Drills to improve arm circle: 

  1. Hold a cup full of water in your hand starting at the hip - complete the full arm circle being conscious to stay on the power-line without spilling the water.

  2.  Wall Drill - stand with the ball hand side against a wall with feet spread out on the power line (Toes touching the wall) one in front of the other to emulate the stride of the pitcher during the motion. Practice long and loose arm circles using the barrier of the wall to ensure arm is within the frame of the body and on the power line. Arms should be long all the way through the drill. As the pitcher reaches forward the side of her arm should brush the wall. As she nears the top of her motion she should be conscious of keeping proper shoulder rotation (she should be totally facing the wall at checkpoint 2). Finish each pitch with proper followthrough keeping forearm parallel to and against  the wall.

    Drills to improve wrist snap:

  1. Exercise: squeeze hand grips/roll up weight hanging from stick/wrist curls with dumbbell/forearm curl exerciser/weighted-ball snaps/fingertip push-up

  2. Long distance - Stand 2x the normal pitching distance. Do 20 walk-up/run-ups using a regular ball. Things to try: Get each pitch all the way to the catcher parallel to the ground, Rainbow each pitch by pulling up with the fingertips as hard as possible at the release (make sure not to change the release point - a pitcher should always release at the hip) 

  3. Heavy ball - 20 regular walk-ups/20 long throw walk-ups

  4. Screwdriver twists - Homemade tools are a cheap and easy way to gain strength. Drilling pilot holes into a scrap piece of wood and using a short screwdriver to drive screws into the wood is a great way to build forearm strength. 

  5. Wrist Roller - Another homemade tool that develops wrist and forearm strength - Drill a hole in the center of a 1 inch dowel - old broom handle - feed one end of a rope/cord through the hole and tie a knot to secure it. Tie a small circle weight, rock, anything weighing between 2-5lbs on the other end of the cord. Hold the dowel on either side of the knot and stand with arms straight out in front at shoulder height. Allow the weight to rest on the ground. Twist/turn dowel to coil rope around it - the weight will start to lift off the ground. Do three reps all the way up and all the way down.

Drills to improve arm speed:

  1. Exercise: Bicep curls/Push-ups/Lat pulls

  2. Double/Triple circle drill: Heavy and light ball- Stand in open position (X position) with toes on the power line - complete 2 full arm circles keeping the arm on the power line -  build up speed with each revolution. Be sure to keep the glove hand active throughout this drill. (You can also do this in slow motion without a ball or catcher at the gym with a circle weight. Make sure to stay on the power line) 

  3. Helicopters- stand in open position and build up speed to whip arm around as fast as possible - do not throw the ball - stay on the power-line and within the frame of the body. 

  4. Bowling drill: Use small rubber medicine ball in wrist-snap/slingshot motion - bounce to catcher - start close and move farther and farther back to increase strength.

  5. Heavy ball long throws - run ups or double arm circles from 2x distance