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THROW DOWNS! |
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To get you throws faster and more accurate you can't just think about it you have to practice it. One of my favorite throwing drills involves two people. You and a willing person to catch the balls at second base. The first step is to lay about a dozen balls from home plate towards second about 1/2 foot apart on your throwing side. Get into your catching position with another ball in your hand and throw down to second base to where the other person should be standing. Then as fast as you can, go down the line of balls picking them up, and as accurate as you can throw them hard to second base. Make sure you tell the other person that you're going to be throwing one right after another so they don't turn away and get nailed. Also keep your throws low and on the side of the base you're practicing the pick offs from.
Here's another drill for picking off runners at 1st or 3rd. You need yourself, a pitcher, a third or first baseman, and a batter. Give the pitcher a bucket of balls to throw into you. Have the pitcher not throw hard but just over the plate. Now just consistantly work on low snap throws from behind the batter. If you use the batter to hide behind when coming up the runner won't notice as quick and you'll have a better chance of picking them off. Make sure you have your batter switch left handed and right handed batting positions. Although this drill might seem obvious, make sure you try it and keep with it because repetition really does help.