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21 replies

Development time for tall pitchers (patience required)

BOFBOF10,000+ posts
I was going to post this in the pitching thread but think it has more relevance in the pre-HS section so I am posting it here.

My son had a huge breakthrough this week that I thought I would share for the benefit of others with young, tall, developing pitchers – or for that matter all young pitchers. For background he is now 15, and a hair over 6’3”, 170lbs and has always had a long slender frame. Because of this he has never really been able to get out over his front leg properly as his legs could never support him correctly in landing. He has had good pitching instruction and I have had two different coaches tell me not to worry about it saying that when his body filled in with his frame he would get the necessary muscle mass for landing support. That said - it has been bugging me for several years as he has always been a little stiff on landing has never really come through the ball properly.

We shut him down in late July and he started on a 12 week strength training program, with focus on his core and leg strength. He threw his first bullpen this week and the results were amazing. He is striding out, landing properly, and finishing through the ball like he never has before. His velocity is up significantly (visual - we will gun him later) and he had a nice downward plane on the ball. His coach just stood there looked at him not saying a word for about 8 fastballs and then just said “wow that was nice”

I guess the moral of the story is to have patience and realize that it takes time for kid’s to develop and not get too overzealous and push them beyond what their body can handle. We waited on the weight training until puberty, we have managed his pitch counts, and we did not push him to soon into travel ball. Set your sights out beyond a game, season, or a year and be patient (trust me this is really hard) if you keep at it your son will be rewarded.
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SouthPaw_MomSouthPaw_Mom10+ posts
Thanks BOF for posting this here. My son just turned 13 and has grown 2 inches in the last 8 weeks. He is now 5'8 1/2" tall and weighs 125lbs. They expect him to be 6'4". He's struggling with his pitching mechanics where he never has before - his daddy calls him "Condor" because of the flailing arms and legs. The Condor is frustrated because his pitching is wild, but all of his coaches are very patient and understand that his body is changing faster than he can keep up. Everyone's just waiting for the growing to slow down, but so far it hasn't. While patience is difficult, your post is encouraging that someday with a lot of work and training things will come together. We constantly remind our son that "this is a marathon, not a sprint." :-) Thanks again for the encouraging messasge!

Good luck to your son!
B BobbleheadDoll5,000+ posts
I called my son the Big Linguini. He also grew 6 inches in 1 year to 6' at 13 and very skinny. He has just put weight on in his last couple years relative to his 6'$ height. Now 191
Patience is the key and still looks super skinny.He never had any pain but felt off a bit when he had a growth spurt.
A teammate of his was 6'4 at 13 but heavier and he was always in pain and could hardly walk for almost a year. He also had a lot of arm pain. Eventually everything got better and the pain went away. You should be a bit careful not to force things and injur yourself before your body develops enough to with stand the rigors of throwing a BB.
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
My daughter grew fourteen inches in eighteen months from 4'6" to 5'8". She weighed 115 when she hit 5'8".She finished at 5'10". Watching her come out of the batter's box was hysterical. It was like watching a new born calf trying to find it's feet. I sent her to speed and agility camp in the summer. She loved the speed part so much she quit basketball for track. Frown

My son grew seven inches in eight months this past year from 5'4" to 5'11". The pediatrician predicts at least 6'2". He weighed 135 when he hit 5'11". He had a challenging time last fall with baseball. His mechanics were off. The fast growth screwed up his footwork. Then there were those long arms that appeared. He has the wingspan of a normal 6'1" person. I tell him to keep his knuckles off the ground. He got the coordination back through playing two other sports and the high school baseball program's preseason agility training.
TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
I am reading this thread with a smile (much needed), this is so normal.
Mine had his big growing end of his freshman year, by his sophmore season he was so gawky and uncooridinated he couldn't run. The fastest on the team was now the slowest. When he ran down to first he ran with arms and legs out of control, it WAS sad. It was then that he realized why they decided to make him a pitcher only. By his senior year, he was back to normal and they let him hit and run again. Smile
My son is just shy of 6'4" and still growing at 23 (he grew a half inch this year), it hasn't stopped yet.
B BaseballMom10100+ posts
We are on the front end of this as well. Son is 13, 5'9", 125 pounds with size 14 shoes!

He is starting to grow into those feet, complaining of soreness in his knees and arms.

It is so awkward to run with those big ol' feet...

But, I am not complaining... those online calculator things have him pegged at about 6'5" - 6'6"...

My baby brother is about 6'8"... Now if he were only left handed...Smile
BOFBOF10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by BaseballMom10:
My baby brother is about 6'8"...


That is too funny 6'8" "baby brother"

Sometimes so much is expected from kids who have size, but they just have too many moving parts to control. It has been hard to figure out when to push him up and when to keep him back and let him develop into his body. What we found worked was to let him play up during the summer and then in the regular season play near his age level. The balance is critical because they need to develop confidence but at the same time be challenged.

