Pitching Drill: Yamamoto Drill (Baseball)

An over-speed direction drill with no leg lift. Stepping the back foot back and picking it up sets the direction to the target and forces the pitcher to counter-rotate at speed.

Yamamoto Drill - Baseball Drill Video

How to Run This Drill

  1. Put your front foot on the rubber as you normally would
  2. Take your back foot and step it back like you are doing a big wind-up
  3. Skip the leg lift entirely
  4. Pick your back leg up
  5. Let your pelvis and center mass move forward quickly as the leg comes up
  6. Counter-rotate everything in front of that back leg to get completely sideways
  7. Keep your direction to the target without slowing the forward momentum
  8. Practice getting off the back leg and counter-rotating before taking a full rep

Coaching Points

  • More advanced, because it takes real pelvic control while moving fast
  • Picking the back foot up sets your direction straight to the target, so there is no time to mess it up
  • It is an over-speed drill, so do not slow down the momentum you got from lifting the leg
  • Bad direction is really obvious on this one, you will feel it right away

Quick Actions

At a Glance

Categories
Pitching
Focus Areas
DirectionMechanics
Age Groups
15-1617-1818+
Players
1-4 players
Difficulty
advanced

Equipment Needed