DEVELOPING YOUR SUCCESS ENGINE – COMPLIMENTARY AND ANTAGONISTIC PITCHES
By Geoff Zahn
Former Head Baseball Coach University of Michigan
and 12 Year Major League Veteran Pitcher

The cornerstone to successful pitching strategy is the ‘Will to Win’. Every time a pitcher thinks about pitching, picks up a ball to throw, or walks out between the lines, he must have an attitude of preparing to win and of doing all he can to win. Next comes the foundation to successful pitching strategy which is illustrated by the ‘Hedgehog Concept’. A pitcher’s hedgehog concept is made up of the intersecting of three circles:

• Understanding what you believe you are the best in the world at.
• Understanding what drives your success engine or what is essential to your success.
• Understanding what you are deeply passionate about.

These two aspects were covered in the first two parts of this series.

When a pitcher develops his success engine he simplifies his strategy into its essential parts that make him most effective and give him the best chance for success. He then spends his time on the few critical aspects of his game that make him successful and doesn’t waste his time on the non-essentials.

Typically, when someone thinks of developing a pitching strategy, he thinks in terms of pitching in and out to both sides of the plate, up and down, and changing speeds. Most high school, college, and even pro pitchers throw bullpen after bullpen working on too many pitches at which they are the masters of none. They work on two and four seam fastballs to both sides of the plate, a change-up or split finger, and at least two different breaking balls possibly to both sides of the plate. If this pitcher throws ten pitches each during a workout using all of his pitches to the locations to which he wants to throw, he will throw at least ninety pitches. Pitchers rarely throw half that many pitches in a workout. The reality is that if a pitcher wants to master a pitch or zone he will have to throw a lot more than ten pitches per practice session to both develop and maintain that pitch and its zone.

Greg Maddux is the only pitcher I have seen that has mastered both sides of the plate. His pitching is both simple and extremely difficult at the same time. He mostly throws two pitches, a cut fastball and a moving fastball to both corners of the plate. I call that X’ing both sides of the plate.