Mental side of pitching

He is a developing 2020 pitcher. Let the physical aspect develop before you start working on his head.  

In the meantime you can do some homework. Maybe you could get some good suggestions.

I liked heads up baseball by Jim Abbott and Hank Aaron. Simple. But I wouldn't go there quite yet.

JMO

Yeah, mostly that comes with physical maturity and consistent mechanics. If a kid is constantly tinkering with mechanics and delivery to try and throw strikes, he's unlikely to be happy with the results.

If he has the discipline & ability to do it, visualization is a powerful tool to help develop body control. Take a look at "The Mental ABCs of Pitching," by Dorfman.

A lot of times lack of consistency in the strike zone for younger guys is from an inconsistent release point. Making sure my guys throw "through" their target instead of "to" it helps as a small adjustment. Hope this helps in some small way! 

Don't aim for the catcher's glove, instead try picking out one piece of stitching on the glove and aim for that.  Aiming for a smaller target may help him hit the bigger one.

I don't know how many pitchers learned to pitch the way my son did, but he's had a history of being very consistent and threw more strikes than all of his teammates. We've never run into any other kids other than the ones in our neighborhood that learned along side of him. Maybe there are many, we've just never bumped into them.

When he was young he was taught to focus on balance first. For a few weeks he was told to stand in the living room, on one foot as long as he could. Switching. Exercise balance because you throw more strikes when balanced.  The next week he'd practice balance with arms out. Then arms in motion. Then with leg in motion. Then weeks later with foot plant, and it must be with toe pointed to home. But in doing this he also used visualization, and it was a kind of meditation, very calming. He kind of developed this happy place practicing his balance in the living room. He could tap into it when he was on the mound. But my son is very calm to begin with, never ruffled. Don't know if that's what you're looking for, but it helped my son.

How old is your son?

TPM posted:

How old is your son?

TPM.....he will be 15 in a couple weeks.

LuvMyKids posted:

TPM posted:

How old is your son?

TPM.....he will be 15 in a couple weeks.

Sorry, my question was directed to baseballparent23.

kyle argues that it is not mental.

https://www.drivelinebaseball....;utm_campaign=buffer

My son is 17, but he learned this 10 years ago. He taught it to his little brother as well and brother is also a consistent strike thrower. My theory is whatever works, and it may be different for everyone. Little brother is more the type to get rattled (mad) and then things go downhill if he lets it. The focus techniques really help him. I also think a key to their success has been having alone time with a bucket of balls and a target in the backyard for years on end. Nobody critiquing every pitch, trying what works and feels good without interruption. Young pitchers need to be able to experiment with the science and art of pitching. Also taking alone time helps cut down on coaching overload. Everyone that sees a struggling player wants to help but then all the kid hears is do this, do that, no do it that way and not the other, micromanaging every movement- until what the kid thinks is all scrambled and confusing.

While I agree with your approach, it is all about mechanics. Repeatable ones. If you have developed repeatable good mechanics, that will produce good results. 

Dominink posted a good read by Kyle.  

Mental side of pitching is probably a lot more about a preparation.  

Go to ITunes and download The Best Mental Game of Pitching Program Ever Made by Brian Cain.  It may not help with his control but it will help him understand that he can only control what he can control.  My son found it very helpful and since it is downloaded to his phone he could listen to it at night as he went to sleep as well as on the bus heading to games.

Dominik85 posted:

kyle argues that it is not mental.

https://www.drivelinebaseball....;utm_campaign=buffer

Thanks for the link. I have bumped into Kyle's thoughts and theory's several times during my research.

Thanks everyone that has responded.... it has been very helpful. Keep'em coming.

We've used the Mental Game of Baseball and Mental Game of Pitching, both by Harvey Dorfman.  Mind Gym is a nice easy and shorter read that covers a lot of the same stuff.  Most of these books are just illustrative stories about someone using a particular technique.   Focus (no pun intended) on the sections about "visualization."  There is good evidence to indicate that coupling it with physical practice makes for tremendous gains.  My son has utilized many of these techniques as he pitches, but has also realized that the mind is incredibly powerful and can actually, at times, twist those techniques around a player's throat if they aren't careful.   There really is no substitute for success.  It builds confidence.  Being able to take performance pressure off of oneself is important as well.  Fear of failure kills.  Dwelling on failure destroys.   To quote the Scandinavian sage, Anna, "Let it goooooo."

For my 2020 balance is the first step.  The second step is accepting that adjustments may need to be made after every single pitch.  If you just keep doing the same exact steps you are likely to receive the same results.  If your fastball is landing 6 inches to the left ask your self why, try to adjust.  If the adjustment doesn't work you have to accept that that is just where it is today and while you can work on what went wrong with your coach at practice you need to adjust your focus 6 inches to the right to get the strike today.

