Ask a collegiate or professional baseball player what piece of nonsporting equipment is used most in drills, and most will say the towel. While some coaches dissuade athletes from using towel drills -- former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dick Mills disputes their effectiveness -- their widespread use suggests that coaches will continue to prescribe these drills in training.
Tom House Towel Drill
Named for the former Major League Baseball pitcher and coach who developed the drill, the Tom House Towel Drill teaches proper posture to the pitcher. House's book "The Pitching Edge" notes that posture is key to pitching, as it focuses the maximum amount of kinetic energy possible on the ball's forward path.
The pitcher holds a hand towel between the thumb and middle finger of his throwing hand and leaves 12 inches of towel coming out of the hand. The pitcher sets and goes through his motion, snapping the towel at this release point. A partner sets up five feet away on one knee with the palm of his glove at the height of his eye. The pitcher begins his motion again, attempting to hit the center of the partner's glove. After 15 to 20 repetitions, the pitcher has trained himself to maintain proper posture and hit his target.
Bill Thurston Towel Drill
Bill Thurston, a recognized expert in pitching instruction, formerly served as the head baseball coach at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Baseball Excellence, an online baseball instruction website, describes the Thurston towel drill as a means for a pitcher to learn how maintain a perfect stride and avoid injury. Wet a white hand towel so it is too heavy to blow away. Place it to the right of the midline of the pitcher's stride; for a left-handed pitcher, place it to the left of the stride's midpoint. During his motion, the pitcher will see the white towel in her peripheral vision. The object of the drill is not to step on the towel. The drill assists the pitcher in fixing a narrow or wide stride.
Babe Ruth's Towel Drill
The Babe Ruth drill is specifically for hitters. The point of the drill is that a good hitter never lets his front arm separate from his body. eFastball.com advises folding a hand towel and tucking it into the armpit of the arm that faces the pitcher: the left armpit for right-handed hitters, the right for left-handed batters. During the batting stride, shift your weight from the back to the front leg and complete your swing without letting the towel fall to the ground. This teaches hitters to have a compact, powerful swing that does not waste energy or bat speed.
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