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Life Lessons Life Lesson #36: Thowing Through Throwing Through vs. Throwing To Throwing through a target is an effective phrase used by coaches to get an athlete to overcome any sort of hesitancy with regard to throwing the ball. This means that a thrown ball would move directly through the target, hitting the ground well behind it. Throwing to a target, conversely, refers to an athlete aiming the ball towards a target, hoping to land it in a catcheable area. A subtle difference when examined physically, the difference between these two mindsets is huge when talking about throwing accuracy. Let?s use a ground ball to the shortstop as an example. With the bases empty, the target in this case is the 1st baseman. Under the mindset of throwing through the target, the shortstop should attempt to throw the ball ?through? the 1st baseman?s chest. This takes the ?aim? out of the throw, ensuring an aggressive delivery, and keeping the over-active mind away from thoughts of doubt. A mindset of throwing to the 1st baseman results in a shortstop ?hoping? the ball makes it, guiding his release and inevitably throwing into the dirt. A helpful analogy is the chip shot in golf. Whether 100 yards or 10 yards, instructors teach golfers to accelerate through their swing to avoid hitting the ball fat (a ?duff?), or taking a huge divot. While we are coordinated as a whole, we cannot manually control our muscles to guide the golf club perfectly down and through the golf ball. However, when accelerated down and through the ball, gravity and physics take over to create a consistent and accurate swing plane. The same principle applies when throwing a baseball. The arm can not be decelerating when throwing a baseball. Whether the throw is from the mound to the plate, across the diamond or from the outfield to the infield, an athlete must accelerate through the baseball. In golf, the take-away (how far the club is raised behind the golfer) dictates how fast the club will travel downward. Take the club higher or farther back? the speed increases moving back towards the stationary ball. Consequently, the ball will go farther or move faster once struck by the club. Likewise, a pitcher throwing the ball to the catcher on a comebacker will ?pull? his arm back much less than a shortstop moving into the 6-hole and throwing to first base. Both players however, will accelerate through their throws consistently. Another example, which also brings into play the analogy of the golf chip, is when a pitcher throws to home on a bases-loaded comebacker. Because pitchers spend 99% of their game throwing at full speed, the 55-ft throw to a waiting catcher becomes quite a challenge. It?s like a golfer that has hit hundreds of drives in a row, attempting to chip a ball close to the hole from just off of the green. Keeping this analogy in mind, this situation calls for a very short backswing with a short yet aggressive forward swing. The pitcher?s throw resembles a dart, and the key to accuracy is his acceleration through release ? throwing through the baseball. Even though his arm speed will not come close to 100%, he aggressively delivers the baseball (accelerating through) and finds accuracy along with it. I think this is something we can all relate to, whether it was on a baseball field or on the golf course. While I?ve found it to be true on both playing fields, I can vividly remember my first significant encounter with wildness on the diamond. As a sophomore playing varsity shortstop in high school, I put myself under a lot of pressure to perform. This pressure lead to a number of hesitant throws across the diamond, several of which ended up as bad throws in the dirt and as errors on the scoreboard. Talking about ?throwing through? vs. ?throwing to? the target may or may not have hit home at that age, but something an older brother of one of my teammate?s told me definitely did: ?To fight bad throws,? he challenged me, ?throw the baserunner out before he reaches half-way down the first base line.? Eager to rid myself of the ?yips,? I bought into the mentality and decided to give it a try. The next game, every ground ball hit to me I gathered myself and fired a rocket to 1st base attempting to cut the runner down at the halfway point between home and first base. The end result: 5 ground balls, 5 great throws, 5 put-outs and one confident shortstop. The mentality of cutting down runners at the half-way point was his way of getting me to throw through the first baseman. I no longer aimed the ball to 1st - no longer guided the baseball to the target. Instead, my throws were aggressive and without hesitation? the recipe for accuracy. In the end, throwing through the target can help a young player increase his accuracy from any position on the diamond. |
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