strength and pitching coaching

Question
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Followup To
Question -
1. I have managed a Little League major league team for a few years and have become convinced that many of the kids on my team could improve their playing a lot with a little strength training.  I don't overdo it, but I put the kids through sets of quad strengthening, push-ups, sit-ups and stretching.  I encourage them to do the same at home and to add some weight training if they have access to the equipment.  How much do you emphasize such training?

2. I have been training my son to pitch as part of the regular season practices with a degree of success.  He is now willing and able to do a lot of off season work to improve these skills.  We've been going out and practicing pitching and hitting 3-4 days a week since the season ended.  Do you recommend a source where I could get info on advance pitching for a 12 YO?
Answer -
Doug,

Thanks for your questions.  Enjoy your time you have with your boy.  Fathers, sons, and baseball and truly some of the best times you will ever have in  your life.

I feel that you are right on.  Strengthening and stretching are a must for any and every baseball player.  We do not spend a lot of time on it in practice, as practicing the aspects of the game are most important in the limited time that you have with them. But we do go over exercises and stretching at the first practice and expect the players to do it on their own to stay in shape.  You will be able to tell who is doing it and we throw it in for 10 minutes every now and again.  

Nolan Ryan has a great book on pitching and conditioning.  Get it.  It has specific rubber tubing exercises with pictures.  Buy some tubing and pass out to all of your players, pitchers especially, and have them do the program at home. Also check the web and do a search on pitching.  Their are numerous good websites.  Find a good professional pitching coach, I will talk about that later.

As far as weights are concerned, I like it as well.  I am a chiropractor who has worked as team doctor to a successful NCAA Division II program for 7 years.  I see the benefits in all sports to strengthening and stretching.  At this age, do not do any MAXING OUT.  Stick with low weights that will not cause injury and do high reps.  We usually do 3 sets of 12 reps.  We do the following with weights: bench press, squats, triceps, biceps, shoulder abduction, upper back rows-seated, quads, hamstrings, calves, lunges.  It is also very important to strengthen the forearms.  Situps are fabulous as well.  My son does as many as he can.  He is presently playing 7th grade football, so this has been great conditioning for him.

Working 3-4 days a week is just fabulous with your son.  You do not want to "burn him out".  If you want to work out on a day and he doesn't, "decide" to take the day off.  It still needs to be fun.  When doing our daily pitching workout, if he is pitching off the mound, I catch him and we "play a Major league game".  Our favorite team is the Astros.  I play like "Milo Hamilton", the Astros announcer and "announce the game".  As I like him to get 25-40 pitches in per day, he is the closer and comes in to close the game out.  He works on his control and all 3 of his pitches and usually wins the game for the home team.  We have done this for 5 years now with his pitching practice and even as an adolescent 12 year old going on 13, he thinks it is FUN!  That is the key.

Here is what we do in our off season work to strengthen the arm and increase velocity.

1) Strengthening, stretching and conditioning:  I run with him.  It will get you in shape too. 2-3 days per week.

2) Long toss: 15-30 minutes 3 days a week

3) Weighted ball toss: 10 minutes prior to long toss

4) Mound pitching (or flat ground): 3 days per week 25-40 pitches

5) Simulted game: once per week 60 pitches minimum.

This sounds like a lot but we budget time wisely so that it does not irritate my wife and other son and daughter.  They are a part of the program as well.

On days that we work out, we weight ball toss and long toss.  This all takes about an hour and a half.  When we Mound Pitch, it takes about 30-45 minutes.  We also hit on Mound pitching days, another 20-30 minutes. I use flat tennis balls for batting practice, it protects the bat and they don't fly far.  I even use them when we hit in the cage, it is easier on my arm.

When we simulate game pitch, it takes about an hour.

A key is to know when to quit.  If it is going great, stop!  Sometimes we stop after 15 pitches if he is going great.  Let him leave with confidence.  We also know when to stop if things are going bad.  If he is having a bad day, try to work on correcting it, but know how to read the pitcher and quit when you do not feel it is going to turn around.  Come back another day and start fresh.  One thing that kids can be is inconsistent.  They can be a hall of famer one day and look like they never played the next.  Allow them that.  Know when to say when.

Get the Nolan Ryan book for starters.  It has great mechanical advice on pitching.  I have loaned my out and not gotten it back.  Then find a good, reputable, pitching coach to go to.  You check him out, talk to him, find out his philosophy.  We have one that we see only once or twice a year now. You go with your son to the lessons and learn as well. Ask about troubleshooting and what signs to look for and what to do to correct.  Work with him and your son to improve.  You and your son will reap the rewards.

