Pre-Season Pitching Workouts

with Myndie Berka,
owner/pitching instructor of BreakThrew Fastpitch

Myndie Berka has trained hundreds of successful pitchers. Her pitchers have:

• earned scholarships at over 60 different colleges and universities
• competed at the Women's College World Series at the NCAA DI, DII, NAIA and JUCO levels
• been named collegiate All-Americans
• been collegiate national strikeout leaders at both the NCAA DI and DII levels

Getting ready for an upcoming season can be an exciting process for all softball players, but even more so for pitchers in particular. Pitchers must ensure that their workouts are tailored to prepare them for the upcoming season. This video from Myndie Berka will show you five workouts that will prepare your pitchers for battle on day one of the season.

Workout No. 1

Late-breaking movement will cause more swings and misses, and this workout will help your pitchers make their pitches dart out of the strike zone right as the batter takes their swing.

You'll see how to help your athletes visualize the strike zone and how they want their pitches to break. This will get them in the right mental state to execute their pitches to perfection. A pitcher who understands how to throw deceptively will frustrate an aggressive, free-swinging offense.

Workout No. 2

The second workout incorporates a little bit of everything: speed and strength development, target pitching, competition, and fielding. You'll see how to help pitchers improve their strength with distance pitching, which will allow them to light up the radar gun.

Reaction time is important for every pitcher since they could release the pitch and have the ball batted right back at them. Prepare your pitcher to knock down and field anything that comes back at them with Coach Berka's reaction drills.

Workout No. 3

Confuse opposing batters by making different pitches look the same. If a pitcher can tunnel pitches, they'll leave batters guessing until it's too late to make an accurate swing. Coach Berka shows exactly how to make batters helpless at the plate. You'll also learn how to add pressure to a workout to challenge your pitcher's mental toughness.

Workout No. 4

Gain insight into how your pitcher thinks in Berka's fourth workout. In the Sets drill, you'll discover how to get a sense of what your pitcher thinks they can do in various situations on the mound. Additionally, discover which pitches your pitchers have confidence in, and how they want to use their pitches to set up batters.

Workout No. 5

Prepare for game day by running through a pregame warm-up exactly like you would use to prepare for an actual game. Berka shows how to get the body and mind warmed up to compete. Once warm, pitchers will throw to simulated batters while a teammate charts. Charting helps pitchers learn pitch sequencing and the importance of getting ahead in the count.

Coach Berka shares five useful workouts, each designed to get a pitcher ready for game day in a different way. This video will show you exactly how to best prepare your athletes during the pre-season.

138 minutes. 2019.