How to increase pitching velocity and throw more strikes: Part 4 - Use Your Eyes

Part 4 of this five part series for velocity and strikes is all about using your eyes for balance, focus, command and velocity.

In part 1 Scott discussed anchoring the feet. Part 2 was all about how to set up the knee. Part 3 is about using the middle of the body. There are five steps in total (foot, knee, stomach, eyes, breath) allowing baseball pitchers to throw harder by adding velocity, learn how to throw more strikes, and stay consistent and healthy.

Are you a pitcher or parent that wants to know if you or your son is capable of more fastball velocity? Tap the link below to find out!

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Full Transcript (will update):

How to increase pitching velocity and throw more strikes: Part 4 - Use Your Eyes

If you want to throw a baseball really, really hard with repeatable mechanics and throw a lot of strikes while staying healthy, these five things have helped thousands of guys across the world, across decades, across the century. And I've got them broken down from the floor up from the feet to the head.

They are number one, root the toes. Number two, screw the knee. Number three, tighten the stomach. Number four, which we're going to talk about today is visually what you're looking at. Number five is breathe with conviction. If you haven't already seen the other videos, make sure you're subscribed to this page so you can go check those out because we break each one down.

And in this video, we are talking about what you need to be looking at to throw more strikes and to throw harder. The concept I like to introduce to guys is balance for them to understand how important it is for them to be looking at a target. What type of target Scott should I be looking at? I'm glad you asked.

You should be looking at the smallest target your eyes can visually find that is not going to move. So if your catcher moves a whole lot, I wouldn't be looking at a small target where the catcher is moving a whole lot. Find a fixed point that doesn't move the smallest one you can see. So for example, I wouldn't try to aim for the eight.

If there was a pitching pad that I was throwing to, I would aim for the top circle and inside of it. So we get as small as you possibly can. And the concept of balance that I like to introduce is for guys to try to lift one leg. And then I want them. Look to, when they're lifting one leg, look at a far away distance, because oftentimes they're just looking at me or right in front of them.

Look at a far away distance, and then you'll notice sometimes for some guys, they get a little bit less balanced. Then I want them to move their head back and forth, and you can see in the video, my ankles starting to go as I move my head back and forth. Now I want you to close your eyes and try to stay balanced.

What happens is, balance. It's comprised from hearing, from visual, like seeing and other components. But if you take away your sight in any way, you are going to disrupt your balance. If you take away your hearing in any way, it can disrupt your balance. It's called your equilibrium, your ability to basically maintain balance.

So the more your eyes are moving and the less your eyes are on a small target and fixed and focused, more likely you are to be unbalanced. When you are unbalanced, it is hard to maintain the root, the screw, and the control of your stomach through your mechanics. If you are not balanced throughout, you're doing a lot on one leg.

You are then rotating on one leg and then landing onto one leg and throwing on one leg. That requires a lot of balance and coordination. The more your eyes are moving, so for example, if you take your eyes off the target when you lift, or you take your eyes over somewhere else when you lift, or you're just looking at a general vicinity of the catcher, and hoping it hits the glove, you're not as likely to be as repeatable with your mechanics and you're not as likely to be pinpoint accurate with your command.

You might have control, you're around the zone, but you lack that command because visually you are not locked on a small target. And this isn't just on the mound. It is on the mound in games for every throw. It is on the mound. In games, every throw, and your warm ups, and your bullpen before, and playing catch before, and every practice when you're playing catch, I don't care if you're throwing with your older, younger, sister, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, whatever it is, I don't care if you're throwing a dirty pair of socks.

That are rolled up into a ball. Find when you're going to throw something, something the size of their nostril, aim for the nostril, and then let it rip. Ideally, if you could also be rooted and screwed, and your stomach's tight, and you've got all five points of these anchors that I'm talking about in this series, that's great too.

But start to practice every time you throw. Just like the old school game you would do, is if you hit me in the nose, that's two points. If you hit me in the chest, that's one. But even that's a pretty big area. Go for the nostril, and go for the point. Right here. Find as small of a point as you possibly can and don't you dare take your eyes off of it.

Now some people will say, well, this guy or that guy or I, I throw a whole bunch of strikes and you know, I look away for a second. That's great. But could you be better? That's great for some guys and maybe they've got it and they've got the feel and they're elite. But my guess is that's not for everyone.

I know this. I've worked with over a thousand pitchers the last decade and a half and I've seen it and I was that guy too. I struggled to throw strikes when I played. I had enough other off speed and I was athletic enough to figure some stuff out, but I struggled with command. And guess what I did? When I lift, I look down.

Because that was part of my routine! It's my routine! I'm gonna do things my way, except I'm not throwing enough strikes. So if you're struggling at all to throw strikes, or you want to get even better, have your eyes on that target so you're not losing balance, and so that you're able to more consistently rotate as well.

Because if you are more balanced and you can rotate more easily because your eyes are fixated on a point, oftentimes your rotation can happen with less effort. It can happen stronger, and you can then throw harder as well. If you're loving these tips and you really are looking forward to number five, or you haven't seen any other ones, or you want any other tips in general, make sure you are subscribed to this page so you can get all the Healthy Velo tips.