Bullpens

[pcarnette]

I have a question about bullpens, which I assume to be a part of pitching practice roughly equatable to live batting practice for the hitter. For the 9-10 year old, how should a bullpen be conducted including any warmup and cool down activities?

[johnlanza]

My 9yo pitches about thirty pitches when we do bullpens. Fifteen from the windup and fifteen from the stretch. I will change my target every couple of pitches. Two seamers, four seamers and changeups. When I throw back to him, I mix in a few grounders just for some pitching fielding practice. As for warm-up, he does some stretching beforehand.

[pcarnette]

Thanks! One question, I forgot to ask was frequency. How often do you do a bullpen with your son?

[scorekeeper]

I have a question about bullpens, which I assume to be a part of pitching practice roughly equatable to live batting practice for the hitter….

That’s an interesting perspective. How did you come to equate the two?

Personally, I would equate a bullpen to just about all hitting drills other than live BP, because there’s no hitter standing in trying to hit what’s thrown.

[Kevkey]

We have our 10's throw 30 pitches also
First 15 pitches are thrown with the catcher in the middle of the plate 5-4 seams, 5-2seams and 5 change ups then we do 5-4 seams with target up in the zone, 5 2-seams away and finally 5 change-ups low and away. Try to work one bullpen all from wind-up, next bullpen will be all 30 from stretch. We also have a routine for warm-ups before the bullpen, 5 short throws to the catcher with focus on breaking hands palm down to equal and opposite position-pause and throw. Then 5 short throws in which are essentially rocker drills to focus on keeping nose over belly button and releasing out front, next 5 step behinds from in front of the rubber with focus on good leg lift and hit the catcher in the chest with the ball finally 5 step behinds from behind the rubber same routine. An old pitching coach started the kids doing this so they learned there was a purpose to every throw when loosening up before a bullpen or warming up before a game. Not sure how much it actually helps but the kids love the routine

[DerekD]

My sons both do a basic dynamic warmup for their entire bodies, not just their arms.

My youngest son (9) only throws 4-seam fastballs at the knees and only at the inside and outside corners. We'll throw to the inside corner at the knees for 10 minutes or so, then move to the outside corner for 10 minutes. I then have him work on his moves to each base, probably 5 or so throws to each one. After that, he faces a couple of "batters" to work on situational stuff. I'll give him different bases runners, # of outs, some score, to see if he can "get out of the inning" to "win" the game. After pitching, he'll run the perimeter of our property a couple times.

My oldest son (15) works the corners at the knees but we work on changing levels too. He throws a couple of different fastballs and a changeup. If he does well with those, I'll let him work on his curve, throwing it for a strike or down and out of the zone. Him and I also work on throwing over to the different bases. He also does some situational pitching. He also does some stretching for his entire body along with running.

Overall, the youngest is probably at 25-30 minutes and the oldest 35-40 minutes.

[pcarnette]

That’s an interesting perspective. How did you come to equate the two?

Personally, I would equate a bullpen to just about all hitting drills other than live BP, because there’s no hitter standing in trying to hit what’s thrown.

I guess I was thinking, rather simplistically, that the point of live BP was to hit a strike and the point of a bullpen was to throw them.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. For a 10 year-old that's one a team that practices three days a week and plays Sunday DH, how often should he throw a bullpen if he's probably going to be pitching in practice one day a week?