Thanks for the advice. I think we're on target with some things, and maybe not so much with others.
- I put a rubber mat where his foot was landing, and told him to land to the right of it- which puts his foot adjacent to the straight line.
- I have played long toss with him for at least 2 years or so. He's always had the cannon on his team, even before his growth spurts when he was one of the smallest guys.
- He doesn't really throw that hard when he pitches though, and I haven't said anything about it. I was just working on him throwing strikes at this point.
- As far as he lack of backspin, I'm not sure if it's because of the arm slot, or that maybe his hand is not directly behind the ball. It's definitely not under the ball, just not directly behind it, if that makes sense.
- He's also playing catcher now. I know the league has limits on pitch counts and then playing catcher. How much is too much?
- When we practice pitching, we play a game where we either: call strikes/ balls, and see how many walks/strike outs in 2 or 3 innings, or he throw until he throws 25 strikes, and we count how many balls, wild pitches etc. Once we're done with the little game, we stop.
- I thought he was getting burnt out in the off season, so I left him alone and quit asking him if he wanted to practice. Where we live, he doesn't have any other kids close by to play ball with, and I think he gets tired of playing with he old man. Once the season started, he's gotten fired up again.
My goal is to teach him, and to help him be the best that he wants to be. I always tell him that he isn't playing for me, he has to want to do it. But when he signs up, he has put his work in. I hope that, through sports he learns a life lesson that he can accomplish whatever he wants IF he puts his time in.
Thanks for the welcome and for the advice. I am helping coaching his team, so I'm sure I'll be "coming to the well" often. Take care, Dan