Pitching Goals

What are the right goals for a pitcher? How do I know if my goals are the right ones for me and that I’m setting them for the right reasons? These are questions that you need to ask yourself.

One of the most powerful mental pitching techniques is to set appropriate goals. There are guidelines to follow when setting goals as a baseball pitcher. Appropriate pitching goals should follow the following guidelines:

1. Goals must be ones a pitcher can control

Goals based on statistics such as wins/losses, strikeouts, ERA are not appropriate goals. Every pitcher wants to have a good ERA, with lots of strikeouts and win a lot of games. However, the pitcher only has so much control over those things.

If you set goals that you cannot completely control than it is not realistic to expect to reach those goals consistently. These types of inappropriate “goals” are things you hope are accomplished by reaching the goals that you as a pitcher have complete control over.

Examples of controllable goals are:

• Becoming more aggressive


• Controlling your emotions on the mound


• Having a consistent approach


• Being physically prepared to pitch

2. Goals should be as specific as humanly possible

A goal should be specific in nature. Setting a subjective goal that you want to be better this year than you were last year is not an appropriate goal. This type of goal leaves too much room for opinion and not enough room for accountability.

Being able to objectively measure specific goals will yield the best results. Specific goals, which are under a pitcher’s control, force the pitcher to challenge himself to reach those goals. These goals can be measured and the pitcher knows that he alone is responsible for meeting them.

Examples of specific goals can be:

• Throwing first pitch strikes to 75% of hitters


• Averaging less than 15 pitches per inning


• 2 walks or less per 7 innings


• Getting to advantage counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2) on at least 90% of hitters


• Delivering the ball to the plate from the stretch in less than 1.3 seconds

3. Goals should be reasonable and attainable

A baseball pitcher should always challenge himself to get better and to perform better. However, it’s important to set goals that are reasonable and that can be reached. For example, it’s an unrealistic goal to expect to go an entire season and not walk a single batter. Of course a pitcher wants as few walks as possible but not walking a single batter is unrealistic.

Setting goals that are impossible to reach will only result in failure to meet those goals. It can be detrimental to the mental health of a pitcher if he sets goals that were impossible to reach in the first place. Set goals that challenge the pitcher to improve but also ones that he has a chance of achieving. And remember, you can always adjust goals if need be.

Examples of attainable goals are:

• Throwing inside to both right and left-handed hitters


• Forcing contact within the first 3 pitches of an at-bat


• Increasing the movement of an off-speed pitch


• Becoming better at fielding bunts


• Make better throws to second base on double plays

These are just simple guidelines to follow for setting appropriate goals for baseball pitching. Remember, setting goals gives us something concrete to work towards so that we can objectively measure improvement in our performance.

Some of the benefits you’ll see from setting goals that follow these guidelines are: improved physical performance, more confidence, more self-esteem, more mental strength and ultimately better results.

Challenge yourself with your own pitching goals. Just make sure that your pitching goals follow these guidelines so that you can get the most out of your performance.

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