Baseball pitching advice

[Natymike]

FUCK OFF TX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we had them beat, but we lost to Elkins before we could ever play them. Ok nevermind, we choked. They won state in 99 after I graduated, shows how important I was to the team They have actually been ranked #1 in the Nation ever since I graduated

 

[TxCollegeguy]

Yeah I forgot you went there...lol

Well Chris George is doing ok pitching for KC now...Pretty good to see he finally got called up from AAA

I take it you know the Guzman brothers??I played against them back in little league...Good players but were put alot farther along with the politics their Dad played...


It will be good to see Chris get a good season under his belt. I still remember when they were comparing him to Glavine back in highschool and how he was the "most complete" pitcher since glavine

Too bad KC doesn't have shit for a team. He turned down a Full ride to play at rice but then again for a few Million for a signing bonus being the 31st pick I dont blame it what so ever

98 was Klein's year. Didn't they beat yall in that preseason scrimage?

 

[Natymike]

They destroyed us in a preseason scrimage, they would of owned us if we got to state. It was definately their year.

I heard that K George pitch a game in the majors not too long ago, I'm not sure when, but my friend told me that he got pulled up for one start cause someone was injured.

Unfortunately I know the Ghutzman brothers, you are right on the nose about the politics. Butch--(the dad) moved Steve to Spring so he would get more recognition with Josh Beckett pitching. Steve was a cool guy though, crazy MF.

Phil on the other hand--the older one-, was a complete jackass, so full of himself, he had very few friends because of it. He went to rice and had the worst average on the team, I heard a rumor that he got drafted to the Reds, but thats probably just Butch hyping him up again. Even if you have the best average on the team, its hard to get drafted.

Steve is at Wake Forest last I checked.

http://wakeforestsports.fansonly.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/ghutzman_stephen00.html

 

[TxCollegeguy]

Yeah Steve was a good guy

I remember when he was 11 or 12 he broke a few fingers in his hand and his dad went complete ape shit as if he would never play again...I felt bad for the kid

Yeah Phil wasn't liked by many people as long as I knew him.

Yeah I couldn't stand our coaches until my Sr year. The end of our Jr year coach eaisly got run off for allegedly sexual discrimination against one of the trainers. We had some good guys but Chris was a damn good pitcher and had a good Catcher with Tony

though Tony isn't shit for hitting I think his catching is awesome. He got drafted 4th round by florida I thought. I hope to see him catching one day in the majors but if he does I hope his hitting has picked up from a few years ago

 

[plifter]

At 9 years old there isn't anything you should other than teach him a good pitching movement. Don't even think of the curveball. Make sure he learns how to get his entire body into the pitch instead of just throwing with all arm. He'll develop on his own.

 

[cm3504jm]

Everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it a lot.

Looks like I'll go with the long toss to strengthen his throwing and his fall league coach is teaching basic pitching mechanics with NO curve stuff whatsoever (Why do all the kids want to throw curves )
It's pretty neat watching and I'm learning myself just for info sake.

He's actually doing squats with me, but with no weights-just going deep and doing it till he burns.Also crunches and lower back extensions. I told him no matter what sport you end up liking, if you have stong legs, abs, and lower back it will make everything else easier and you wont get hurt as much.

Once again, thanks for your help

 

[rudedawg]

cm-----long toss is the best way to increase velocity IMO. This is what my pitching coach did with us. By the way knew his shit--(Ray Knoblauch, Chucks dad)

Long toss = playing catch from FAR AWAY, start off 10 feet from each other, then back it up 10 feet, keep throwing, 10 more feet.....ect. Back it up as far as you can until he can't get the ball to you. Move it farther back week after week. Pretty soon he should be able to throw the ball a lot farther than he originally did. This is also how the outfielders strengthen their arms

Maybe Chuck's dad should teach him to throw short toss.... maybe he wouldn't throw the ball into the stands from 2nd base. )

As for long toss...... actually the best way to do it is to back up like you said but..... when you don't want to have to throw the ball with a lof of arc..... so you start one hopping it and letting the ball go out in front of you instead of up high so you can get it there. Also helps with mechanics because you are throwing the same way as you would normally.

