ELBOW

People often fool themselves that a cutter is a "safe" pitch that can substitute for a curve. Worse, many kids throw a true slider and kid themselves that "it's only a cutter". The slider is probably the hardest pitch of all on your elbow.

13 is a dangerous age for this. Your growth plates are particularly vulnerable. You should get a medical evaluation so that you know what's really going on with you. Until you do, you might want to shut it down to be safe.

At 13, the biggest thing is to adjust to throwing strikes from the longer distance. Work both sides of the plate. Use both 4- and 2-seam action on your fastball. Learn a change-up. Those tools are enough to get you through until you're old enough to need a breaking pitch.

Your best goals would be to focus on fastball mechanics, to build velocity and improve spot control. Those are the building blocks of future success. You can wait to work in a curve until you're physically ready.

Great advice Midlodad.

DD, you really shoud listen to what he said. If you can locate your fastball and throw a change-up you can dominate at your age. No need for a cutter or curveball.

I agree, a fastball and change-up with location is all you need. I'm 16 and pitch on JV and if you even have an average fastball and decent change-up you will be very successful if you can hit your spots. I also don't get why you throw so much slower from 60 ft. Velocity doesn't change when the mound is farther away, the reaction time does.

quote:

And last year i was throwing around 74 from 46 feet in little league and now im throwing around 65..should i be throwing faster?

This could be one of the things hurting your arm. A 14'6" in jump in a year can lead to bad mechanical adjustments to compensate for extra distance. Please work on your upper body strength (push-ups, weighted shoulder excercies) especially shoulder girdle strength along with tons of running (sprints, intervals, distance).
Work on throwing strikes and changing speeds with your fastball. Work on a change up and change speeds with that. Most curveballs get hitters out by the change of speed and not the break.

quote:

Im thirteen years old and ive been throwing my curve for about a year now. Recently throwing from sixty feet i have had soreness in my elbow. I don't throw my curve ball much maybe 6 times a game because i have a cutter that works well. Is there anything else that could be hurting my elbow?

Yes, the cutter.

If you throw it the wrong way, then your forearm may supinate as you finish the pitch.

DD,

At 13, you only need to learn a fastball work on locating it and learn a changeup.
Master those two pitches now and get your mechanics down. Most of your peers who are throwing curves at 13 or under wont be around when your pitching for the HS varisty in few years.


There are exceptions to my next statement of course, but for just about every young boy at 13, your body is not ready to throw a curve.
How many times you throw it in a game not relevant. You wll have to throw it hundreds & hundreds of times to gain control over it enough to try it in a game.

Midlo is absolutely correct. You still have growing to do. I could be wrong, but my bet is whoever got you throwing a curve didnt give you any exercises to prepare your body for doing it.

Without seeing video to compare your motion from LL to now on the big diamond its hard to say why your losing velocity. My guess is it is a mechanics issue, young pitchers sometimes alter things when they step up on the big mound.

My only advice on this would be find a good teaching coach you can meet with on a regular basis and work with him.