Freshman pitcher's first day of try-outs

A lot of missing info here in your scenerio. What type of program is the HS? What kind of expertise does this coach have? What is the track record for pitchers? Generally speaking, and Lord knows I don't know much, we have never tried to change a pitcher during tryouts. In fact, we state that we are NOT GOING TO COACH them the 3 days of tryouts. It comes down to what they know etc. and simply put, we don't want to mentally destroy them if they are doing things that we might consider changing later but know that this is tryouts and so the kid will panic. It seems as if this is what is happening to your son. Of course, this might be the coaching staff assessing if your son is "coachable." Again, not enough information. Don't panic and tell your son that the hay is in the barn. Make the team first! Then, let YOUR SON approach the coach about what their comfortable with. JMHO!

Hi, BG's dad. You will probably get better answers than mine, but I think if your freshman wants to make the HS team, then he has to try to do what the coaches are telling him to do. Being "coachable" is extremely important. From what you write, it doesn't seem like they're asking him to do anything that's going to cause injury. In my short experience, we parents can't really work out compromises with HS coaches. So I think he should give it a shot and see what happens. Who knows? It might make him better. Good luck!

Edited to say: never mind! Listen to what CoachB25 says!

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we have never tried to change a pitcher during tryouts

At our large school, pitchers didn't even pitch the first day or two and, lord knows, with 80+ kids trying out for three levels there was no instruction or even advice given.

Frosh are scared to death (as are their parents). Would think the role of the coach on Day One is to be as supportive as possible. He wouldn't want a jittery future star to panic and switch to the more soothing tennis or golf team.

How many kids tried out? If few, then perhaps the coach has already moved past the selection process and into the coaching phase because he knows everyone's making the team. (not uncommon for pitchers especially)

quote:

then maybe after tryouts catch the coach at a good time and discuss it with him and maybe offer a compromise.

Yep.

Thanks for the replies so far. Here's a little more background:

6a school (highest classification in Oregon). New coach, but did coach at the school some years ago (one state championship), one additional championship at another school. I'm guessing about 60-70 kids trying out in total, freshman started three days after Varity and JV and are trying out by themselves. About 20 freshman. Pitching coach is head coaches son. Not sure about his success with pitchers. Senior class is loaded (two early d-1 signers and probably 3-4 more who will also play in college somewhere)

One other thing, a coach at the academy my son goes to was a pitcher under him so I can probably ask his opinion also.

I will not get involved, will let son handle it. Good point about maybe they are seeing who is coachable. Son said the pitching coaches seemed like good guys and did point out a couple of things they did like. It's the balance point thing that really bothers him as this has the potential to really throw off his timing.

If the coach is discussing mechanics changes with your son, chances are he's making one of the teams. Otherwise, the coach wouldn't bother.

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About 20 freshman

Yep, small group (too small with all those good seniors leaving soon) and likely a few will go JV or even varsity. Subtract perhaps one awful kid who should be cut for safety reasons and it's clear everyone else was solidly on the team when they walked thru the door. Sounds like he'll have to keep some top players on freshman team just to fill it out. 14-15 is pretty minimal and that's about where you are.

Relax.

I would just go with the flow until bullpens start. First day of anything is upsetting, nerve wracking and everything else. Everybody take two deep breaths and call me in the morning.

Just have your son nod yes to the coaches and then continue to throw the way he would normally throw.

Hard to tell what mechanical issues he has without seeing video of him throwing, but anyone who tells a kid to "pause" at the "balance point" is clueless and shouldn't be giving advice to kids on how to throw a baseball.

Unfortunately that seems to happen more times than not in HS.

This is where the conflict lies.

Parent pays for lessons, parent therefore wants to see what they paid for. If the HS coach tries to make adjustments, the HS coach is wrong, stupid or the bad guy. FWIW, that coach is most likely getting paid to coach your son and therefore he DOES have a right to make suggestions. Maybe the coach isn't always wrong.

There are all types of people giving lessons. Often hear, "my son is taking lessons from a former MLB player". Or my son is "taking lessons from a scout". I am confused, does that make them good? One of the best coaches son ever had, was a volunteer coach who never took a dime for lessons.

If you got together 10 different coaches in a room, chances are they might all have different ways to teach.

What do you do when you pay for lessons all through HS and then you get to college or pro baseball and whatever you have paid from one person is now going to be dissected, changed, tweaked and squeaked? Even if it's working. Unfortunetly this is a baseball fact of life.

There is not problem with pitching or hitting lessons, but do be aware, as your son goes through each level of baseball, he's going to hear different things from different coaches. If you and your player can't accept that, it's not your game.