Teaching Elder posted:

We've used the Mental Game of Baseball and Mental Game of Pitching, both by Harvey Dorfman.  Mind Gym is a nice easy and shorter read that covers a lot of the same stuff.  Most of these books are just illustrative stories about someone using a particular technique.   Focus (no pun intended) on the sections about "visualization."  There is good evidence to indicate that coupling it with physical practice makes for tremendous gains.  My son has utilized many of these techniques as he pitches, but has also realized that the mind is incredibly powerful and can actually, at times, twist those techniques around a player's throat if they aren't careful.   There really is no substitute for success.  It builds confidence.  Being able to take performance pressure off of oneself is important as well.  Fear of failure kills.  Dwelling on failure destroys.   To quote the Scandinavian sage, Anna, "Let it goooooo."

Teaching Elder..... I will look into these publications. Thanks!

Steve A. posted:

If he has the discipline & ability to do it, visualization is a powerful tool to help develop body control. Take a look at "The Mental ABCs of Pitching," by Dorfman.

Dorfman worked with professionals. I read his The Mental Game of Baseball when my kids were young. I incorporated it into my coaching. My kids got the benefit without reading the book.

Confidence/mental side is so important. I have a good friend who had all the ability and none of the confidence. Through high school he should have resorted to, "Here it comes. Try and hit it." But he feared failure. It ate him up. He was a mediocre player from LL through high school/Legion. His one stellar year was his post senior year of Legion. This one season convinced the D1 coach of a successful program to invite him to walk on. 

Being good friends I talked to him about his problems along the way. He was afraid if the first pitch to a hitter was a ball he was on his way to 2-0 and having to groove a pitch. How often do you think this became a self fulfilling prophecy. As rival friends he wanted to get me out so badly he either hit me or grooved a pitch. 

In my first year of college summer ball I played with a couple of guys from his college program. When my friend took the mound one said, "Look, BP is pitching!" It was the nickname he acquired in college grooving pitches in scrimmages. He was released after the fall of soph year.

Even as a mature adult he's still an Eeyore. He was pissing an moaning about how the Patriots were going to lose to the Texans during the first half (winning 14-13). Then he asked how I could stay so calm. I told him it's the coach in me. I couldn't overreact when I coached. I didn't overreact when I played either. The Patriots are playing as badly as they can possibly play and they're winning. They're prepared. They're better. They will be fine. Final 34-16.

RJM posted:

Steve A. posted:

If he has the discipline & ability to do it, visualization is a powerful tool to help develop body control. Take a look at "The Mental ABCs of Pitching," by Dorfman.

Dorfman worked with professionals. I read his The Mental Game of Baseball when my kids were young. I incorporated it into my coaching. My kids got the benefit without reading the book.

Exactly the correct approach. OP's kid is a 2020 so now 14-15 & depending & may be able to absorb some of it or all of it on his own. Mine is 14 & he would probably read the intro & throw it in the corner & go shoot hoops in the driveway....The Mental ABC's of Pitching is a compliment to Mental Game of Baseball that focuses exclusively on the Pitching part of the game & has much more to add on the Pitching perspective. Good stuff. This info is critical for a Coach or Parent looking to use Jedi Mind tactics to influence players.

Pretty sure that my son read fairly significant parts when he was 14 or 15.  I would hand him the book and say read these sections.   Later on I did the same thing.  A third time, and he said, "I've read this two times already. I know it"  He hates to read.  So, if he will do it; I'm pretty sure many others will too.

I did, however, reinforce a lot of the stuff verbally, and I still have to encourage him to practice the visualization.    Once things get going pretty good, he figures he doesn't need that stuff anymore and just cruises.   However, as competition gets stronger, and more precise pitches need to be made, the visualization practice will likely return.   Oh, and then there is that stupid phone with the text and snapchat messages flowing in at an almost non-stop rate from school's end until he passes out exhausted.   Hard to believe he can get anything done, much less visualization.

You have to have a reasonable target to hit.  We have to work a lot on command this year.  I tape up an 18" x 18" square on the handball courts and let pitchers throw rubber baseballs aiming at the corners from 46ft.  They throw a bullpen working only on command, hitting corners, inside/outside, high/low, and middle.  That's going to be the first bullpen of the week and the next will be with a catcher at 60ft, doing the same thing but mixing in off speed pitches.  It worked well for myself this past summer.  We'll see how it goes for them.  

Enjoying the Ride posted:

Don't aim for the catcher's glove, instead try picking out one piece of stitching on the glove and aim for that.  Aiming for a smaller target may help him hit the bigger one.

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"Aim small, miss small!"