Introduction of CBC/OD Pitching Development Director John Steele

What is your experience as a player?

I first started playing baseball at the age of 5 years old. I still remember the day I put on my first glove which was a Rawlings and playing for the East Baseline Mets in Los Angeles, CA. Throughout the years I had the opportunity to play with and compete for great teams and championships at many levels from the Little League World Series, to 5A State Championship High School Finals in Texas, Junior College, and finally finishing my collegiate career for St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and being part of a team earning the right to play for that Collegiate World Series ring. After college, I was thrown some opportunities to keep playing and bounce around, but being a realist, and then getting a great opportunity to take a head pitching coach job at a history rich NCAA Division II university at a young age, I hung up the spikes and started coaching.

What is your experience as a coach?

I knew I was going to be a coach at an early age. I literally lived and breathed the game from the day I started playing. I was the kid who organized the neighborhood games and then would put in pick plays, offensive signs etc….I had some great coaches throughout my career and also gained access through one contact or another to some of the best baseball minds out there, and would always ask how, why, what and can you show me that again. My first real coaching job was at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, TX. I had a great mentor there as a Head Coach who really afforded me the opportunity to grow as a coach and individual. While at Texas Wesleyan, I had opportunities to coach both high school and collegiate summer leagues as well, and was around some of the best talent the country had to offer at those levels, with many of those players going on to great professional careers. Being in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, through the university I made great contacts in the Texas Ranger organization. I was able to use those contacts and then having some good success as a coach get invited to work for the Ranger organization. This was a great pride boost for someone like me, as not having a Major League pedigree; the prospects of being in a professional organization are very limited. But, I was passionate about what I did, and they noticed and I’ll never forget the experiences and education I received just being around the best in the world and frankly my heroes.

Who has influenced you the most in your coaching career?

As I mentioned earlier, I had some really great coaches. Some I liked more than others, but they all influenced me. I think you have to take a little bit from all your coaches and learn from it. It may not be the way you would do something, but it was still something you learned. But, as far as who influenced me the most, it was my teammates and then one player in particular who played for me my first year of coaching. Now when I say teammates, I want to qualify that first. Growing up in Texas, the talent is just tremendous. I mean, where some cities may have two maybe three guys drafted in a year, in Dallas/Fort Worth alone, you would have 30 to 40. That’s not even counting the guys in college that are from the same area. So, when I say the talent is tremendous, it’s not a stretch. I lived that, played with and against that talent every Spring and Summer through my high school and collegiate career. And boy did I learn, not only about how the game was played, but

how to compete. Watching this tremendous talent and playing with those guys, helped me be able to identify talent. Anyone can see the obvious sure, but it was watching the ones that weren’t ready one year, compete and get ready and then pass others up the next.

But, the one who had the most influence was a young man named Brock Huggins. He was my first scholarship signee and he was a big time recruit in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He went on to start for four years, earn Freshman of the Year and All Conference every year, but more so then being a great player and student, he was a great young man with insight beyond his years. Coaching him made me a better coach. I believe a coach is being something more than the guy who writes a lineup. Again anyone can see the obvious, and make a lineup with the best players. That’s a manager. A coach is someone who can teach, learn from whom they are teaching, and then help the player become better and also become better themselves. I learn everyday in this game, and I seek to learn. It’s about the players, not me. Brock Huggins helped me understand that. I had my time to play, and boy did I love that time. But teaching others and helping others get into a position where they have a chance to succeed, is the ultimate win. What I have learned through baseball has helped me in everyday life and business.

How has your education influenced your pitching philosophy?

