Teaches players to stride on a line toward home with proper arm extension and rhythm between the upper and lower body.
Have the player stride toward home (skip the high leg lift until they are at least 10) and stride on a line toward home. As they stride, their arms start at chest level and then go down and back so that there is good extension on the throwing arm and a strong front side on the non-throwing arm. It’s called the FLEX-T — at the end of the stride the player is standing and making the shape of the letter T, but the knees are bent and each elbow is bent slightly. Now, instead of throwing from here, bring the front leg back to the start, bring the hands back to the start, and stride again and then throw. So it’s a smooth stride, come back, stride, and throw.
This builds rhythm in the upper and lower body.
Note: On a real pitching mound this is a balk, as you have made a move toward home and have not delivered the ball. But for training I find it to work very well.
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