James Billotti


10th Honors English


Ms.Meara


1/23/16


                                                     Arm Angles and front foot landing
In pitching there are many points to making it a good effort. To be a consistent pitcher you need to learn repetition in all aspects of the pitch. The angle of the leg kick, the arm angle, and all movement from the head, and lower hip angle goes into a big part of it. Let be honest though the pitch still comes from the arm, and how much momentum you can gain towards the plate. What the front foot does fro you is it throws that momentum and arm angle towards the plate to keep you in control. You ever watch a baseball game? Have you noticed that all MLB pitchers land with their front foot facing the plate, its all used the same or you will not be a consistent pitcher. To get the front foot to land straight every time takes practice because, when you are pitching you put your arm angle up and its just natural for your body to follow and fall to the side. That's why balance also plays a huge key into this role. What I tried to do to master this was just work on some balance drills with a 10 pound weight in the position of where my arm would be. To work on my front foot landing I took a thin piece of wood and set it 3 feet in front of me to give me an ideal place to land.  

"To learn how to get ones foot landing towards the plate, repetition is needed over and over again, and failure is an option at this point. Once one can master the foot planting forward, the accuracy and overall quality of the pitch will have satisfaction." (House 44)

" Arm angles are what makes a pitch flow and just look right, if one can keep the arm angle consistent the overall quality of each pitch will rise dramatically." (House 45)

What I really learned from this was how to consistently get my front foot landing and facing or pointed towards the plate. By hanging on to that 10 pound weight I was able to keep a good amount of balance, and allow the arm angle to stay strong through the pitch.


Do you guys think someone can pitch without their front foot pointed towards the plate, would they be consistent?