We are playing fall ball in a 13U Pony League.  My son is 12 and last season racked up these stats:18-3, 1.92 ERA, 74 innings pitched, 137 Ks, 43BB.  The stats show the work.  He is left handed and has 3 strong pitches: Fastball at about 70mph, slow curve and hard breaking slider.  If your son wants it, he will work for it and get it.  Just remember to have fun and always make it fun for him.  Even when he loses, his worst day on the ballfield is better than  our best day at work!

Take care and good luck!
Coach Boss

Thanks for your speedy reply.  You mentioned a number of good ideas that I'm sure will help.  I'll start looking for that Nolan Ryan book.

Your mention of a kid's ability to be inconsistent really struck home.  My son has always had a problem with focusing for prolonged periods of time.  Sometimes in a game I can see a switch go on and he will be unhitable (if that's a word) for a while, but then the switch goes off and he goes back to being an overall fair pitcher.  Do you have ideas on how I can help him learn to focus for a whole game?

I don't mean to suggest that my kid has ADHD or anything like that.  He is very bright and has no problems in school or elsewhere.  I wonder if his lack of attention may just be developmental, but I see other kids his age whose heads are always in the game.  

Thanks again for your reply.

Doug

Answer
Doug,

Your kid is perfectly normal.  I have seen it in every kid I have coached and watched.  Pitching is really a hard thing to do to be consistent at every pitch, every batter, every inning.  I watch a lot of baseball and see it on the high school level as well. Our local high school won the Texas Class 4A state championship last season.  We saw almost every game.  They have 2 great pitchers, but it happens to them as well.  It even happens in the pros, it is just when they lose concentration and make a mistake pitch, a homerun will result.  At our level, it is usually a walk or a hit batter.

At his age, he will have his lapses from inning to inning, game to game, even pitch to pitch.  The key is to find out his, and your other pitchers keys.  With my son it is to tell him, "OK, let's focus and step it out there!".  I yell this from the dugout. He will tend to take a short step at times and leave pitches up high.  When I do this, I do it in a way to re-focus him and get his head back in the game.  With another one of my pitchers I say, "Slow Down and Relax."  This kid tends to rush and lose his focus and rhythym. Another of my pitchers, "Keep the front shoulder in".  He will open his front side too early and lose control. Each kid is different.  Develop at least 3 pitchers for your teams and know when to say when.  I have no problem pulling a pitcher, even for losing focus,(if he can't get it back within a couple of batters).  You don't want to leave him out there to figure it out on his own.  The important thing is to have someone who can come in and throw strikes in relief.

I also use my time outs each inning if I have to just to go out and talk to my pitcher. Calm him down and refocus.  Just don't do harm.  Don't berate him.  Most kids these days cannot handle it.  My son is one that can.  In Fact, it often works best. I sometimes go out and say something just to "piss him off".  This always puts his focus back on the situation.  But that is not recommended as most kids will think you are mad at them.  Talk about the issue, use the key phrase and let them know that they can do it.  I also ask, "Can you get out of this?"  or "Can you give us a few more good pitches?".  If there is any hesitation, I go to someone else.  Don't get upset, just tell him, "I tell you what, let's let Timmy get us out of this.  I think you are a little tired.  You have really had to work hard and done a great job to here."  Wait until after the game to go over what went wrong.

It is very easy for a boy to get caught up in the game and lose focus. Whether it is going good or bad. Especially when it is going good. They start thinking about how great they are and the next thing you know, they look like they have never pitched before.  It is frustrating, but true. The other factor is that they are at the age they are.  You know, we still don't have all of the answers, think about them. Boys tend to stay in a state of confusion don't they?

Find out what you can say, just a short phrase of buzzword that you can say to redirect his focus on his mechanics and the task at hand. You will figure this out in practice sessions.  It might be something to redirect a mechanical error or to re-focus mentally.  Then go over this with each pitcher.  Tell them, "When you hear me say this, ----, it means that you are opening too early, or taking a short step, or not following through, or losing concentration".  It works great and will relieve your stress.  If after using this for a few batters, they can't get it back, PULL THEM.  Also, if you ever have a pitcher so upset that he is crying, get him out of there.  At that point, he will not get it back.  I have never had it with a pitcher, but I did with a catcher in an ALLSTAR game. He got mad at a call and started crying.  Time for a new catcher.

Thanks for your questions and your desire to help your son.  I think we would get along really well.  The world needs more Dads like you who care about the sons.  

Play Ball!

Mike Boss