The Strike Zone Revealed!

Great News for Baseball and Softball Pitchers, Coaches, Parents, Training Facilities and Umpires

We Finally Developed A Training Device That Allows Pitchers To See The Entire Strike Zone To Help Them Develop Pinpoint Control of All Their Pitches!

To Succeed, Pitchers Must have Control

We all know how frustrating it is to watch a pitcher struggle. How many times has a ballgame come down to the remaining two or three outs, with your team leading, only to have the momentum and outcome switch because the pitcher can't throw strikes? Before a replacement can fully warm up, the bases are loaded. Base hit, game over.  Ever happen to you? Of course it has.  Great news for everyone- we have a pitching aid that accurately reveals the strike zone.

The 3DKZONE is a training aid designed to help pitchers get to the next level by expanding the physical and mental approach to the strike zone. After learning basic pitching mechanics, most pitching instruction focuses on a two dimensional rectangular pitching target at the front of home plate. That approach fails to recognize that the strike zone is an approximately 2 foot high, 3 dimensional, right angle, pentagon- not a rectangle. So why teach pitching with a two dimensional target and two dimensional mentality? The Answer: Until now, no one has produced an affordable pitching aid that has a three dimensional strike zone capable of giving instantaneous feedback on every pitch!

Expand The Strike Zone and Expand Your Approach to Pitching

At last, pitchers can escape the two dimensional mentality and start visualizing the strikes they have been neglecting. The 3DKZONE was designed to help pitchers refine pitch control where it matters the most- through the zone. Imagine being able to hit a spot, coming from any angle, to a point 8 to 17 inches behind the front of the plate? Now we're talking about control! When we talk about expanding the strike zone, we have to discuss working the outside perimeter of the strike zone. Ted Williams illustrated that if a pitcher could throw strikes just two inches around the outer part of the strike zone, it would actually increase the size of the zone by 37%. The really good news for pitchers is that any pitch located in those areas are difficult to hit. Remember, the diameter of the ball is larger than two inches, so as long as the ball touches the 3DKZONE, on it's way through the zone, technically these pitches may be called strikes.  For a picther, they are good strikes. The 3DKZONE allows you to isolate the outer edges of the zone- consider that Williams was only addressing the 2 dimensional window at the front of home plate and expand that to include the sides, top and bottom of the zone- you just increased the zone much more than 37%! Seasoned professional umpires understand that the strike zone exists for both pitchers and batters, so don't assume that a pitch thrown outside, that crosses the extreme outer edge of the zone, on it's way to the catcher's mitt, six inches off the plate will be called a strike, but consider the pitch that starts out of the zone and travels into and through the zone as your domain.

Consider the 12 to 6 Curveball that comes in high and drops down through the top of the 3 dimensional strike zone, behind the perimeter of the front of the zone described by Ted Williams. The implications are staggering! Of course the strike zone is defined by the leagues who sanction play. We are obliged to work with the definition of the strike zone provided. We can only work within the parameters of those definitions and hope to educate everyone as to how those definitions impact the game as we know it.

The Ephus Pitch, which has been credited to Rip Sewell, of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1930's, was a high trajectory, slowly thrown, junk pitch, designed to catch hitters off guard. It dropped from a high angle through the top of the zone. Some major league pitchers still use this pitch on occasion.  Barry Zito's high arching curveball drops from a very high angle as well.  The concept of a 3 dimensional strike zone is nothing new.

A Pitching Aid That Produces Results- Strike!!!

Years ago when we first tested the 3DKZONE prototypes at All American Baseball Academy in Warrington, PA, we didn't know what to expect.  We asked pitchers to throw ten pitches normally, off the mound at the 3DKZONE. The results were surprising.  Some nervousness is to be expected when you try anything for the first time, but most pitchers had trouble hitting the target at all!  Some of these pitchers had already signed letters of intent to play college baseball!  And they couldn't hit the strike zone.  Many pitchers didn't hit the target until the last 3 pitches. 3 or 4 out of 10 was the high score. It seemed so easy at first. After  a few months of working with the 3DKZONE most pitchers got themselves to 7 or 8 out of 10 throwing at normal pitch speed.  The results speak for themselves.  With a better conceptualization of what the strike zone actually looks like comes greater accuracy and pin point control.

You have to understand that virtually all other targets are primarily designed to catch balls. They are not designed to make you change the trajectory or angle of the pitch as it travels to and through the strike zone. So what is more important? Do you want to save a few seconds picking up the balls that missed the net on a 2 dimensional target or do you want to focus on hitting a simulated target  with refined control that you can take into a game. Remember, when you use a 2 dimensional target your objective is to aim at something well within the zone. It doesn't matter whether it's low and away or up and in. Your mentality is focused on getting the net or pocket on the 2 dimensional target to catch the balls. In a real game your catcher will handle catching the balls and you will be able to work the zone to your advantage. Pitches within the zone are much easier for a batter to hit. Pitches that work the perimeter and the top and sides of the zone are pitches that produce lower batting averages for hitters and that's the objective.

The Benefits of Using The 3DKZONE

"When you practice on a target that simulates the full three dimensions of the strike zone, you are much better prepared to work with it when it is invisible during games."

Did you get that? When you practice on a target that simulates the full three dimensions of the strike zone, you are much better prepared to work with it when it is invisible during games. After training with the 3DKZONE, many pitchers report an improvement in their accuracy and they also claim that they can visualize the 3DKZONE during real game situations.  In other words, they are able to visualize the 3DKZONE floating above home plate in their mind's eye. The brain remembers the experience of pitching to the 3DKZONE and it carries over into the real game pitching experience. Control of late breaking pitches noticeably improves. Every practice session allows the pitcher to improve his or her ability to hit their spots, more frequently. More quality pitches equals better results and less walks. Take the next step and change the way you have been practicing. Two dimensional targets like sock nets, pitchbacks, nets with pockets, bells, buzzers, whistles, pop up targets with colors and numbers, will always fall short because the bar has just been raised. The thinking, the approach and mentality towards deliberate pitching practice should be sport specific. If you want to be a great pitcher then practice in a way that allows you to fully simulate your approach in a game.