Fall Velo vs. Spring Velo - College Players

My son gained 3-4 mph last winter (between HS Jr and Sr year).  He worked out on his own but it wasn't nearly as serious as he should have been and no real program...just kind of random workouts.  Nowhere to really do any long toss...just some throwing in a gym.  I was shocked at his velocity gain.  He stayed steady this entire summer.  His school's pro day is Monday....so he'll know what he does there.  It will be interesting to see what he gains this winter while working out with the D1 strength coach.

Tons of variation between guys. Some go in and are able to put on 15 pounds and work hard for the first times in their life. Some are alrwady filled out and have always worked hard. If a kid has never thrown on a serious program and lacks strength he can pick up a good amount. Depends on kid and his history.

I ask, because Ryno threw yesterday, and he sat 85 - 87, and he topped at 89.  Pitching Coach says he sees 90 soon.  I know that he is training better than he ever has.  Hopefully it helps.  Hitting 90 for a Lefty could open a lot of doors for him. Especially if he learns how to maintain it.

if his training is getting better than what hes used to, he will probably gain some velocity. it doesnt seem unreasonable for him to be sitting 87-98 by season. i dont know what his college training is like so im not really sure. But generally guys add some velo.

oops 87-89 not 98 haha

That's what I am hoping. A couple mph...

Of course hard work accounts for much of the good results, but I can't help but wonder how much of a factor the mental aspect also impacts a young player. He's working hard. He's healthy and feeling good. He's got coaches and trainers telling him he's a stud. Yes he's going to perform. Compared to mid-season grind, or finals week when a player is feeling beat down.

I heard an interesting radio show about the power of "lying to yourself". They interviewed athletes who said that one of their mental tricks for performance is to convince themselves that they are the best. Sports psychology is popular for a reason. The power of positive thinking and all that. Story is weird early on, but they get into the athletes about 8 minute into the show. http://www.radiolab.org/story/...-lying-to-ourselves/

One other thought. We all know the parents who stand behind the backstop and berate their players for making errors. Can't help but think that is counter productive to their performance.I imagine that could make an otherwise good player feel pretty crappy.

I did not mean to take this thread on a tangent. Apologies.

My son did gain a few MPH between fall and spring of college. not top end (he had recorded 92-94 in HS but it was only a couple times)- sat 86-88 generally but in consistency of where he was sitting. In fall he was still sitting a 86-88 in spring as a rule he was sitting 88-90- hit the 92, 93 a few more times.

What they spent a ton of time with him on was his changeup, he had never really had to throw is so it was way under developed. Going into his sophomore year, he still struggles with it but it is getting better according to him

Chefmike....that must be a big "college thing"....lol.  My son threw an inning yesterday in an inter-squad.  Didn't talk to him....but his text said "fastball was good and was throwing a changeup good".  I can't remember the last time he threw a changeup....88-89 fastball and a good curve did just fine in HS and this summer

I think it is a "college thing".  Freshman son says that pitchers on his team are only allowed to throw fastballs and change ups so far in inter-squad scrimmages.  For a lefty who's out pitch is his slider, he was more than a little concerned!

These guys must know what they're doing: through 4 outings he says his velo is up

2-3 mph, hasn't walked anyone and hasn't given up a run.  Pitching to contact, so less K's but really focusing on throwing strikes, and when your change up is your only chance to get some of these big time hitters off balance, you learn to trust it!

Yeah he quickly learned a 88-90 fastball was hittable at college. He always threw a 2 seam but in HS he threw a lot of 4 seam by people, he knew he could throw chest high and that was a K. So he learned to rely on more 2 seam fastball, really really work on changeup, and chest high fastball can go a long way over a fence. He works down now most of the time. If he is going to throw high, it is shoulders high or so and that is rare.

The other pitch he really had to adjust to was his slider. The lower seams really affected his drop and he had to learn another grip / fingers placement.

Along with chest high FB his slider was his K pitch in HS. He had to do something with both .

Slider is back to an out pitch now but took most of fall last year to adjust

CO Lefty. I agree, early in fall of year it is fastball Change up at son college as well

Gonna give a little different story.

Our older son's velocity actually went down (on average) in college.  Was a consistent low-90's in last year of HS, but in college was probably 88-91.  Occasional 92.

Why?  Don't know really.  Lots of possibilities, but injury (in college) was not one of them.  I do think there is one thing that contributed that is worth mentioning.  In college, to get on the field and pitch a lot, you must have command.  You gotta throw strikes.  I think(?) its possible that our son dialed it back a little to be able to consistently throw strikes and stay on the field.

Once he was a pro pitcher, his velocity steadily rose to where it is now at 94/95 with occasional 96/97.  And through that process, along with the way minor league/pro ball works where a pitcher is not heavily penalized for long periods of bench time if he's working through things - through that process he now has high velocity with pretty good command.

Now I'm not complaining at all - after all our son got a great education and a tremendous college experience, but I think its one of the aspects of pro vs. college for a pitcher that I didn't fully appreciate.

In my experience with the quality HS Fall Ball programs here, pitchers are only allowed to throw fastball/change up during the Fall games.  At least for the first several outings for each pitcher.

Sons story is similar to JBB.  The first year is more like gotta clean up the mechanics and make adjustments. So the emphasis is not on velocity. And as stated you get to use only a few pitches in your arsenal. My sons was the 4 and 2 seamer with command with an occasional CU as he was more of a groundball specialist. Second season the change up was added and third year the slider. He left with 94-95 and touched 97-98 his last season.

I'm glad to hear that others are doing the FB/CU thing only in intra-squads. I was a little skeptical when my guy said it. He SAYS the guns are rarely out right now. He BELIEVES it's so guys aren't pushing it up and blowing out arms in Fall.