The Pitcher's path to okc
Learn the secrets of D1 and Team USA pitchers.
4X All-American, Team USA World Champion, current D1 pitching coach, and SpinDr founder, Jamie Southern discusses what she loves about Kelly's game and what young pitchers can take from her approach to level up their own pitching performance.
What We Love About Kelly:
1. 3 Great Pitches: It doesn’t take you long to understand why Kelly Maxwell is an All-American. In two at bats she gets swings and misses with a rise ball, her change up and her curve ball, that is hard to do! Most pitchers at the elite level will have 1-2 pitches that gets them the swings and misses, strikeouts, and the miss hits. Kelly has 3 pitches.
2. Total Plate Domination: Kelly has a curve ball that she can utilize on both sides of the plate. Unlike a lot of good pitchers, Kelly can spot her curve on both sides of the plate to both right and left handed batters. Plus with her ability to throw a competitive rise ball up in the zone and a change up low in the zone, it is gonna be very hard for hitters to be consistently successful stringing multiple hits together off of Kelly Maxwell.
3. Multi-Plane Mastery: Kelly has the ability to keep batters from focusing in/out or up/down. Her curve stresses batters inside and outside. She can then throw a really good rise ball up in the zone and a change up low in the zone.
Key Takeaways for Pitchers:
Based on Kelly Maxwell’s approach, Jamie offers the following advice for pitchers looking to level up their performance:
1. Work Both Sides of The Plate: Do not worry about having 4-5 pitches until you can consistently spot your fastball on both sides of the plate. Once you can hit your spot 8 out of every 10 pitches, proceed to your changeup. Remember, a pitch is not a GREAT pitch until you can get swings and misses, crap hits, or strikeouts on a consistent basis.
2. Learn Pitch Sequencing: As you get older and face better competition, batters will scout tendencies and you must learn the “art of pitching.” Stressing the batter’s eyes with pitches in and out of the zone or high and low in the zone will give you the edge in the circle.
Take your time and build a solid pitching foundation by mastering your fastball and changeup control before moving on to developing additional pitches. It may seem like you’re not making progress but we promise that your performance will improve quickly and you’ll develop the confidence to attack any batter you face.
THE SPINDR
The SpinDr, patent-pending, is a training tool for pitchers. It gives pitchers of all ages immediate visual feedback of their spins and is the only softball training tool that's engineered to feel and spin exactly like a full softball!
Purchase The SpinDr and take your pitching to the next level because when you control your spin, you control the game.
OUR PARTNERS
OUR FOUNDER
Our founder, Jamie Southern, was a pitcher at Fresno State and also happened to be a four-time All-American including three first-team honors. She won the WAC Pitcher of the Year award in all four years of her career and was later named to the ESPN All-Decade Softball Team for the 2000s.
Jamie was also part of Team USA and helped lead the team to a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships. She was a #1 draft pick in the NPF and was inducted into the Fresno State Hall of Fame in 2012. Needless to say, she knows a thing or two about pitching!
Jamie is currently a mom, wife, and the pitching coach for Oregon State. Her passion is helping young girls perfect their pitch which is why she developed the SpinDr. You can find her on our social media platforms posting daily content to help young pitchers become the best they can be!