Fingers between the ball and the head

One of the toughest things to teach/fix in the throwing motion is keeping the fingers between the ball and the head when the hands separate in the process of throwing.  Whether the kid is throwing as a pitcher or as a position player, this basic mechanic must be done if the player wants to keep playing.  The photo below shows what it should look like.

If a player’s hand is not in this position, a good drill is to have him just start in this position and then throw when the coach says “throw.”  When he handles that well he can then hold the ball in his glove, separate his hands and get into that good position, pause, and then continue when told to.  It’s a good idea to have the player looking back at his hand when he does this so that he knows what it looks like and feels like.  The progression would be like this:

• Separate the hands
• Bring the hand back into the location shown above.
• Look back at the hand to check
• Look back to the target
• Throw

It may sound simple but as I said earlier, changing the way a player throws is a very tough thing to do.  It takes a lot of time and work on the part of the player.