Disguising your Baseball Pitch Like CC Sabathia

The Major League Baseball post season is nearing an end. The League Championship series are in full swing with two great match ups. The Los Angeles Dodgers are taking on the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Angels have the formidable task of attempting to overcome the New York Yankees.

Baseball particularly in the post season is dominated by the pitching. Great batters are successful only around 30% of the times they come up to bat but great pitchers on the other hand can dominate and beat the batter 80% of the time. A great pitcher needs to be able to throw a variety of balls, so that he can beat any batter and can throw to the batters weakness.

• There are 3 pitch varieties, the fastball, breaking ball (slider or curve ball) and the change up.
• The pitcher must then be able to throw each of the 3 pitches listed above to hit 4 different targets: high inside and outside and low inside and outside.
• The pitcher also needs to understand the batter he is up against, his strengths and weaknesses. Is he left or right handed? Does he have an open or closed batting stance?What did the batter do on his previous at bat?
• Finally the pitcher also needs to throw pitches according to the pitch count. This is often called pitch strategy. The pitch strategy will change as the number of strikes and or balls change. For a detailed description of pitch strategy have a look at this article by Tom House.

In the first game of the American League Championship final between the Angels and Yankees , we watched CC Sabathia of the Yankees put in an excellent display of pitching. He pitched to all corners of the plate and varied his pitches with the pitch count and player.

Below is some video of Sabathia pitching strikes to the Oakland A's in August this year. Watch for the variety of his pitches, fastballs, breaking balls and change ups, as well as the numerous targets he hits, inside and outside, high and low, to both right and left handed batters.

Sabathia is one of the best in the MLB this year and his ability to pitch a variety of pitches is one of the main reasons for this.

However it is also important when throwing these different pitches that the player is able to disguise the type of pitch he is going to throw. If the pitch is well disguised it gives the batter less time to react to the pitch and reduces their chances of getting a hit.

Lets look at the video of Sabathia again. Notice that his action is always the same for every pitch, whether it is a fastball or a slider, whether he throws high or low. Focus on Sabathia only as you watch the video.

• Sabathia covers the ball with his glove at the start of every pitch.
• He rotates his shoulders back the same amount each time. He also lifts his front knee to the same height on every pitch.
• He seems to stride forward to almost the same position on each pitch.
• His arm comes through at the same speed and height for all his pitches. Most of the pitches he throws in the video above are in the 83-84 mph range, but the 2 faster pitches 88 and 97 mph look very similar to the others.
• His follow through for all pitches also looks the same. His head remains looking up and forward.
• He even completes the routine after the pitch in the same way by pulling up his shirt sleeve.

We all know from our experience that the video above is not the best for analyzing Sabathia's technique or timing. The best footage would be from the batters perspective, but from the angle we have, it certainly looks like each pitch is very similar. If the batter is able to read the pitchers mechanics and guess at the pitch to be thrown, he will have that little bit more time to modify his swing and get a hit. By throwing different pitches using the same technique and timing, Sabathia is able to delay the batters decision to swing and therefore is able to beat them more often.

The best technique for throwing all types of pitches is the same, there should be no need to vary your technique to throw a different type of pitch. To throw a curve ball, slider or any other type of pitch the variation is in the grip and in the final position and snap of the wrist, not the pitching mechanics.

To pitch like CC Sabathia, concentrate on the pitching mechanics. Fool the batter by showing him or her the same mechanics on every pitch. We will follow up with a video analysis of good pitching mechanics soon. In the mean time enjoy the post season and World Series. Keep an eye out for Sabathia and see if you can spot any variations in his mechanics with each pitch.

The Straight Drive in Cricket

Batting in cricket is altogether different from batting in baseball in both objective and technique as well as the bat itself. In cricket the batter can hit or play at and miss as many of the balls bowled as he or she wants with a flat faced bat and scores by running between wickets or hitting the ball over the boundary. In baseball, it is 3 strikes and you are out and home runs or base hits, hit with a rounded bat, are the goal.

In both sport, professional bowlers or pitchers can deliver the ball at around 100 miles per hour and therefore timing and reaction are very important. In cricket though the batter can play a shot anywhere on the oval field, even behind him as long as he does not get caught or run out (I will not go into the rules of cricket but you can find them here). This means that in cricket there are a large variety of shots that can be played that require exceptional timing as well as perfect technique.

One of the classic and most eye catching shots in cricket is the straight drive. Most of the best cricket batters in the world such as Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting play this shot with ease and little effort.

Here is some video of Sachin Tendulkar, another cricket batting legend playing some straight drives off one of the fastest bowlers around, Brett Lee. The first shot is slightly mistimed and the ball angles off his bat, but the next 2 shots are perfect examples of a straight drive.



His timing and technique in the second shot is perfect and therefore requires little effort to transfer power and speed to the ball so that it races along the ground to the boundary and 4 more runs.

Let's analyze the video and break down his technique:

• Tendulkar starts his movement by stepping with his front foot toward where the ball will bounce on the pitch and lifting his bat. As the ball is coming toward him at around 145 km/hr, he has very little time to react and therefore must move toward the ball and plan the shot he will play at the same time.
• As bowling in cricket requires the ball to bounce, it can change direction and speed quite a bit after the bounce. Stepping forward to the area in which the ball will bounce allows the batter to get closer to the bounce and reduce the amount of movement that can occur after the bounce. This also allows the batter to get over the ball and prevent the shot from flying through the air and giving one of the fielders a chance to catch it.
• Tendulkar brings his bat down straight with the flat face of the bat directed at the ball. Angling the bat will force the ball off in the direction toward which the bat is angled and also increases the chances of catching the edge of the bat or missing the ball completely. Although batters do sometimes play shots by changing the angle of the bat, you will not play a good straight drive with an angled bat.
• Tendulkar connects with the ball around 1:21. By pausing the video you will see that his bat is alongside his front leg at the point of contact. His weight is also forward and over the front leg. He does this so that he can hit the ball directly toward the ground giving no chance for a catch. This timing also ensures that he has perfect balance and control over the shot.
• He keeps his head down looking at the ball being hit off his bat and continues to keep his head down as he begins his follow through. Just as in other sports (golf, rugby place kicking) this helps him to maintain his balance through the shot and once again to keep the ball from lifting into the air.
• Tendulkar then continues to follow through keeping the flat part of the bat facing in the direction he hit the ball and bringing his arms all the way above his head. This ensures that he hits straight and all the way through the ball.

The results of this perfect timing and technique are obvious as the ball flies off to the boundary and 4 more runs for Tendulkar.

The 2009 ICC Champions Trophy begins September 22 and the likes of Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar will be showing off their batting prowess and often flawless technique from which we can learn.