National Pitching Association West

National Pitching Association West We are the leaders in effective pitching instruction, velocity improvement and pitching injury rehabilitation.

We are the country's leading authority in pitching instruction, research, and teaching

08/24/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Tunneling - How consistent you are with your release point is an important aspect to disguising your pitches. Ideally you will release all of your pitches from the same spot, and each pitch should travel through the same 4 foot “tunnel” before spin and gravity propel it on different trajectories towards the strike zone. For example, if your curveball and fastball are released from different spots, good hitters subconsciously pick this up and adjust accordingly without having to read spin to determine the pitch. Don’t let this happen to you. Each pitch you throw should look the same coming out of your hand. Only your grip and wrist angle should change.
 National Pitching

08/17/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Practice From The Stretch - When I work with pitchers, we always practice from the set or stretch position. Two key reasons why:

1) Most pitchers throw at least 70% of their pitches from the stretch (because runners are on base)

2) All of the important/crucial pitches are thrown from the stretch (close game with runners on)

If you can master your mechanics from the stretch, then throwing from the windup is easy. So practice from the stretch, then finish up with a few from the windup.
 National Pitching

08/10/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: No Slide Step - Most coaches teach the slide step because they are trying to get pitchers to speed their delivery to home simply to prevent the running game. Unfortunately, the slide step forces a pitcher to rely almost exclusively on his arm to generate velocity which adds more stress to it. Pitchers will also throw with less movement on the ball and decreased velocity, giving batters and easier pitch to hit. To avoid this trap, pitchers NEED to use a leg lift - just make sure to get the front hip moving towards the target as soon as leg lift begins. You’ll get the benefit of being quick to home, AND you’ll use your lower half to help generate power, velocity and ball movement. 
 National Pitching

08/03/2026

Mechanics Minute: Preset Shoulders - If you find yourself opening up too early, or over rotating, one way to eliminate this is to preset your shoulders closed about 10˚to 15˚ when coming set. After starting your delivery, hold that shoulder position until front footstrike and you’ll see and feel a dramatic difference in how easy the ball comes out with the same, or even better velocity. And your command will likely improve as well.  
 National Pitching

07/27/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Nose To Target P.2 - One of the simplest ways to improve accuracy is to take your nose to the target. This helps level your eyes and keeps you from pulling off to the side, which can lead to lack of command and arm pain. Instead, just take your nose to the target! You’ll see a lot of other issues get fixed by this one small change.
 National Pitching

07/20/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Nose To Target - One of the simplest ways to improve accuracy is to take your nose to the target. This helps level your eyes and keeps you from pulling off to the side, which can lead to lack of command and arm pain. Instead, just take your nose to the target! You’ll see a lot of other issues get fixed by this one small change.
 National Pitching

07/13/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: DON’T Stop at The Top! - There are a lot of pitching coaches that will have their guys practice “stop at the top” as part of the practice delivery. They think it creates good balance. But, it actually trains the wrong movement pattern. 1) It disrupts your timing and sequencing, 2) It stops important forward momentum, 3) You are more likely to send momentum off-line after the stop, 4) With runners on base, you cannot stop at the top because it will slow delivery time to the plate… If your coach is teaching “stop at the top”, he may want you to get better, but this teach is actually counterproductive… You need to get your lead hip moving toward the target ASAP (with a leg lift)!
 

07/06/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Drag Line Pt.2 - People often talk about wanting to “use the lower half” when pitching. The easiest way to do this is to keep the back toe down until ball release. It takes stress off of the arm and allows the torso and legs to help generate more velocity without any extra effort from the arm. Here I explain how it works. 
National Pitching

05/04/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Glove Position - If you want to �A) Have better pitch command, �B) Release the ball further out front, ie. higher perceived velocity,
D) Prevent flying open too early, ie. “a late throwing arm”, and�C) Keep your energy going towards the target (throw harder easier),
then have your glove out in front of your chest at ball release. If not, you will struggle with falling off, be inconsistent, give the hitter a longer look at the ball, and more likely to develop elbow pain... Don’t let that happen. Work on keeping your glove in front at ball release. A strong glove-side fixes a lot of problems!

04/27/2026

Monday Mechanics Minute: Balance Pt.2 - To stay in balance, start by coming set with your weight equally balanced on both feet. Don’t let your feet get too wide, and a slightly closed stance is usually best. Bend both knees slightly so you can feel that athletic, balanced posture. (Most pitchers have too much weight on their back side.) You can now move that energy laterally toward the target much more easily and with less effort. And if you always set your feet the same with balanced weight, you will throw more strikes, it will be easier on the arm, and you will have better command.

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