JMO.

BG'sdad
You have a pm.

I never once felt that since we paid for lessons occassionally that we wanted our monies worth. Any one that can make my son better would be greatly appreciated. Unfortunatley, I don't think a HS coach should be trying to make changes to a kid until he's seen them in a game situation. Just my opinion and especiallly not at freshman tryouts. The tough part is going to get them to listen to your son. Better off not mentioning it say thanks coach I'll give it a try and then do what works best. Be aware if he does his own thing he will be considered uncoachable and if he doesn't produce he will be on the bench.

Ok, tryouts I agree.

You can bet if the coach was taking the time to make suggestions to your son during tryouts he liked what he saw alot. Normally we dont say a word to the kids trying out. We just evaluate them based on what we see. If they make the team then we coach them. If the coach took the time to offer suggestions he is not going to do this with a kid he does not intend on coaching in the future. So thats probaly a good sign he liked what he saw in your son.

I dont like a pause in the delivery holding your balance point etc. But thats just me. I dont like a backwards rocker step either. But thats just me. I would not worry about this stuff. Let him make the team and settle in. Let him get to know the coaches and let them get to know your son. You will probaly find out that all of this was nothing to worry about. Good luck.

For the life of me I cannot believe some people have got on here and stated to ignore the HS coach. That is amazing because this happens to be the guy who will make out the lineup card on who plays. Even if the coach is a complete moron (which there are some out there) he should still be listened to until you have a chance to talk to him.

Good coaches can be approached with different things. We have a business in a nearby town that teaches baseball. They do great work and most of my guys go to them. Let me be the first to tell you that we basically don't change anything they do. Not because their parents paid that money to get the help but because what they teach works. Why mess with it? Now if I have a kid who goes to someone I don't know we will be dissecting what that kid does to make sure it works. If I have a kid who goes to someone I don't respect I take the parent aside and express my concerns and they usually switch.

As for the side step or the back step - who cares. It doesn't really matter either way - it's more of a comfort thing to me.

What exactly do you mean pause at the balance position? Does he literally stop or is it just a really slow motion?

I personally like a small step - it's so small you can't really tell if it's to the back or side - and a slow delivery. I think that has a perception of adding a little more to the fastball - that is probably just me though.

Think of it this way - your son worked really hard to get the motion he has. I believe that if your son works really hard he can adopt this new wind up. These two things are really not a big deal.

I do suggest going to the coach and saying "hey coach, I have worked pretty hard at this and it's very comfortable. What are the chances of me keeping it?" I bet the coach will listen.

I'm just wondering....could it be that the coach is telling the kid to pause in his delivery, not as an actual pitching motion, but to emphasize balance as a part of a drill...

I'm not suggesting, BG's Dad, that your son doesn't know what he's talking about, but maybe the coach isn't saying pause when you pitch, but pause while we're evaluating your motion. Just putting it out there.

I would caution those who say "Tell the coach yes, then do it your way", that if he is an observant coach, he'll notice that the player is ignoring his directives and it could make the coach think the player is uncoachable or thinks he knows better than the coach....

And, actually, MAYBE HE DOES!! But that's where he may need to talk to the coach and ask him, "Can you tell me why we do it that way?" That is a better way than ignoring the coaching. Tell him you were taught different, and you'll try to do it his way, but you just want to know why what you are doing is wrong.....

Recently my son explained to me what his coach was trying to get him to do. After he explained it to me a little my son was able to understand what the coach meant. The coach was being very helpful but the way my son heard it (may not have been right) was different. It didn't make sense to him. Basically what it was, was to keep your weight back as long as possible before starting forward. So what I'm trying to say is maybe what your son heard about the balance point and what the coaches meaning was were 2 different things. He should go and ask.

Thanks again for the great thoughts guys. Son and i talked about both points, the side step and the balance point. We believe the side step does throw the head of target, but in looking at videos of MLB guys he noticed that if he took just a small one, it would not. Son also thought that maybe if he did a higher leg kick it might give the illusion of stopping at the balance point. He tried in his bullpen today and the coaches said he looked good.
He feels like these two changes were easy to make and did not hamper his delivery. To some of your points, I guess I just need to relax. My son did

If you're interested, I'll keep you up to date occasionally with how it's going. All in all, he's pumped, says he's hitting and fielding well and having a great time.

Sometimes all these things are just a tweak here or there to improve delivery.

It's good to hear suggestions, from everyone. JMO.

Keep us informed, good luck in making the team.