Originally posted by Truman:
quote:
Originally posted by Hedenberg:
I'm trying out for my highschool freshman team. I throw in the low 60's and I have control of 3 pitches. (2 Seam, Circle Change, and a pitch called a "gyroball" which is a 4 Seam grip with late drop movement.)What should I do to increase velocity. And what do you think my current chances of making the team are?
It's really not possible to answer your question in a forum like this. There are so many things involved. With that understood, I think as a freshman, attitude is everything and if you show you work hard before, during, and after a practice; have a positive attitude; are very coachable, you'd probably have a good shot at making the team. Just keep in mind that if you don't, there's always next year. Your body is going to change a lot over the next few years and what you are now is surely to be very different in a couple of years. So, keep working hard at it whether you make the team or not.
As far as increasing velocity, that'll take some time and practice. Finding a good pitching coach to work with you could be just what you might need at this point.
Since you're body is at an age where it is now rapidly maturing, strength and conditioning workouts is important as is working on your flexibility. These things will help as you refine your mechanics.
Very often, young men like yourself don't have relatively high velocity because of various mechanical issues. Without seeing what you do, there's really no reference points. But, often one needs to work on a long stride and staying balanced with it. And a very typical issue is the torqueing of your upper body and getting a good "separation" (that's the difference between the hip alignment and the shoulder alignment)as you turn your back towards the plate and initiate your forward motion for your stride by leading with your butt. This is some basic stuff and if you can get it down, you very well could see some increase in velocity. (have someone video tape you as you throw and analyze it yourself and even compare what you see that you do to MLB pitchers that might throw like you. . .you should be able to see the difference in what you are doing and what they are doing)
