TPM posted:BOF,
Got a job for you when you are ready!
Listen folks, dont get offended, but measuring velocity of young pitchers really doesnt mean all that much, yet. As your pitcher grows his arm and strength will as well.
Then all of a sudden it stops.
Next time you are watching a college game or a ML game take a look at the pitchers lower body, thats where the power comes from. It takes years before the mechanics and the conditioning come together. Some players, like bacdor's son are blessed with what is called, pitchers frames. He is doing what we did, let the body grow and develop before the real work begins. He is projectible. He will be at his peak development probably at 23, 24. Thats like 8 years from now.
So creating a " reference point" before HS is useless, all bodies are different, its all in the genes, puberty, years of hard work, the perfect mechanics.
JMO
No argument here. Like I said, i thought this thread might prove interesting in the future to others to see how development progressed. If it's not interesting to them, no harm. If it's "useless," well, it'll hardly be the only useless thing to be found on the internet.
In fact, by doing a search it's possible to find somewhat similar discussions in years past -- I remember looking up the postings of a HSBBW-er before my time called "Bum" and reading about "Bum Jr" and how he progressed (lots of long toss, IIRC). I found it interesting.
In fact, here's a quote from a post by Bum back in 2008 that rang true to me:
"I understand the motivation of 14 y.o. pitchers -- and fathers of 14 y.o. pitchers -- to want to know their son's velocity. I went through the same thought process myself with my son at that time. After all, these kids are looking to get a spot on the high school team, so they feel they need to know
* * * *
If you're 14 y.o., or the parent of a 14 y.o., I will give you the advise I have given others: Velocity is not the show. It is the ticket to the show. You must be obsessed with velocity, but you must be equally obsessed with the art of pitching. Again, the concepts are not mutually exclusive. However, please don't think that, if you don't have superstar velocity at 14 y.o. you can't get it if you work your tail off. Some kids get it later. Some never get it. There's no rhyme nor reason to this thing.
So.. now that you know velocity is important, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to go get it?"