Girls' fastpitch softball pitching is a rapid-fire set of actions that require patience and practice to perfect. A pitcher needs to be able to relax and concentrate on every pitch to be successful. Mastering a variety of pitches, including a fastball and an offspeed pitch, is vital to keeping batters off-balance. But before you can even get to the strategy part of the game, you need to know the fundamentals.
The Stance
Different softball leagues have different requirements for where your feet must be on the pitching rubber as you start your pitching motion. Once you know where your front and rear feet should be, you should set yourself by standing tall and having your glove on one hand and the ball in the other, with your arms at your sides. Take a breath and make sure you're comfortable before you start your pitching motion.
Starting the Pitch
Bring the ball and glove together just before you start your pitching motion, a move that is required in most softball leagues. Instead of bringing your ball and glove up high or doing a lot of bending or extra motion, keep your ball and glove around your waist. The first main part of your pitching motion is your backswing, and at this point you raise your arms up, but with the ball out of the glove and your hand gripping the ball for the particular pitch you have in mind. As you bring your pitching arm all the way around in a windmill fashion, you lean back and prepare to step forward to deliver the pitch.
Arm Motion
As your pitching arm extends overhead and back during the windmill motion of your pitch, move at a speed that is comfortable and allows you to maintain control. You can always develop a faster backswing once you have the fundamentals down. And speed is really most important when you're bringing the ball forward, just as a golf swing's speed is most important on the downswing.
Weight Shift
As you bring your pitching arm back, your body weight also shifts back onto your rear leg. Then when you bring the ball forward, your weight shifts toward your front leg. If you're a right-handed pitcher, your left leg is your front leg, and to generate power on the pitch, your front leg should be striding forward as you bring the ball toward its release point. The forward motion is also when you should pick up arm speed. Your rear leg will also come forward as you start to release your pitch.
The Release
At the bottom of the circle created by your windmill arm motion, you release your pitch by snapping your wrist. Think of flipping a ball underhanded to someone close to you. That little flip of the wrist will of course be a much stronger, more definitive action when you're pitching. And if you throw a curve ball, your wrist will turn outward on the snap. Other types of pitches will require slight changes in your arm motion and release.
After the Pitch
Once you've released the pitch, remember that you are now a fielder. Your rear leg and front leg should be parallel and you should be squared up to the batter with your glove in ready position to field a hit. Your follow-through on pitches will be slightly different, depending on the type of pitch you make, but you should try to get in fielding position as soon as you can after your follow-through to be ready to make a play.
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