FREE REPORT 3 Ways To Become a Championship Pitcher There are only 3 ways to become a championship pitcher… don’t make it complicated. – Brian Reiner Get The Pitching Edge Turn Your Pitching Efforts Into Success   Every single professional pitcher started with a dream. While playing in youth leagues they dreamed of someday making to the big leagues. The breakdown seems to occur as these young boys grow up and don’t get the most important parts of their dream – best instruction for mechanics, control, and fitness. Without proper instruction, you are not keeping up with the competition, relegating your pitcher to arm injuries, and you are closing the doors to the dream. A very sad day… that can be avoided. Continual instruction for your pitcher is critical. And a championship pitcher is made 3 ways. You need… 1. Proper mechanics 2. To be physically fit as a pitcher, and 3. Be mentally tough Almost 95% of pitchers focus on only one of these – and that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. This report is dedicated to those who wish to improve a pitcher’s mechanics, control, and fitness. You and the coaches have worked on your team and program; basically you’ve been working your butt off. The last thing you want to hear is that your pitchers are not performing. However, deep down you also see that the hard work you put into your pitchers isn’t shining through on the mound like you’d hoped for. Well, it can and it will. This information is dedicated to the success of your pitcher. Let me show you how… in an easy, quick and uncomplicated manner. Let me introduce myself My name is Brian Reiner. I welcome those who seek me out to improve their pitching performance. I devote my efforts to training coaches, players, and parents of all levels of youth baseball to use their talents and turn it into championship performance. My efforts -- both in groups and one-on-one -- transform young pitchers to give your athletes the opportunity to perform at their highest levels. In high school, I led my team to the state championship final. During my senior year, I pitched 49 innings, struck out 71 and walked 4. One of the highlights was a 7 inning, 73 pitch, perfect game on March 23, 2004. And not one sore arm all year. Well, now I’m in my senior year of college as a pitcher... four years of baseball pitching scholarships at two colleges. A quality baseball pitching experience is possible. I believe in giving back to make a difference for others. Creating better pitchers is just one way to invest in our youth and to help create lifelong habits for success. I sum up my approach in five phases. Evaluation -- Plan -- Action -- Results -- Celebration! "With this information, you not only have the power to create a great baseball experience... you have the power to make a difference. How about using that power… to make a difference?" You might feel that you need to be born with the skills of a pitcher to be able to be a championship pitcher. But that’s not entirely true… Don’t let me fool you! Pitching talent helps and naturally it always shines through in the long run. However, there’s a foundation that’s needed for any pitcher to be successful. Once you’re familiar with that foundation, it’s skill, talent, and experience that will take you and your pitcher to the next level. You don’t need to become a professional pitching instructor. You do, however, need to be familiar with a few practicalities in pitching. No fancy stuff or hype here. After reading this, you can easily improve your son’s pitching performance have a son you are proud of. But… in the end… it’s up to you! This special report, 3 Ways to Become a Championship Pitcher is a summary of baseball pitching secrets from the most successful players and instructors. I have used and tested every one of these secrets. If you're a coach, parent, athletic director, or player, this information will change the way you think about how to develop your pitchers. Over the past eleven years, hundreds of players have benefited from the pitching secrets revealed in this report. What makes the difference? While some pitchers have turned into nightmares, others have turned into championship pitchers. About eleven years ago, my dad and I began to study and test precisely what pitching practices work best—what techniques and practices distinguish the best pitchers from the mediocre and those that are horrible. When I was 11 years old in little league I had a coach that all he did was yell at me, ‘throw harder, Brian, throw harder.’ He never told me or showed me how. He just yelled at me. My dad and I thought, ‘there has to be a better way to learn to pitch than that.’ 3 Ways to Become a Championship Pitcher resulted from years of in-depth research and direct experience with dozens of highly successful (and not-so-successful) pitching habits. Dozens of coaches, players, and parents— baseball fans like you—studied under professionals and put these ideas into practice while improving the performance of hundreds of pitchers. Here's what I found: Better instruction does indeed result in better performance Pitching success is based on scientific evidence You can model and replicate these techniques with your own pitcher and achieve similar results. So, let’s look at the 3 ways to become a championship pitcher…   Baseball Pitching Secret #1 - proper mechanics Here's a big promise: The information, when executed with passion and diligence, can transform any player into a championship pitcher. First, you need to understand how the body’s movements work and what makes them work or not work. Efficiency of movement should be the goal. Each pitcher should strive to feel what correct mechanics is all about. Then you can add your own personal style as long as it is not counter-productive. The body of a pitcher should move sideways in a straight line from a movement initiated by the hip of the balance leg – not by pushing off the foot of the back leg. Do not rotate over the back leg at the balance point. The lift leg should be moving sideways as it comes out of balance and into stride. Rotation occurs through the power of the rear leg. Rotation of the hip occurs when the lift leg is down on the ground so the pelvis can rotate on top of that leg. The lift leg goes up and down and out at the same time to landing. Then rotate. The lift leg should not swing behind the pitcher or swing out in front. Both of these lead to improper positioning of the body at landing. If you