Quick Tip: Cut Down Pick-off Distance

In future posts, I plan on discussing in detail the importance of cutting down the distance from the point where you release the ball to home plate. But for today, I'm going to discuss cutting down the distance in another aspect of the game, the pick-off.

For years, I have thrown off of the right side (3rd base side) of the rubber. Up until my senior year of high school, I would say that I had an average pick-off move at best. Then it hit me, why not stand on the firstbase side of the rubber when I know I am going to pick? A part of me thought, no way this will actually improve my pick-off; but, sure enough, I found myself picking off more guys and forcing runners to take shorter leads. To this day, I still employ this tactic in my game. Even if a team picks up on it, they still have to respect my ability to pick them off when they take their leads.

It may only be a 12 inch difference, but when you've got a guy like Shane Robinson at first base, you need every inch you can get.

Controlling the running game (actually the entire running game in general) is very much overlooked. The drawing below illustrates the difference between picking off from the third base side vs. the first base side.

The red lines and circle indicate the position of a pitcher's feet and release point when picking to first from the 3rd base side. The blue lines and circle indicate a pitcher's feet and release point when picking to first from the 1st base side.