If you struggle to throw strikes, I need you to listen up right now, because I'm going to give you insight into something so simple yet so effective, and 99% of amateur players do not do this. And that's having a pre-pitch routine. A pre-pitch routine is simply your process in between pitches to prepare for the next. Here are three simple steps that you can implement in your next game. Step one is to visualize. So as you're getting your sign from your catcher, let's just say he calls a fastball inside, you're going to play a little video in your head of yourself executing that pitch exactly how you want to. Feel it coming out of your fingertips. See the reaction of the batter. Step two is to breathe. So as you come set, you're going to look away from your target. You're going to take a deep breath before looking back at the catcher. Step three is positive self-talk. Now this doesn't need to be something super long or complicated or cheesy, like just something super simple that is going to get you aggressive and focused and fully convicted on executing that pitch. It could be as simple as attack the glove or let's go. The important part is that it's something that's reinforcing confidence and aggression. Avoid using words like I can't or don't do this, don't do that. Focus on what you want to happen, not what you don't. There is a skill component to throwing strikes as well, but most players have not fully tapped into the mental side and being able to maximize their current ability. So in summary, the three steps that you can implement right now is to visualize, breathe, and positive self-talk. Throw every pitch with full conviction and watch how much better you execute.

There are three mistakes I see high school pitchers make with their four-seam fastball. The first one is they’re holding their fingers too far apart. It almost starts to look like a splitter because they’re getting so separated with these fingers, which forces them to get it a little bit deeper in their hand, and they’re losing spin on the baseball. I like to have guys have their fingers just slightly apart, or in some cases, all the way together, so you can feel like your fingers are actually working as one unit to maximize backspin on the baseball. The second mistake that I see is players get over the seam too much, and their fingertips are on the bare part of the ball like this. This doesn’t allow them to maximize the seams to actually rip down to create as much spin as they can on the baseball. So a cue I like to use is to feel like you’re hooking into the seams with the fingertips. There’s going to be a little bit of tension here. I’m not squeezing it or choking it, but there is a little bit of tension in almost this hooking action as I go over the seams like this, which allows me to have some leverage to rip down through those seams to maximize backspin. And the third mistake that I see is players are holding the baseball off-centered. In some cases, they are favoring cut, and in others, they are favoring sink. Neither is what we are looking for with the four-seam fastball. A simple check that you can have is when you’re holding the baseball is to look at the horseshoe. Is it perfectly even and forming this half moon or half circle action, or is it off-centered and significantly lopsided? In summary, the three biggest mistakes I see pitchers make is they’re holding their fingers too far apart, they’re holding the baseball too far over the seams, and they’re holding the baseball off-centered. Give these tips a try to maximize the movement and the spin on your four-seam fastball.