world last month when he became baseball's first "switch-pitcher" in a spring training game - throwing to batters

#19  Cleveland Indians nicknamed "The Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert" November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010 (aged 92) Position : Pitcher Bats:  Right Throws:  Right Height:  6' 0" Weight:  185 lb. Bob Feller grew up on a farm in Iowa, and in his spare time he loved playing baseball. His father built a baseball diamond on the farm that he named "Oak View Park", then recruited his son and others to play for a team he named The Oakviews. Feller was signed at age 16, by scout Cy Slapnicka for $1 and an autographed baseball. What a steal. Known for his high leg kick, this All-star pitcher could bring the heat - throwing the fastball over 100 mph. Feller credited his arm strength and ball speed to milking cows, picking corn, and baling hay. Career Highlights - Winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history (266 victories) - 8-time All star - Inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1962 - Record:    266–16

Forget about throwing the curveball when you are 9 years olds. Here are three pitches that a Little League pitcher can use to keep hitters off balance and mess up their timing. 1) 4-seam fastball 2) 2-seam fastball 3) changeup These pitches can be thrown with the same arm angle and speed. The key is to locate the pitches on the corners or low in the zone for strikes. 4-seam Fastball - The Heater Use the 4-seam fastball on most of your pitches. Throw the fastball on the inside or outside corner for strikes. If they start fouling it off, then switch to the two seam fastball. 2-seamer - The Sinker Hitters have trouble tracking the movement of a 2-seam fastball, especially when thrown by a lefty pitcher. The 2-seamer thrown toward the middle of the plate, by a lefty, can run low and away from a right handed hitter. The pitch will run to the outside of a left-handed hitter, when thrown by a right-handed pitcher. Cy Young award winner Félix Hernández throws a fastball that has

by Kevin O'Donnell, FOX 13 Tampa Bay TAMPA - Pat Vendetti causes a lot of double takes. He's not a twin, but he's two different pitchers -- actually ambidextrous. He started at the age of three. "It was my Dad's idea," Vendetti said. "He's been working with me ever since I started. He's been very supportive of me and I wouldn't be here without him today. I'm very appreciative of that." For Vendetti, throwing with both  arms comes natural. What makes it easier is his specially designed six-finger, two-pocket glove. "It's a six-fingered glove," he says. "Two-thumbed glove with the pocket in the middle. You just kind of catch the ball over here, your makeshift pocket on either side. Depending on which hand you are catching with." Read More In 2010, Vendetti was one of the top relievers for the Tampa Yankees with an ERA of 1.84 in 24 games.

WHAT IS LITTLE LEAGUER'S ELBOW ? Little Leaguer's Elbow is pain on the side of the elbow that is closest to the body. In Little Leaguer's Elbow, the growth plate is irritated or inflamed. This problem is often caused by overuse of the throwing arm by pitchers. The most important treatment for Little Leaguer's Elbow is to not throw if the growth plate is inflamed. Rest the arm and see a doctor for treatment. Read more Source: University Sports Medicine, University of Buffalo HOW CAN LITTLE LEAGUER'S ELBOW BE PREVENTED? The best way to prevent Little Leaguer's Elbow is to limit the amount of throwing a player does. Since this problem occurs the most in young pitchers, there are guidelines for how many pitches or innings a child can throw in a week. Even without overuse, poor throwing mechanics can lead to arm injury, so it is important to learn proper throwing techniques from an experienced coach. Little League Pitch Count Limits and Mandatory Res

The changeup is thrown with the same arm angle and speed as a fastball, but using a looser three-finger grip instead of two. Players with small hands often use the claw grip, while players with larger hands can use a circle changeup.  According to pitcher Steven Ellis -  The key to an effective changeup is deception. A changeup must look like  a fastball , but come in slower and lower in the strike zone. A fastball is held tightly with the index and middle fingers. With the change up, you hold the ball lightly, keeping the wrist loose, and there is more contact with the ball to create friction.  Think fastball arm speed The arm speed of a changeup should be the same as a fastball. Young  pitchers tend to slow their arm motion down and good hitters will soon recognize the pitch as being off speed.  A good changeup looks like a fastball on release, but is 8-10 mph slower than the pitcher's fastball. The slower velocity of the ball causes a hitter to slow down their swing

Joseph Alan Vavra Born: November 16, 1959 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Bats: Left Throws: Right or Left Positions: 2B, 1B, SS, 3B, OF, C College:  University of Wisconsin-Stout Joe Vavra, htting coach for the Minnesota Twins can throw right- or left-handed. This talent comes in handy when throwing batting practice.  Vavra threw right-handed as a player, going from Wisconsin-Stout to the Dodgers' organization and reaching Class AAA. At age 11, he began toying with throwing left-handed, too. He tried it only once in a game, pitching to one hitter in an amateur contest and inducing a ground out. (source: StarTribune.com) Twins fail first test vs. lefties | StarTribune SEATTLE - Twins hitting coach Joe Vavra usually throws batting practice with his right arm, but the schedule has taken a strange twist, so there he was in the batting cage Tuesday, pitching lefthanded. Vavra is ambidextrous, an uncommon bonus at a time like this. The Twins don't have a lefthanded bat

Curveball  - The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. ( Wikipedia  ) How to throw a curveball  (video) Explains the curveball grip and throwing technique. When Should Young Players Start Throwing a Curveball? One thing that I've noticed in my 15 years working with pitchers is that there are more pitchers who hurt themselves from throwing fastballs due to poor mechanics or because they aren't functionally strong or because their workloads are too high - than ever hurt themselves throwing curveballs. Any one pitch thrown with the proper mechanics is not going to hurt your arm. Any pitch thrown with improper mechanics can and will lead to arm problems. (www.hardballacademy.com) Know when to throw the curveball Once a Little League player learns the curveball, they fall in love with the pitch. When they star

