General recruiting question

First you will need to determine whether he is a Pitcher or a Hitter. I helped my son with that by checking his height which was sub-six foot. So he has tried to make his way as a hitter.

He is 6'3" and 200 lbs. so I think he has the height. He has a fastball, change up, knuckle curve and is working on the slider. The problem is is that he isn't always consistent. Does this come with more practice?

I would not worry about the other pitches at this point, until his fastball cruises in the mid to upper 80's.

If he can not attain that with some mechanical fixes I would focus on being a hitter and focus on developing your son's ability to hit for power.

At his size he should be able to either hit for power or throw with velocity.

Pick one and work on developing that skill to the best of his ability.

quote:

Originally posted by cdjd13:
He is 6'3" and 200 lbs. so I think he has the height. He has a fastball, change up, knuckle curve and is working on the slider. The problem is is that he isn't always consistent. Does this come with more practice?

As a softer tossing lefty he should have another pitch in his arsenal, either the change up and or a breaking pitch, dump the slider, he doesn't need it at this time, unless you want his bb to end while in HS.

I am not sure if I would showcase my lefty yet, he needs to get in some work to develop more velo and become a bit more consistant.

Thanks for the info. Any suggestions on exercises to develop more velocity?

quote:

Originally posted by cdjd13:
Thanks for the info. Any suggestions on exercises to develop more velocity?

Find a good personal trainer and work on explosion drills. That added 5+ MPH on my sons FB in no time. I only wish it added more to his 60 time.

1. Never give up hitting until it is obvious he will throw in the 90’s. He can play two ways until then. (including college)
2. Get in the gym with a good explosive work out program. Do Yoga for flexibility.
3. Long toss go to Jaegersports.com for information
4. Make sure he has solid mechanics, a tweak on making sure he is closed and delayed in his arm action as this alone could add 2-5MPH. (very common for HS pitchers)
5. Make sure he is getting the best grades he is capable of getting. There is more academic $$ than athletic available.
6. Explore with him what majors he might be interested in and make a list of 25-30 target schools, from easy to stretch, review their websites, the baseball programs, etc. Do not exclude D2,3, NAIA schools. Email them a profile.
7. Visit some schools on your own over Christmas and Easter breaks. (email the coaches and let them know you are coming)
8. Get on a high visibility travel team for next summer. The coach will be able to give you advice on the level he can play at. Start that process now.
9. Get an Area Code invite from a pro scout.
10. Go to WWB 17U, and Arizona Fall Classic next year.
11. If he is high academic Stanford Camp or Headfirst.

Very good, BOF. I would, humbly, add that he should take an SAT course and practice the problems.

Agree, the Sat or ACT, practice, take a class, and get a score in January or March.

If the SAT class is not in the budget use the on line resources at College Board and at KhanAcademy.org.

BOFs items are very very good.