5 Essential Pitching Improvement Tips for High School Players

Written by Radar Gun Sales

Without a doubt, high school is an especially formative time for baseball players. Pitchers who plan to play beyond high school benefit from paying special attention to their development during these years. No matter how naturally talented you are, you won’t reach your full potential without a plan for improvement. The following tips will help high school athletes to pitch to the best of their abilities.

Switch Up Your Style

As you’re no doubt aware, baseball radar guns can help a pitcher hone a particular pitch at a precise speed, helping to switch styles on the fly or hit a certain spot in the strike box consistently. Overall speed is just one factor and games aren’t won solely by scorching fastballs. Focus instead on developing a diverse repertoire of pitches that you can choose from as a situation may warrant. Keeping your opponents on their toes greatly improves your chances of success.

Don’t Obsess Over Strikeouts

Too many pitchers obsess over strikeouts and forget that their primary goal is to win the game. A lengthy string of strikeouts don’t really matter if the one solid hit you let through clinches the game for the other guys. Focus instead on limiting the damage caused by particularly troublesome hitters. Sometimes, forcing a hitter to cough up a relatively ineffectual grounder is the shrewdest move.

Mechanics, Mechanics, Mechanics

In the end, technique is always going to be more important than raw power no matter what kind of pitcher you happen to be. Remember that leg strength is an important variable in the equation as it’s where a lot of your power comes from. Once your mechanics are solid, you can work with a JUGS radar gun or a similar high-precision measuring instrument to improve your speed.

Precision Usually Trumps Speed

A killer fastball straight down the middle is only impressive if you strike somebody out. Alternatively, a predictable fastball can be a recipe for home runs no matter how fast you throw. If you can reliably hit any corner of the strike zone time after time, you’re going to be far more successful. You can work on speed with a radar gun for baseball once you’ve achieved precision.

Know Your Odds

Knowing which kind of pitch will work best based on a certain count is incredibly important. Any good poker player knows the odds of getting a particular hand on any given deal. Likewise, good pitchers have a similar sense of what’s likely to work in specific scenarios.

Final Thoughts

Pitchers that are phenomenal are never born that way. Their prowess is the result of hard work, dedication and study. Baseball is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. High school is a critical time in the development of both sides of the game for pitchers. These quick tips should help you to improve your game and get to the next level.