I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Physiology and then continued my studies and Master’s work in Biomechanics. It is true that some are born with the natural ability to throw better than others and when it comes to athletic ability we are not all created equally. Many coaches overlook mechanics and how to properly maximize an individual’s ability. It’s a case of you “don’t know what you don’t know”. Guys aren’t out there trying to hurt young men, but as a coach, how can you properly teach something and properly explain the reasons something needs to be done, if you don’t know the how or the why? Physiology discusses how to cope with stresses imposed upon our bodies by different environments. Throwing a baseball as we all know definitely imposes stress on our body. Understanding Biomechanics allows us to understand the internal and external forces acting on the human body and the effects produced by these forces. Now, by teaching and understanding what our body wants to do and how that impacts what we are trying to do, especially in pitching a baseball will allow the player to have more control of what they are doing. You don’t just teach a kid that 1 + 1 = 2. You explain that 1 is a number and + means add etc..etc..And once the student understands what everything means they can understand how to apply it. It’s the same with pitching and that’s what I try to accomplish. Because when you eliminate the “don’t know”, you make progress. Lastly, mechanically sound pitchers, throw strikes with more regularity. If they eliminate the inconsistencies at release and know how to do that by cleaning up the loops, wraps and bounce in the throwing motion and then get rid of any body movement not towards their target, they will attain the smooth throwing action that allows them to maximize acceleration through release.

 

What’s the most important to teach young pitchers?

Proper mechanics, proper mechanics, proper mechanics. If as a young pitcher you have bad mechanics and you don’t work to fix those early, you’ll continue to put negative stresses on your shoulder and elbow. You may get away with for awhile, an don’t get me wrong, there are guys that make big money with mechanics you wouldn’t necessarily teach, but again remember, we weren’t all created equally. But as we grow and we get stronger, there are many more things asked of us by our coaches or the expectations of others. And unfortunately, in the wrong situation, we may be expected or asked to do things; we really shouldn’t because someone doesn’t truly understand the negative impact that it may have. Young pitchers need time to develop and mature physically. Teaching and expecting them to throw pitches such as sliders and cutters is a recipe for surgery or eliminating a career. Even curveballs until a certain age are very dangerous. Save the cutters and sliders until college and curveballs until 14 and 15 years of age dependent on the kid’s physical maturity. And definitely make sure someone knows how to teach the curveball correctly. Not just the action of the pitch, but how it relates to the arm. You only need a 4 seam fastball, a 2 seam fastball, a changeup, and a curveball once you get to the varsity level. Dedicating time to other pitches other then the core four, just hinders the time you can spend becoming a true master of the four you need. And lastly, you may have to take a stand with a kid. If their throwing motion is not a good one, don’t let them throw curveballs until it is. You can’t play if you hurt yourself. Remember that.

How important is it to command your fastball?

To be an effective pitcher, you have to command fastballs to both sides of the plate. Sooner or later the game and talent catches up to you. You can’t get away with just throwing the ball outside. If you can’t consistently throw strikes to both sides of the plate with your fastball, and the fastball is the easiest pitch to throw, you won’t be able to pitch at your upper levels. It’s all about the work you want to put in, and do you want to correct the issues that prevent you from maximizing your control. But it takes work, and is not an overnight fix or tweak. It’s a program.

Final Thoughts

To throw harder you have to throw harder. Get you mechanics lined out and then get out and throw and build your arm strength. Don’t go through the motions when throwing a bullpen. No matter what pitch you throw you want to throw that pitch with the full intensity that you are physically able to. Whether that is 10 pitches or 50, and you should have instruction dependent on time of year on how many pitches you should be throwing in a bullpen workout. There are too many guys who go to a bullpen workout and baby the ball into the catcher for the purpose of throwing a strike. All this does is create incorrect releases and trains the arm to throw strikes when throwing slowly. That’s not the object and never has been. Ask any scout. You’ll create bad habits if you do so. So know your limits, and go to work.

There are a ton of great pitching coaches out there today, and everyone has a little difference in philosophy here or there, and that competition is what makes the game great. There is a ton to learn and you will never have a day in your life where you don’t learn something new.

 

Great Interview

What a great interview. With the On Deck/CBC merger it is great to see so many quality baseball people under one roof! I heard both On Deck and CBC buildings stay open so roofS!