Arm Strength

Ya gotta throw..get a bucket of balls and throw, throw into a net, throw long toss on a football field..throw. If you want that cannon, you'll find a way. It may not be what you want to hear, but you can lift and condition til you're blue in the face but you have to use the motion and muscles that throwing uses.

How old are you and what are you doing now?

Right handers typically (in general) throw harder than leftys correct?
What is a good fastball for a LHP as a senior as compared to a RHP.
Just a general answer.
Throw out the high and the low and give me a number.

75-78 average lhp
77-80 average rhp

79-82 better than average lhp
81-84 better than average rhp

82-85 good lhp
84-87 good rhp

85-88 very good lhp
88-91 very good rhp

88-91 top shelf lhp
91-94 top shelf rhp

I will throw these numbers out for HS seniors.

I'm 15 about 5"11" and I hit 78 on a gun in July so..i dont know and right now I am sitting on my computer i dont know what you mean by what am I doing now

Well get off the pc and chunk some hide old boy..the computer won't get your arm stronger..I know it's a beautiful day in Florida
Don't make excuses as to why you can't..find reasons why you can..make a way to make it happen.

no i have either a game or practice every day i just saying durning the off season i guess ill set up a target in my backyard or something or else i have a racket ball court next to my house i can throw off the wall and ill take the ground balls when it bounces back

Right on!! Or get a throwing net, Easton makes some nice, easy to take down/put up nets..likely wouldn't have to cut a couple of lawns to be able to buy one of those and a bucket of balls...do you guys have a "Play it Again Sports" down there? You might even find it cheaper..talk your dad into goin down to where the shrimp fleets are and pick up some cast off netting and make your own..the more you look the easier it gets..

Yes get off of the pc and think creatively!
Head up to Roger Dean, ask if there are any players who might throw to you in their spare time (you might still find some hanging around). Some might even work with you to help you to improve. Younger players love helping other younger players.

Worth a shot.

get two buckets full of balls and throw long toss into a fence and do jbands before and after. I am going to start doing this from what i hear it helps alot.

coach may by your chart what type of school would you say a good RHP would draw interest from

QUOTE]Originally posted by Coach May:
75-78 average lhp
77-80 average rhp

79-82 better than average lhp
81-84 better than average rhp

82-85 good lhp
84-87 good rhp

85-88 very good lhp
88-91 very good rhp

88-91 top shelf lhp
91-94 top shelf rhp

I will throw these numbers out for HS seniors.[/QUOTE]

It would depend on his physical make up , ability to locate his pitches , does he have movement on the ball , can he pitch.

There are some major D1's that would be interested if the above factors are there in the right direction. Def small D1 - D2.

If a kid is 5' 8 160 throwing 84-87 , flat fastball , average command etc he is not going to be as valued as a kid throwing the same velo as a kid thats 6' 3 175 throwing 84-87 , good run on his fastball , good command etc.

There are more factors at play than just velo. But if a kid goes to a showcase and runs it up there 84-87 consistently and shows he can pitch a bit he is going to get some attention. Then they are going to investigate a little more.

Hi coach May,

My son would also fall in the good RHP range of your chart.

He is 16 yrs old 6ft 185-190(PG report says good pitchers build 3/4 arm angle good arm speed easy arm action and rated him an 8) he has been clocked at a PG event as throwing 84 with a curveball at 72 . He has also been clocked at several camps with simular stats. He has reached 86-88 in several games this summer but has been consistantly around 84 His pitching coach is working with him on not flying open which he tends to do and tells him he is still not using his legs to the fullest and that when he improves those machanics he will see an improvement in his speed and acuracy. He strikes out alot of batters but he also tends to have several walks a game(again part of his machanics needing to get better) he will work hard this winter on those things and has had some good exposure this summer and fall at PG events and the WWBA underclass in ft meyers. What type of schools do you think he can expect to show interest in him, I want to be realistic. should he shoot for D1 or am I just another parent who thinks way to much of their son.