Is pitching velocity overrated? Yes, maybe. Young pitchers with a strong arm often have trouble locating the fastball in the strikezone. An experienced umpire commented that pitchers would do better if they took a little off the fastball - maybe 3-5 mph and controled the location of the pitch. The best pitchers have success locating the fastball low and away for strikes. It is more important to locate a pitch, have movement and change speeds. This will keep a hitter off balance and mess up their timing. My son prefers to have a low pitch count inning - under 10 pitches.  By locating his pitches and changing speeds, he is able to get out of an inning quicker than the power pitchers. A Little Leaguer can use three pitches to keep a hitter guessing: 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball and change up (10 mph slower than the fastball). Add in a splitter or a knuckle ball and watch the hitter walk back to the dugout shaking their head. Remember, a ball with movement is very hard to hi

A baseball glove for switch pitchers is available from  Akadema Until recently, ambi gloves were custom made and very expensive ($400 - $600), so players used two separate gloves. Now you can order a high quaility ambidextrous glove for $135 from Akadema or $100 from Amazon . This can be cheaper than owning two separate pitching gloves - plus it's really cool. My son has been using an Akadema ambi glove for six months and likes being able to switch between throwing arms without changing gloves. The six-finger glove is stiff out of the box, and requires breaking in like other quality gloves. I tried it out and it's fun to use. The glove doesn't have webbing like a standard glove - which is actually ok since it means you use two hands on the catch. When you get it down on the ground to snatch ground balls it fans out like a large scoop which is really nice. Sure beats the old flattened gloves. Akadema's Ambidextrous Glove 12" Trap design.  E

IKM-Manning High School (Class of 2011) Manilla, Iowa #5, Wolves Baseball Positions: RHP / LHP Glove: custom ambidextrous glove TPX $400 Bats: Switch hitter Stephen Kenkel, a high school switch pitcher, hopes to follow Pat Venditte's example and play professional baseball. He says he still has some work to do. Sometimes when he switches sides, he gets confused and forgets his form. Kenkel also said he needs to work on his velocity. KETV.com feature (YouTube) Interview with Stephen Kenkel, ambidextrous pitcher - shows him pitching from both sides. Ambidextrous  Pitcher  Jeered, Cheered - Sports News Story - KETV Omaha World Herald honors area baseball players August 19, 2011 The Omaha World Herald released its All-Western Iowa baseball teams on Wednesday. IKM-Manning senior pitcher Stephen Kenkel was named to the second team in Class 2A/1A. Kenkel two-hits West Harrison in Wolves’ victory June 17, 2011, DBRnews Kenkel also hurt West Ha

Joey Watson, a switch pitcher, was featured in the news during his junior year in High School. HS School Team: Harselle Tigers (Class of 2003) Harselle, Alabama College: Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, Alabama - 2005 Dominant hand: Naturally right-handed Glove: six finger custom glove with two thumbs LHP: 83-84 mph fastball; curveball RHP: 86-87 mph fastball; curveball His father taught him to throw with both arms when he was five-years-old. Practice throwing a bucket of balls every day. Started switch pitching in games at 10-years-old. If he is pitching well with one arm he will usually stay with it until he gets tired, then he can switch and fool everyone. According to the coach, nobody notices the switch since he is so smooth. Averaged 10 strike outs per game. The coach said that his best pitch is the curveball - on both sides. News feature in 2002 48 WAFF - Double Duty  (YouTube) Fox News feature story  (YouTube) Two armed pitcher (AU Ba

It is critical for a pitcher to have good glove control. Pitchers who control the glove side throw more strikes and reduce their chance of injury. This young pitcher finishes a throw with the glove up behind his back - with the body totally exposed to a hit up the middle. The uncontrolled glove arm puts a lot of strain on the shoulder. Blocking the glove, in front of the chest, would help solve the problem. Problems I see with young pitchers: - glove side elbow moves behind the center of gravity creating counter rotation - no glove control; the glove goes way behind the back causing shoulder strain - yanking the glove into the armpit causing them to open up to early - glove flops to the side and causes release point to be off Lack of glove control results in fielding problems: - no glove protection from a line drive - glove is out of position for fielding ground balls - pitcher is off balance, falling way off the mound, with their back to the hitter

Thursday, 18 November 2010 Right-handed pitcher Felix Hernandez captures the AL Cy Young Award. Henandez did a great job on the mound despite the lack of run support by the struggling Mariners team. Felix Hernandez wins AL Cy Young Award Felix Hernandez wiped away tears of joy and praised the support of Mariners teammates in helping him capture the AL Cy Young Award. But the support of Baseball Writers' Association of America voters came through in a far bigger way for Hernandez on Thursday than did most of those bat-wielding teammates. The voters overlooked, in unprecedented, historic fashion, the fact Hernandez won only 13 games in 2010 and chose instead to laud his statistical dominance in most other categories. Read More

Pitching Tips: - do dynamic warmups before pitching - have a plan for each hitter  - communicate with the catcher and know the signs - keep the batter guessing; change the tempo    - take your time, don't rush the delivery - stay balanced and keep your head steady - control the glove side - move your chest to the glove - keep the elbow up and inline with the shoulder - stay closed as long as possible   - use the lower body to generate power - keep the glove in front of your chest  - follow through with the delivery - relax and have fun Practice, Practice, Practice   - play long toss twice a week   - do mirror drills to work to improve balance and mechanics - get the mechanics perfected on the dominant side first, before switching to the other side - if you don't have control of the fastball, then try slowing down a little  - after you have the pitching mechanics down  - go faster - work on developing a good changeup - get feedback from a pitching coach