pitching conctrol

Question
hey Jon,

My son is 11 yrs. old and insists on pitching.  He's a lefty.  He pitched some last year and has a very live arm, unfortunatlly his control isn't quite there.  We worked on it during the off season but he tends to be inconssistant with is control.  His coach has him taking a lot off his ball until his control comes around.  He tends to throw the ball high, the ball also gets away from him from time to time.  His coaches say it's a combination of his release, and his footwork.  When he stides towards home plate his right foot is pointing to his left.  My question to you is, are there any drills or instruction that you can give to help him,  he's begining to get discouraged thinking they may not pitch him.  Also, is there any advice you can give me regarding handling pressure on the mound.  He tends to let every bad pitch he throws concern him, making his throws even more inconssistant.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Scott

Answer
Scott,
I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
I think that at the age of 11 kids fall in and out of "good" mechanics every pitch. I would have him try focusing on "pitching to contact".
Usually when a young kid throws hard, he wants to strike every one out. When he tries striking everyone out, he pitches so that they don't make contact. This leads to a lot of pitches thrown to each batter and lots of inconsistency.
If you get him to focus on pitching TO contact, challenging the hitters to put the ball in play, he'll throw more strikes and probably strike out more hitters than he did before.
I would wait until he's a little older before worrying too much about mechanics.
Good luck

-Jon