Is he an 09 or 10? You just leave all your options open. The schools that are interested will let you know. That will be a good indication of where they see him. I know several rhp that pitch in the middle 80's that are at small D1's and a handful that are at major D1's. It just depends on the factors I mentioned above. I have also seen kids take a big jump in just one year. Many with improved mechanics etc. Just keep working hard and stay focused. You will know where you fall when you get out there and you see who is interested. Command , movement , ability to spin a breaking pitch , these are all very important. Good luck.

Thanks he is a 2010

quote:

Originally posted by hisbiggestfan:
What type of schools do you think he can expect to show interest in him, I want to be realistic. should he shoot for D1 or am I just another parent who thinks way to much of their son.

To add to Coach May's comments, see if you can get him to some additional showcases this summer, like Top 96 (register early). And, of course, it's really important to play and perform well on your high school and summer ball teams, both of which will give your son the experience (innings) and exposure that can help draw the attention of college coaches.

Thank you very much. He will be working hard this winter on getting stronger and on his mechanics. his travel team is planning on attending some of the high profile tournaments this summer. He attended some individual college camps this fall as well and the the Underclass tournament in ft meyers/
Feed back was very posititve. Same as BBMOMx4 says he also gets told he has a great upside and has not tapped his full potential yet. Just want to try to point him in the right direction, whether thats D1 or not just want to be realistic. So far everyone seems to think he can play D1. Right now I will be happy with a good score on the PSAT and then take it from there.
thanks again

Perfect mechanics and strengthen your legs. Power comes from the legs when mechanics are correct.

thanks he is working on strengthening his legs all this winter as for the mechanics his coach is trying to get him to land straighter if that makes sense I dont know if I am saying it right. He is not pointing his toe straight at the plate when he lands he is is pointing at say 1 oclock or so and then moving it to 12 oclocks as he comes foward his coach feels this is causing him not to open his hip and he is fighting himself to get over his hip does that make sense I dont know if I am explaining it correctly. In any case if anyone understands what I mean do you know of any drills he can do to fix this I guess at this point it is probably a muscle memory thing and he will need alot of reps to fix it any advice from anyone who has had this issue or knows how to fix it will be greatly appreciated

quote:

Originally posted by jwest:
Perfect mechanics and strengthen your legs. Power comes from the legs when mechanics are correct.

Actually, most of a pitcher's power comes from the core (which includes the hips but not the upper or lower legs).

quote:

Originally posted by hisbiggestfan:
He is not pointing his toe straight at the plate when he lands he is is pointing at say 1 oclock or so and then moving it to 12 oclocks as he comes foward his coach feels this is causing him not to open his hip and he is fighting himself to get over his hip does that make sense I dont know if I am explaining it correctly.

1 o'clock is not that big of a deal (2 o'clock is).

It is called alignment and you can draw a line from the post foot instep perpendicularly towards the plate. The landing foot should land on or near the line but not cross over. He can also practice pointing his toes towards the plate inline with that line drawn. Make sure he drives towards the plate and doesn't fall off to the side.

thanks for the advice BHD
falling off is not a problem for him but landing with his his toes pointed straight to the plate and landing on the line is where he needs the work. He had a few other mechanical issues that he seems to have corrected since the summer and he has improved his velocity from consistantly being in the low 80s to now the mid 80s (84-86)while also throwing some in the 87-89 range. So I think he has improved his mechanics somewhat but this landing issue has been harder to correct and sometimes causes him to throw across his body. If he can get himself landing the right way consistantly we think it will help his control and velocity and also help prevent any arm injury from throwing across his body. Any other suggestions??

The core cannot fully engage if the legs are wrong. Weak legs prevent the core from performing.

From when my son was young, he would do the same thing. What we did was go to play catch somewhere there was a line (baseball, s****r, football field). We would stand on the line and throw to each other. Every throw I would have him look down to see where he was stepping. Do enough of that and he should start to get a feel for stepping in the right direction. The other thing I would do is when doing bull pen work, I would draw a line in the dirt from his post foot to the plate. Every pitch, I would have him look down to see where he strode. Point is, some kind of visual should help. You have to do it enough where it becomes second nature for him and begins to feel natural. Good luck.