For the Pitching Guru's

my point...everyone has a theory....

stop any video of Andy Petite or Randy Johnson, look very closely at their elbows...zoom in on the elbow....look at that deformity....why do high school kids have to hit 90+ mph???....

if the ball is "clocked at 95mph..that means the arm, elbow and shoulder is moving 95mph...MLBScout... does this not bother you?
is velocity what makes a high school pitcher? or his future?

what about proper mechanics? painting the black? ground ball outs? saving that kids arm? elbow? shoulder?

what is a splitter? and how do ya throw it? what's a fork ball and the proper way to throw it?

Curve? Slider? what's the proper way to throw it? any of these can hurt an arm or elbow if not thrown properly...ask Smoltz or Harvey...

new school or old school...which is it...or what works today???

Look at Seaver closely..frame by frame...look at Keith Falke..frame by frame...break the motion down...

like i said...i am no guru, my kid is 6' 4' , weighs 180lbs..never had an arm problem, hardly ever ices, 80% 2 seam, lotsa sink and movement, and 4 seam fastballs 87mph, lotsa balls hit into the dirt at home plate.. forkball breaks in the direction of whichever finger has the most pressure, curve at 76mph...change 73-75mph also..paints the black....cruises at 84 to 86mph.....senior in high school....doesn't care if he plays the next level

he has been recruited in the early signing period and is currently being recruited by D2 college....he just as soon play juco or community college...if he plays college ball it will be for someone locale...

there are 6 steps to the proper pitching mechanics...5 if throwing from the stretch....

 

My son doesnt use ice either. Instead he uses simple exercises
(jobes) after throwing . No arm problems and i agree with throwing all these pitches , it could be bad for arms and shoulders. But by the same token , mine doesnt throw in the high 80's but does have good location and that occasional fork ball he could use , yes ( fork ball ) , only problem is that the pitching coach dont allow it.

I think each pitcher has different limits , what might not work for some works great for others.

 

we use exercises also...and i agree with Nolan Ryan about only throwing off a mound in the bull pen when he is preparing for his start..i believe that the flat work helps keep the stress off the shoulder...

at a recent showcase we attended..which was rained out except for pitchers and catchers...we were told that velocity was all they were interested it and not worry about location...1 kid was 90+ with his ball almost going over the backstop...1 kid was 88 and his pitch would have been behind a right hand hitter...i realize that scouts believe they can teach location..but if kids are asked to do the above in a bull pen to impress a coach or scout, then they have a tendency to rush their mechanics and could lead to injury...my son topped out at 85, was on the corners, and complimented on his mechanics...

i believe that another problem for high schoolers is that usually the pitchers also play somewhere else when not pitching...if they work on mechanics in the pen then go to take infield or vise versa they usually throw more...if at ss, 3b, 2b, or 1b do they use the same throwing motion as from the mound? i think this can lead to overuse of a youngsters arm...

i am sorry but i believe that if the growth plates are still open and the skeletal frame is still growing it is not ready to be bulked up...

besides my son is my best friend and we have suffered together through 2 knee surgeries on the same knee... it is no fun to see your kid lying on the infield and have to be carried off...no i am not the first dad to go through this but it has made me cautious about training methods...

 

Different treatments work for different kids. However, I believe that every pitcher needs to ice their arm after throwing. But, some kids think that they don't need it and they think that there beliefs are correct. But thats what makes this world great (opinions), so the ones that want and believe they need ice you give it to them. Mechanics I believe are important, but I dont believe that a pitcher only needs mound work during warmups. But again at the high school level you are dealing with not only players but parents as well. I have seen parents run a baseball program by forcing their beliefs about their kids on the coaches, such as pitch count for that kid,routines for that kid,and basically anything else that they believe is appropriate for their kid. I watched all of this transpire when I was a player in high school,and after that kid only listening to that parent he now sits at home and collect a welfare check. But then again some kids throw off the mound twice a week (1 time is game day), then go play thir position and develop arm troubles. So I guess it just depends on the kids body chemistry. I also find it hard to believe that any kid in any program was a #2 pitcher just because he wasnt a strikeout pitcher. That to me sounds like one parents view.