Side Arm

Question
Hey, my name is David, i'm 14, my dad keeps on telling me to throw side arm, he thinks i'm more accurate that way, well i'm not, i'm only accurate over-the-head if i'm pitching, but I play SS for a Select Ko-Fax Team call the RedHawks, I was wondering what i should do since I feel more accurate, I have more power, and it feels natural to my arm to throw Side Arm, Over-the-head makes my arm feel in a weird position and doens't feel good while throwing, I have been throwing side arm for about 5 years now, please help me on what i should do

Answer
Throwing the ball side arm can be ok for some, but in general, I wouldn't really recommend it.  Slinging the ball like that really takes your body out of a throw and puts pretty much all of the stress generated on your elbow.  With your body still growing, it's very easy to seriously injure your arm doing that.  Also, next time you watch a big league game, not how virtually all of the players throw, which is almost never side arm.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  Mainly, throwing over the top, or even 3/4 involves your shoulders and torso in the throw, thus putting more power behind the throw.  The second reason is that the throws are generally more accurate.  The reason for this is that throwing over the top puts backspin on the ball where as throwing from the side puts side spin on it.  The back spin makes the ball go relatively straight, where as the side spin causes the ball to tail away from your target.  If you look at the few pitchers who throw side arm (Pat Neshek for example) these guys generally are not hard throwers.  They rely on the movement and deception generated by their arm angle.  If you are finding yourself having more power and accuracy throwing from the side, there are probably some mechanical problems with your over the top throwing.  I would guess that you are either pulling your front side out too soon thus lagging your arm behind (this would cause a lot of high throws) or you're squeezing the ball and thus slamming it into the ground (obviously a lot of low throws).  Before you give up on throwing over the top, I would have someone who has been around the game a while take a look at your mechanics when throwing over the top.  If you can get that down, it could make you a better defensive ball player.  Also, when you're warming up, really focus on getting a full range of motion on your throws (take the ball back in a big circle before throwing it).  If you can get your muscles stretched out properly, it could help you feel more comfortable throwing that way.  I hope this answers you question.