add extra movements in the initial phases of pitching movement or inadequate motion occurs, this causes rushing, the arm will pick the slack and an injury can occur. Much research has been done showing that rotating the hips sooner than they should (opening up too soon) causes stress to the shoulder. Even if a pitcher is throwing well, he can throw better with improved mechanics and appropriate strengthening to support the mechanics. Fundamentals should be taught. Put more emphasis on proper alignment and movement. Velocity is a product of a good pitch and proper mechanics. Acceleration occurs when the front leg has planted. You must start from being right on top of your balance leg. The movement is in a straight line to the front leg and extends to the pitcher’s full length capability. The stride is determined by height and you should take full advantage of it without over-striding. The rear leg is the power leg. Moving off the mound from the muscles at the right side of the pelvis on a RHP allows the foot to stay in contact with the ground for a longer period of time. The idea of picking up the rear leg too soon, or keeping it soft or bending it too much on stride, is counterproductive to maximum force production.   Baseball Pitching Secret #2 - proper fitness Here's another big promise: The information, when executed with passion and diligence, can transform any player into a championship pitcher. Baseball requires you to stay flexible as you get strong. Strength for a pitcher means endurance. You need to establish a strength base to cut down on injuries. Plyometrics are perfect for this. Medicine ball work is good for warm ups and upper body conditioning. For pitchers, the number one need is use of flexible tubing three times a week for rotator cuff and shoulder care. Number two is the medicine ball work. Lower body plyometrics are for off season conditioning only. These include footwork such as jumping up or over, running backwards and sideways, and squats and lunges. In season these are replaced with sprints and pole running. Caution: avoid bench pressing large weights – you will lose flexibility in the shoulder and lose range of motion. Speaking of weights: you need to slowly let weights down after lifting to maintain flexibility – even with light dumb bells. One of the best shoulder strengtheners is plain old pushups. For all exercises: do not lock our joints. Keep them slightly bent. Work on the part of the body that is the weakest for a pitcher – the rear deltoid muscles across the back of the shoulders. Flexible tubing is great for this. Pitching power comes from the rotational forces at the hips. In fact at least 60% of power comes from the trunk rather than the legs. Strong legs are important too. This helps with better balance, better rotational forces, better explosive forces and endurance. Lower body strength helps a pitcher keep his weight back and balanced. Balance equals power. Warm ups prevent injuries. This gets oxygen flowing. Very lightly stretch, jog a little, and use the flexible tubing. Sprinting can also be done after warmed up. Workout after pitching while you are still warm. So, do the throwing first, then do the weights, dumb bells, and tubing. Even age 9-13 should be strong. But be careful with weights until age 16. The growth plates need care. A good off season conditioning program is undertaken during the 12 weeks before the season. Do not over due conditioning during the season – you need recovery and build up time after the breakdown of pitching. Last, but not least is nutrition. Eat good food. Get plenty of complex carbohydrates and drink plenty of liquids – especially water. Pitching is 1) mechanics, 2) a throwing program, and 3) conditioning.   Baseball Pitching Secret #3 - proper mental focus And here's one more big promise: The information, when executed with passion and diligence, can transform any player into a championship pitcher. The mental strategies of becoming a winning pitcher are harder than mechanics or conditioning. This is the part that most pitchers skip or don’t put effort into. As you climb to higher and higher levels of competition, more and more of the game of baseball is mental. It’s like a game within the game. To be successful, a pitcher must develop mental toughness. A pitcher needs to act as if it were impossible to fail. The mental part of the game is something you must actively engage in before, during, and after the game. Here’s a summary of the mental focus for peak pitching performance: • Be tough on the mound… mentally • Give your absolute best • Take responsibility • Don’t let anybody in the ballpark know how you feel unless it’s positive • Stand tall, head up, shoulders back, take deep breathes, and relax… smile! • Be challenging • Act like you’re already a winning pitcher • Replay your best games and past performances in your mind • Stay positive – even after a bad game • Replace any negative feeling with some positive self talk Mental focus means having a game plan or pitching philosophy. The most effective pitchers focus on making first pitch strikes, getting the first man out each inning, and stay cool no matter what. Final Words After helping many pitchers, including myself, and seeing even more pitchers that would greatly benefit from better instruction, my mind was made up… A pitching special report had to come. My idea was a practical and easy to read report. Down to earth advice on how to improve your pitcher’s performance. Now that you’ve come to the final words, you can be the judge whether this report will do the trick. One thing I am confident about, with these pitching secrets you have the power to make a difference. If taken step by step, these ideas will lead you to a quality baseball experience. For those interested in personal baseball pitching instruction, just fill out the form below. Personal pitching instruction includes: Evaluating your current situation Developing explosive mechanics – where velocity really comes from Making adjustments to overcome problem mechanics Pitcher fitness – off season and in season Pre-game strategy and post-game evaluation and recovery I hope you enjoyed reading the special report and that your pitcher benefits from it. Me? Whenever I read something like this, I’m itching to head for the park, pitch some batting practice and take a few cuts myself. YeeHaw! Brian Reiner

(personal pitching instruction availabe in the northern LA area during summer and fall 2007)