In yesterday's blog, I mentioned a coaching strategy I often use to continually being the pitcher back to his fastball to re-establish his timing and confidence after working on other pitches in a bullpen setting.
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Along with that, I think it is important to share another coaching strategy in the bullpen that is just as simple and just as effective.
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When a pitcher throws 3 pitches, 2 of them will tend to match. In other words, his mechanics will usually repeat themselves 2 of 3 times.
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Being patient and letting the pitcher self-correct is critically important in a bullpen atmosphere, and holding off with instructional cues until trends start to become evident will help.
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It is also helpful to remember that the bullpen is not an opportunity to showcase our knowledge about pitching, but it is an opportunity for a pitcher to develop a better feel and to walk away feeling like they made their own discoveries. Our job, as coaches, is to lead them to this. If they can self-correct, without us saying a word, we have done our job.