Arm strength and arm speed are 2 different things. Arm strength allows you to throw more. Arm speed allows you to throw faster. There have been a ton of "theories" on how to build up arm speed but the last I checked none added any significant velocity.

 

[HappyScrappy]

best thing you can do is teach him that to throw using his legs and not his arms.
and I don't mean that in any dipshit smartass way - I mean that 90% of the pwer generated from the throw is in the legs and trunk rotation, the arm is just the means to an end, the tip of the delivery.

if he learns to throw this way, then he will last longer and throw harder than most other people he competes against.

I always concentrated on a high leg kick (need flexibility), bend the leg that is planted on the ground.
then once the forward leg comes dow, the arms should be at the release point.
hard to explain, easier to show.

much like golf, pitching is greatly timing - you can have bad mechanics if you are strong and overpower it, but you won't last long that way.
Nolan Ryan is a good example of great timing- not a real big guy, but strong legs and that is where he got his power.
(or course being tall and having that leverage certainly is nice too - randy johnson and ramon martinez come to mind)

for the most part, don't push him and let him do his own thing and he is less likely to burn out.
have fun!

(other good things - throwing a foot ball is good as well - you will see many pros warmming up with a football at the beginning of practices)

 

[rudedawg]

best thing you can do is teach him that to throw using his legs and not his arms.
and I don't mean that in any dipshit smartass way - I mean that 90% of the pwer generated from the throw is in the legs and trunk rotation, the arm is just the means to an end, the tip of the delivery.

if he learns to throw this way, then he will last longer and throw harder than most other people he competes against.

I always concentrated on a high leg kick (need flexibility), bend the leg that is planted on the ground.
then once the forward leg comes dow, the arms should be at the release point.
hard to explain, easier to show.

much like golf, pitching is greatly timing - you can have bad mechanics if you are strong and overpower it, but you won't last long that way.
Nolan Ryan is a good example of great timing- not a real big guy, but strong legs and that is where he got his power.
(or course being tall and having that leverage certainly is nice too - randy johnson and ramon martinez come to mind)

for the most part, don't push him and let him do his own thing and he is less likely to burn out.
have fun!

(other good things - throwing a foot ball is good as well - you will see many pros warmming up with a football at the beginning of practices)

Sorry dude but I am going to disagree on a few points here.

#1 A high leg kick does not equal velocity. Case in point... Rob Nenn throws 100mph and his foot actually hits the ground between picking it up and planting it. Another example is pitchers that use a slide step to speed their time to the plate in order to give their catcher time to throw them out if they try to steal.

#2. No way can you throw with any velocity or accuracy if you are releasing the ball when your plant foot is hitting the ground. Check out this pic of the Big Unit:

or this one from the backside:

Other side of the coin but another lefty Tom Glavine :

Maddux:

The Ryan Express:

As you can see your arm should be up and somewhere close to the L position but not at release point yet. You land and when you do you twist with the hips and drive off of that back leg and get your chest out over your front knee. And speaking of Ryan... dude he was 6'2" 212 lbs. Ramon Martinez is 6'4" and weight 190 or so.

Throwing a football IMO is one of the worst things you can do as a pitcher. Think about it..... when you throw a football your hand is on the side of the ball and it isn't the same angle as when you throw a baseball. When you throw a baseball, your hand should be behind the ball not on the side unless you want to have surgery.

No matter how strong your legs are or how sound your mechanics are the arm is NOT just the means to the end. Without arm SPEED you don't have a chance of throwing a baseball average or above average.

 

[rudedawg]

Thanks DOT.... ummmmmmm the reason I seem to know about this is because I was as herky jerky as they came...... everyone tried to do their little coaching bit on me. I don't even want to post any action shots LOL