As I touched on briefly in a previous post, if you come from a year round warm weather climate, as a baseball player, consider yourself extremely blessed. For those who are not as fortunate, you have to find a way to get your work in and be ready for the season.  So how to make yourself into a better pitcher?  The 1st rule of that is: No Excuses are Allowed. For myself, when I realized that I could make something out of myself as a pitcher, it was balls to the wall. Nothing was going to get in my way. Certainly not the weather. When you take on this mindset, you embrace more challenges, and big things tend to happen.  Keep that in mind…

How to Make Yourself
into a Better Pitcher
Prioritize

The main thing on my priority list was getting in my throwing.  The weight room was always there and I got my work in religiously.  However, the gym is more available throughout the day. The 24/7 world makes that easier now. Building arm strength is not something to take half heartedly.  Finding a throwing partner and a legit location requires a commitment in itself. After my final season in college, I was knocking on the door of professional baseball. I needed to give the biggest push of my life to get me there. Needless to say, I wasn’t looking at any other options.  

My catcher in college, Brian, who joined me in the On Field Video and the 2 Part Interview Series of the Slider Domination product line, was all in also.  He was still in college and I was working a 9-5.  So we had to be flexible and even creative with each other’s schedule.  As he was my pregame long toss partner in college, we already had a routine down. Now it was a matter of finding a location. Dry and flat, with visibility was all we needed.  

Alas, after a brief search, we found a middle school parking lot which was empty at night and had good lights. We took care of the rest.  We jumped right into our routine.  Stretching it out for a good 5 minutes then working our way back in to 120 feet.  Here I was throwing strikes from double the pitching distance and Brian was working on his footwork and release for throwing out runners.  Then we moved it into 60 feet where I got in my full pitching work. The natural downhill slope of the parking lot made for a good bullpen session.

 

How to Make Yourself
into a Better Pitcher
Being Consistent With Your Routine

It didn’t matter what the weather was.  Thank goodness for Under Armour though!  The greatest game changer in cold weather baseball. It helps you realize that the pitcher is the warmest player on the field on a cold day when he is the only one in constant motion.  The most miserable person on the field is the hitter.  A few pitches inside is all you need to make him all but give up for the the day.  

Nonetheless, we took the show on the road. We found other parking lots with good lights that we could use based off of our schedules and whereabouts.  Thus, the Parking Lot Circuit was created. When my brother was home on college break, he would join us too.  We even got our throwing in before my work day a few times.  Whenever we would have at a minimum of a half hour to work with, we would make it happen. It was impossible to let each other down.

Were there setbacks? Yes of a course.  Adversity always shows up in baseball.  The lights were shut off a few times while a thrown ball was in mid air.  Oh, that was fun.  We had deer pay us a visit as the heard roamed into our domain. A few times, the police kicked us off.  Other times, the police, questioned us and realized that we weren’t causing any trouble, so they let us be.  Although, they declined to let us use their radar gun.  

 

How to Make Yourself
into a Better Pitcher
The Pay Off

All in all, the parking lot circuit appeared in 5 different states, across 2 time zones.  Brian and I always prefered to brave the weather elements in exchange for the open space outside.  Indoor baseball has its limitations. Coming from the Northeastern part of the US, the baseball world expects you to be a slow starter.

However, in professional baseball, there are no excuses or leeway in this regard. You have to be ready to go! So to step on the field at a tryout camp in the winter months in Florida or California, wherever it may have been, I was ready to show the locals that I was going at full speed. It really turns heads when you are more prepared as a cold weather player.  

Brian and I both pitched professionally.  He converted into a pitcher his junior year in college. 2 years later, he signed his first pro contract.  We would have never gotten there if it weren’t for both of us being dedicated to putting in the work and pushing each other to be the best.  When it was that cold, we were not going to go half assed.  Quite frankly, we trained ourselves to be so Locked in, that we didn’t feel anything holding us back.  

Do you have a story about your ardent dedication to being the best as a ball player?  Let me know in the comments below. What results did your high level of commitment produce for you?  Are you still climbing past your initial goals?  Tell me everything!

 

Keep Dominating!!!

 

  

 

How to Make Yourself into a Better Pitcher