Was working with DD today and out of the blue, she pitched some balls with her eyes closed and did pretty well. Is this a common practice drill that experienced pitchers might use to help them focus on their mechanics and not the strike zone?
Visualization - Closing Eyes on Practice Pitches
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Yes...... I often have a student pitch w/ her eyes closed. Intent is to concentrate on her body as it is moving and understand what is happening in her mechanics. Parents are amazed their DDs throw strikes!
Socal
Like Jim my students do this once in a while for the same reason he stated. Not a bad way to practice. Had a girl who actually did it in a game and the umpire came out and gave her a warning. She was scaring the other teams hitters.
Like Jim my students do this once in a while for the same reason he stated. Not a bad way to practice. Had a girl who actually did it in a game and the umpire came out and gave her a warning. She was scaring the other teams hitters.
halskinner
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- May 7, 2008
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I would take that a step farther with a few of my students.
I would place a blindfold on them about three steps away from the rubber. Then I would take their arm and lead them behind and then up to the rubber. I would then have them take their position by feeling the edges of the rubber with their feet. They would use both feet and tell me when they are where they should be with their feet.
Then, I had them throw a pitch. Dad would freeze the glove exactly where he caught it and nine out of ten times it was in the strike zone. They would raise the blindfold a little and see where they threw it. Then they would get a big smile on their faces and they would want to do again. Once they did it 6 or 7 times in a row I would say something like, “Maybe you are a little better than you think you are, huh?”
This turned out to be an amazing confidence builder for the younger ones if they seemed to be suffering from a lack of confidence.
Then I would tell them that if they were in a game and having problems keeping the ball in the strike zone, this is what they should do;
1. Put your feet where they should be on the rubber.
2. Bring your hands together, ball in glove.
3. Stare at your catcher for 2 seconds..
4. Close your eyes and start your pitch.
5. When the ball is about to 12:00, open your eyes and throw it exactly where you were going to throw it when your eyes were closed (just like when they are blindfolded in practice).
Most of the time it was distractions that were causing the loss of accuracy and doing this completely blocked out the distractions. This also had a major effect on their concentration and accuracy during the games.
As I said, it turned out to be a HUGE confidence builder.
Closing the eyes tends to make the pitcher focus more on what she's doing because one of the 5 senses has been removed. So it's a good practice because it helps on focus and concentration which will be useful on stressful situations. This will also help you to see her consistency in her pitching mechanics.
Like Jim my students do this once in a while for the same reason he stated. Not a bad way to practice. Had a girl who actually did it in a game and the umpire came out and gave her a warning. She was scaring the other teams hitters.
IN a game???!!!!! what happens when the pitch is driven back up the middle? Dangerous practice for a live ball. When practicing, my dd PC will have them
throw with closed eyes, helps with muscle memory
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