Product Details

• Actors: Marty Schupak, Baseball Tips, Baseball Pitching Techniques, Baseball Skills, Little League Coaching
• Directors: Marty Schupak, Baseball Equipment, Youth Baseball Coaching, Little League
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Youth Sports Club
• DVD Release Date: March 21, 2004
• Run Time: 35 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001YJ4AW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,601 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Actor

From Marty Schupak: "Pitching Drills & Techniques" explores the most fundamental aspects of throwing a baseball. In my years of coaching youth baseball, rather then explaining to kids under the age of 12 the different theories about pitching, I took the most basic throwing drills to show that different parts of the body are involved with the pitching motion and not just the arm. Pitchers throw a baseball from their toes all the way up to the top of their head. Young players that understand this will be successful and be able to understand more advanced techniques. Don't over coach and confuse the kids. These drills work!

About the Actor

Youth Baseball Practices Don’t Have To Be Long

To Be Good

by Marty Schupak

Back in the late 70's an old college professor of mine was fond of saying, Don't confuse activity with accomplishment.Jump forward about eight years and imagine me observing a coach running practice for his Little League team. At the start of practice most of the 10, 11, and 12 year olds are very enthusiastic. As the practice progresses I notice only two forms of activity taking place. One has the head coach throwing batting practice, with each hitter getting 10 to 15 swings while each pitcher takes a turn throwing to the assistant coach as the others stand and watch. I, too, stand and watch and I don't know who is more bored–the players or me. When I saw a member of the board of directors, I commented on how poorly I thought the practice had been run. The board member responded, If you think you can do a better job, then volunteer to coach. (Me and my big mouth!) But I did just that. And my first practice, though planned differently, ended up being two tedious hours of batting practice and pitchers throwing on the sidelines. Exactly what I had been so critical of myself! After that first practice I told my wife that there must be a better way. Even though I had a master's degree in Phys. Ed from Arizona State University, baseball was the major sport I was least knowledgeable about.

So, I decided to research alternative practice methods. I observed a variety of teams during practice ranging from seven year olds to college level players. I noticed that the best practices were not necessarily the longest and that the most organized coaches wasted little time. On most of the drills every player was involved. It was amazing the way some coaches integrated fun and learning and how creative some of the drills and games were. I began to use some of these techniques with my team. After a little trial and error I was actually able to run a more effective practice in half the time.

To run a practice like this does take preparation, mostly at the beginning of the season. But coaches need not look at this as a chore. It can be as much fun for you as it is for the players. The youth baseball coach, whether it's Babe Ruth League, Little League, or local Park and Recreation Dept., should make a list of drills at the beginning of the year that they are interested in trying. The idea is to be creative. When my oldest son was eight, I began a practice with a simple relay race, consisting of two lines of six players each. To put a baseball theme into the race, I had each player wear their glove and hold two baseballs in it. The learning benefit of this relay race was to teach kids the importance of squeezing the glove. Another year I was teaching players how to bunt. When the team took batting practice, I put one cone 10 feet directly in front of home plate and another cone 10 feet to the left of the plate. Each player gets two bunts before his regular swings. For each bunt that goes between the cones, the player earns two extra swings. This motivated the players to focus when they bunted. And, it worked!

If a coach plans five to seven drills of ten to twelve minutes in length for each practice, the players will be more attentive and less bored. Don't worry about players not liking certain drills. About a third through the season they will let you know which ones to weed out.

The youth baseball season is unlike any other season. Fathers sneak out of work early, families rarely eat dinner before 8:30 at night and the laundry room is active day and night. As parents and coaches, we should make practices more interesting and fun because during a typical youth baseball season, players spend as much or more time practicing than in actual games. Be creative and have a great baseball season!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable To Grasp, February 21, 2004

By 

Lonnie Meer (San Diego,CA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Coaching:Pitching Drills and Techniques [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This guy seems to get it right. Most pitching pitching videos
I've seen have way too much talking and complicate an already complicated subject. Heck, my son is 9 and I don't think he'll sign with the Padres. So I'm not interested in a lot of the technical jargon. This video has relative easy, simple pitching drills for players ages 8-12. Most of the pitching drills can be used for older players with some adjustmnts. He gives the drills names such as , "Multiple Home Plate Drill", "Knee Drill" and more. Paying close attention to the narrator, there are excellent subtle hints ("practice pitching against a wall with your eyes closed") that youth coaches and parents will find useful. He goes into a pitching anyalsis which is very good but could have used some more info. My son and I have watched this a few times and it is enjoyable. We went outside to do some of these drills and look forward to trying them with the team. The written hints at the end of the video should be mounted on every Little League dugout in America.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Baseball Pitching Info!, February 20, 2004

By 

Warren DePaul (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Coaching:Pitching Drills and Techniques [VHS] (VHS Tape)

More of a pitching drill video, "Pitching Drills & Techniques" is long on the drills and a little short on the techniques. However, this valuable tool for 7-12 year olds is a "must have" item for Little League parents and coaches who have kids that aspire to pitch and pitch well. The producer of this video takes the approach that there are way too many theories on pitching, especially for young players, and that you are better off teaching them the basic fundamentals and instill different drills to make players aware of the different parts of their body that make up the pitching motion. Some advanced drills like the "Concentration Drill" with one lefty and one righty batter standing in the batter's box together, is a sight to behold. Tried it already and can see the potential positive results. The program goes at a terrific pace and there is no boring parts to it. Pitching analysis is addressed and done so in a clear consise manner. I would have liked to see a bit more with this. The producer also gives some very valuable tips toward the end about how to recognize if your pitcher is tired plus other bonuses. He is right on the money when he states: "With Pitching, It Is Better To Have Youth Players Master 4 or 5 Techniques Than Be Confused By 20".
Words most leagues and parents should live by. All in all this is a real winner and leagues should make this part of their library.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Pitching Drills, April 17, 2004

By 

Walter Robinson (Concord,CA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Coaching:Pitching Drills & Techniques (DVD)

Hey, here is a pitching DVD that keeps it simple. Exclusively for 7-12 year olds, the drills used will teach your players the diferent parts of the body that make up the pitching motion.
Very good drills. For first year coaches, this is a must!