Inning Spot Work Pitching Drill

Purpose

The purpose of this softball pitching drill is to increase the strength of the arm, endurance, and accuracy as you practice under a game-like intensity scenario.

Set Up

Once your pitcher is warmed up, we want to simulate her pitching in an inning. Each inning consists of 21 pitches, and she’ll rotate through all five spots.   For the purpose of this drill, she should throw fastballs. Variations can be all of her pitches and complementary pitches.

• The five spots are: one is low and outside, two is low and inside, three is high and outside, four is up and inside, and five is directly over the plate, knee high. These are the five spots your pitcher will be throwing her pitches to as she rotates through those and does her 21 pitches. She should be able to go through all of the spots a minimum of four times.
• When doing this drill, it’s best to do opposites, so we’ll go from one to four, which is up and in. Then we’ll go to two, down and in, and then we’ll go to three, up and away.
• Finally we’ll do five, over the middle of the plate.
• Repeat through those in various combinations for a total of 21 pitches per inning.
• This drill should be performed for a minimum of three innings up to the full allotment of seven innings to simulate a complete game.

Tips

When considering the spots, it’s based on a right-handed hitter, with the odd numbers on the outside, even numbers on the inside. The low numbers are down, high numbers are up. For example, spot one is low and away.