Towel Drills

By Steven Ellis, former Chicago Cubs pitching pro

A lot of older pitchers may have heard of or seen some of their teammates performing baseball pitching drills with a towel.

If you don't know what the purpose of the towel drill is, or how to apply it in your own practice, this is what I consider a good application of the towel drill for baseball pitchers.

With towel drills for pitching, what you are looking for is proper form and proper timing - and it manifests by making contact with the glove like he shows it being done in this video clip (below) of a college pitcher performing the towel drill in pitching practice.

Remember this, however, the pitching towel drill is about putting it all together with your baseball pitching mechanics to let the release point happen where it ought to.

Good posture and balance, good momentum, good timing to stay closed and rotate late, etc., will get you out front and hit the pitching target with the towel correctly.

The towel drill is NOT about arm extension or "snapping down."

Here's the pitching video to see how the towel drill can be applied in practice or while working on specific elements of your own baseball pitching mechanics.