In his incoming Freshmen year in summer ball they played him up with the Varsity team and he was disapointed when they did not move him up during his Freshman year, but it turned out to be the best thing for him. It has given him time to fill in and he had great success, built his confidence and he has become friends with all of the kids in the program.
Last edited by BOF
R ranger68910+ posts
Wow..I am thankful to hear all of this. My poor son is 13 and 165lb. with size 13 shoe. 12u was great, made a travel team at 13U and grew 8 inches. It was so hard to watch and he was so upset with his hitting, pitching, and fielding. He, as well as others expected so much from him that the stress of not being the player he was crippled his head game. He is now on a new 14u team and everything is coming back slowly working very hard 6 days a week.His pitching/throwing still needs help. He is throwing pies. Being a big kid everyone is looking at you and there is SO much expectations. They may look like men, but they are still children.
RD rain delay10+ posts
It is interesting to see your son grow in front of your eyes. My son just turned 14 a couple of months ago and is close to 6 ft and 167lbs. The funny thing with my son is that he has grown consistently at an even keel at 2"-3" a year over the last few years. So his akwardness has not shown up yet. In other words, he has not had the 7" power growth in one summer like I did. Anyway, what I have noticed over the past couple of years is that my son needs hitting lessons to straighten out his hitting slump early in the season each year, because what once was a good hitting stride is not going to work for the new season because of his extra growth through the winter. The same holds true for his pitching stride and mechanics. Luckily he is a hard throwing lefty for his age and is very good hitter after correcting and educating his new body.
Lefty34Lefty34100+ posts
I remember my son stretching to be 6ft on the doctors mark and leaving his shoes on when weighed to be 165lbs. He has had more muscle developement this year than height growth finally. He is 15yrs old 6'3" and just over 200lbs and the 14 shoes that are hard to find. Since he has worked on muscle mass and pitching so much this off season his batting swing was needing some help. This is the first spring he has needed hitting instruction.

Yes we have gone through the everyone expects more out of the big kid and even more when he's a lefty. He was nearly burnt out mentally and physically & almost done a couple of seasons ago. He had a 12U coach use him as the workhorse. We had to shut him down this year Oct-Jan. He had strained the cartlidge in his rib cage and it need the chance to heal up right. Now he is back stronger and better. They just hate taking the time for the body to catch up. You are so right that patience is required by all involved, you, the coaches and most of all your son. Good Luck to all this season!!!
Last edited by Lefty34
S 27"sDad100+ posts
BOF,

Very nice thread! I remember being worried that 27's pitching would never match his size. (At 12 he was 5'10" and a bean-pole.) His super-league coach preached patience even then. At 15 and 6'4", and still a bean-pole, there have been times when the coordination just wasn't there. However, as each season wears on, he grows used to the body, and the coordination and velocity return.

And, the coaches and instructors are still preaching: patience. It simply takes longer for the tall, lanky ones to master the mechanics. The goal has to be set further out; in their minds and in ours. You're right...it is hard to be that patient. But the rewards are worth it!

A great season to everyone!
zombywoofzombywoof1,000+ posts
LOL..Does anybody have short HS players who's firmly planted to the ground? Mine as a freshman played at about 5'6" 150 and his senior year played at 5'9" 190. He's got thick arms and wrists and legs so when he flicked balls to the opposite field, they were hit hard and had very good power that way. He looked more like a running back but as an outfielder, he covered a lot of ground and had a pretty good vertical leap for someone with his build.

The one thing he did suffer when he was about 12-14 when he grew abou 4-5 inches over that time was growing pains in the legs which made it hard for him to be a catcher for long stints. By time he hit high school, the pain went away.

Conditioning is key. By his senior year, he was one of the fastest on the team and among the team leaders in stolen bases.
Last edited by zombywoof
TD 3T's DadMember
The oldest "T" is 13 almost 14 and is 5'5" 170lbs size 11 shoe. He looks like a fullback not a pitcher. His voice is starting to crack and we think he may begin to grow taller within the next year or two, not so sure he will reach the heights that some of you guys have stated. Anyone else out there had a son close to this size at this age?
zombywoofzombywoof1,000+ posts
They say to get some idea how tall your kids could be, double their height at 27 months for a boy and 30 months for a girl. How accurate that is, who knows.

Some time back, I pulled out those old doctor visit slips the moms save to see if that's true and at my son's 2 year checkup, he was 34½ inches so that was pretty close
55mom55mom1,000+ posts
Good advice.

Son is 15 and 6'5", 205lbs. Last year could best be describe as all elbows and knees. This year, he is throwing well, running smoothly, and has re-found his swing. Thank goodness. He did work hard in the offseason - the agility and the swing required effort. It is all good now.

TPM, My oldest has grown about an inch in college. Both are now 6'5". It's like looking at twins. SmileSmile

My oldest was predicted to be 6'4", youngest 6'2". Must be the water.
redsox8191redsox8191500+ posts
My son will turn 14 at the beginning of March. He is 5' 10" and 160lbs. He has grown consistently around 3" a year so really hasn't had a problem with coordination etc. He did have big feet (size 13 now and growing) and some baby fat on him up growing up through last season. This past summer on he started to go through puberty and it was amazing, he lost like 20lbs of baby fat and his running improved greatly. Even he is amazed at how well he runs now (in basketball at the moment)and can't wait to see how he does on the bases. Kid is always getting hurt and doctors say his growth plates are still pretty open and project him in the 6'2" - 6'4" range. I'll take that for a lefty pitcher!! His coach said his hitting really seems to have improved this year too, so maybe the puberty spurt did help him with some coordination after all!!

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