Ethan pitching mechanics

[BamaYankee]

Couldn't find the original post, but two years ago I recorded this video and got some advice on Ethan's pitching.

Two years later, he is 12 and this is what we are working with. Good control, but he is the "slow" pitcher on his team. Really soft stuff. Effective in relief of our flame throwers, but batters eventually rough him up. He would like to throw harder. Is there something mechanically we can work on?

[clayadams]

Bama, if you're ok with me PMing you I have one thing I'd like to discuss. I'm not a pitching "pro", but I can see one thing that I think is big and one small.

[BamaYankee]

Bama, if you're ok with me PMing you I have one thing I'd like to discuss. I'm not a pitching "pro", but I can see one thing that I think is big and one small.

Sure, and thanks.

[clayadams]

PM Sent.

[ralanprod]

I'm not a pitching mechanics guy, so I'll leave that to others - but I think I have a few things for you to consider.

I think too many pitchers get caught up in the "how fast I throw" mentality, rather than the "how well I pitch" mentality. There is far more to pitching than velocity.

You have to work with what you have. No matter what you do to maximize your mechanics, there is only so fast your arm is going to throw the ball. The majority of people in the world can't be taught to throw a baseball 90 MPH, because their bodies just aren't capable.

Of course it's impossible to really know what your ceiling is at 12 yo, so you have to work on the things you can control today. Namely accuracy, movement, and change of speed.

My 13yo son is a good example of what can be done even if you don't have good velocity. Despite being probably the second slowest pitcher on his team, he leads the team in strikeouts. For the past 2 seasons he has averaged more than a strikeout an inning. What works for him is getting batters to swing at pitches they either can't hit - or can't hit hard. He may not be able to throw it past the batter, but he gets them to hit "his" pitch, rather than "their" pitch. To me even better than the strikeouts is that he is getting a more than 3 to 1 ratio of ground balls to fly balls. (gotta love electronic scorebooks for the stats they come up with)

Rather than having your son focus on velocity, have him work on his control and developing a good changeup. Don't worry about striking them out - worry about getting them out.

[BamaYankee]

I'm not a pitching mechanics guy, so I'll leave that to others - but I think I have a few things for you to consider.

I think too many pitchers get caught up in the "how fast I throw" mentality, rather than the "how well I pitch" mentality. There is far more to pitching than velocity.

Yes, thank you, but that is not where this is going. My focus for him is to be mechanically sound. If speed is a by product of that, then so be it. I know I mentioned "throw harder" in the original thread, but can look at his motion and other kids motions and I know there is something different with how he throws or pitches. There is something trebuchet like in the delivery that I think makes it less efficient. Effects his throws from third to first also.

[CircleChange11]

By "swinging his leg open" versus "striding toward the catcher" and landing with an "open toe" (toe pointed toward catcher) instead of a slightly closed toe, he's rotating his hips too early (if at all).

Once the leg has been raised to it's highest position, the first movement should be down and then toward the catcher. I cue I give young pitchers is to "show the catcher the side of your shoe", although I have heard the "scrapping mud off your shoe" thing before too, but for me, it's too vague.

Knee to the back shoulder, side of foot toward catcher ... that's the stride.

It'll also result in a much softer and control foot land, with the landing being controlled on the instep rather than stomping down on the mid-foot and/or heel.

I like to see a "tucked" glove rather than the straight arm, but that's preference. IMO, based on my experience, that "straight GS arm" can get lazy and start drifting away from the body, causing balance issues and varying release points.

Once the stride gets under control, I think everything is going to be just fine. The delivery should be more repeatable and use more rotation rather than leg swing for velocity and power gneeration.

We'd never teach a batter to start his swing with a leg raise, swing it out over the plate and land hard with his toes pointing toward the pitcher, for the very same reasons a pitcher shouldn't do it.

[ralanprod]

Yes, thank you, but that is not where this is going. My focus for him is to be mechanically sound. If speed is a by product of that, then so be it. I know I mentioned "throw harder" in the original thread, but can look at his motion and other kids motions and I know there is something different with how he throws or pitches. There is something trebuchet like in the delivery that I think makes it less efficient. Effects his throws from third to first also.

Gotcha. I think CircleChange is on the right track in what he says. One thing that helped my son was this drill --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu4vLOEthM4 . A pitching coach he worked with also told him to visualize rotating over the front leg, not the back leg. The combination of the two has gotten him to the point where his hips don't fly open too early and rob him of velocity (and increase strain on the arm).

[BamaYankee]

Good tips. Thanks guys. Anyone have opinions on "toe pointed down" during knee lift?

[CircleChange11]

Good tips. Thanks guys. Anyone have opinions on "toe pointed down" during knee lift?

I changed to being a "toe down" guy because as a "launch yourself at the plate" pitcher (I only knew what I was taught, right?), I would swing my leg up and it cause me to "lean back". By having the "toe down" it forced me to "raise" the leg rather than "swing it".

The only (?) downside of the "pointed toe" is that it is not a completely relaxed state. It's a flexed state. Having the foot just "hanging there" with a relaxed ankle would be ideal. But, IMO, having a pointed toe is better than a leg swing, if one had to choose.