New 8 yr old pitcher.

Welcome to the HSBBW Sugi! Of course EVERYTHING can change from now 'til your son hangs up the cleats. At this point I suggest YOU and and your son seek out a competent pitching instructor and schedule a few lessons. Listen to what the instructor says and this will give you some information that will help in your son's development. At 8 years old velocity is the least important aspect of pitching but tends to be the focus of many young pitchers. If he tries to focus on velocity he will surely hurt his mechanics ---- and his arm. PROTECT his arm from overuse and abuse! Be sure you understand what overuse and abuse is. Read up on breaking balls and the age to start throwing them and the proper conditioning and mechanics. There is a plethora of information available for young pitchers.

Be careful about focusing ONLY on pitching at a young age. He should also work on his hitting and another defensive position(s) because odds are he will have other opportunities besides pitching in the future if he continues to play ball. Keep it fun at this age and don't "push" too much.
Fungo

First find a good instructor.... NOT a player/person who "pitched in high school or college," but someone who actually knows what he is talking about....

and if your instructor wants him to throw anything besides a FB, CHup before he turns 16, find another one... or get good insurance...

and remember, more games (played) is not better... quanity means very little... unless you are talking about $$

Pitching instruction at age 8 boils down to these points:

1. Grip the ball properly

2. Throw the ball properly

3. Catcher sets up in the middle of the zone

4. The team that walks the fewest usually wins.

Sugi,

Lots of good advice given and I wish success to your son. However (IMHO) pitching at 8 years old is a waste of time. In fact, I don't even know why they would use live pitching at that age.

That said, I think it's OK to learn how to pitch at that age. Stick to the basic fundamentals and the best advice of all is to make sure your son has fun with the game.

PGStaff is right on this one.

There is really no such thing as an 8 year old "pitcher". Really should be a bunch of kids having fun and playing ball.

Save your money on pitching instruction for at least 3 years. Get a basic book if you want to give him some help on your own. Learn the fundamentals of throwing a baseball.

Balance is so important that you could have him stand on the mound (like he is pitching out of the stretch) and have him lift up one leg and see how long he can stand there. After he masters this have him bring his leg up and then throw to the plate.

Go to www.webball.com for a bunch of basic stuff on throwing a ball and coaching.

Most of all have fun!

Thanks for the replies and advice thus far.Yeah he is young but he plays in a league from 8-10yrs old and this is their first league as "player pitch".
BOF,that's exactly what I've been doing so far as far as the balance goes.I've been just trying to get him to throw with control.The problem is when he sees the 10yr old kids throwing hard,he tries to copy them and then his form and control goes out the door.
Im not sure if he'll ever turn out to be a good pitcher but I'm just looking to get him started in the right direction.

PG is right on with this.
My son first took the mound at 8. Looking back, I would have liked him to take it later rather than sooner. All he was "allowed" to throw was a 4 seam and a two seam and attention to mechanics and balance drills that BOF speaks of. He had huge hands and long fingers so he learned the CU early and began experimenting with different grips on a two seam early. No curveballs until 14-15.
If he is trying to throw hard to copy the older players, tell him he's done. The object is not to throw hard, but to learn all the proper "stuff" to help throw harder (without forcing it) when it counts (later).

sugi, welcome to HSBBW!

Learn from PG Staff. He knows his stuff. At age 8 your primary role as a parent is to ensure he ENJOYS the game. Forget the pitching instructors. I have seen too many kids who were "stars" at a young age drop out of the game. If your son wants to pitch, that's great, but DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! HE'S TOO YOUNG!

At about age 10-11, if he's still enjoying the game you can find him fundamental instruction (learning how to stay closed, for example). Don't let him engage in travel ball pitching (substantial innings) until age 13 or so.

Just to add to the good advice you've already got ... really get your son playing different positions, too. You never know which one he may like best, or will be best at. Plus, playing a bunch of different positions helps young players develop good all-around skills -- fielding grounders and pop flys, throwing to cut-offs, making throws across the infield, having to think about what to do when the ball comes to them, etc. That will serve him really well down the road on the pitcher's mound and off!

If you are goimg to pitch learn how to do it right. However the body is way too weak to throw really well. I am not talking velo but stride and proper balance. Our kids don't start until aroud 10 and it is amazing to see how well some do.
What you are really doing once the mechanics are learned , is learning how to mentally pitch. Learning that you won/t always be terrific every day and how to adjust. At 10 my son took it serious because it was high level BB even at that age.
Prior to minor mosquito 9-10 it was machine pitch and everyone took that very serious as well. I have video from a big tournament and I still think that was the best tournament I ever went to.

Well in my son's league,they're only allowed to pitch for a maximum of three innings a week.All the players have to play other positions though out the game as well so I'm definitely not putting all my focus on his pitching.It's just a new skill/position that we're considering him trying out.He's allways wanted to pitch when I took him to practice but I've told him that we have other things to work on before he can try(fielding,hitting,throwing,etc...).I've used the "learn to walk before you run" thing on him a bit.
I'll take all your advice into consideration respectfully as I recognize alot of your usernames as HSBW veterans.Mahalo!!

My point above was that I don't think you really get into pitching-specific mechanics at that age.

If your league uses kid pitchers (as opposed to coach pitch or machine pitch instructional leagues), you just want someone who'll keep the game moving along.

Your pitchers are basically going to be the guys who can simply throw accurately, which at age 8 is going to narrow down to just a few guys on your team probably. At this age every practice should begin with 8-10 minutes of warmups using drills on proper throwing motion mechanics.

I am also not a fan of kids pitching at that age, but if that's the league you're in, just take the kids who are throwing the best, put them in the stretch position and ask them to throw to the mitt.

I have never heard of or seen machine pitch leagues until I started surfing the web.I guess it's just the way they do things around here.Maybe it's the cost.
Maybe I should've worded my original post a little differently.He will not be pitching exclusively.I think the rule in my league is that no one player can play the same position for more that 3 innings in a game and no pitcher and throw more than 3 innings a week.We move the boys all over though out the game so they get a feel for playing and covering different positions.
The pitchers are basically as Midlo Dad stated,the ones who can throw the most accurately.Of course alot of teams pick the ones who can throw the hardest/fastest.This past weekend we faced a team that put a kid on the mound that could definitely throw hard but he hit 3 out of 4 batters(one was my son)in a row and was pulled by his coach.I used him as an example for my son.I told him that throwing hard means nothing if you don't have control.
Judging from what have been posted so far,I think I'm on the right track.I've been concentrating on keeping him balanced through out the delivery,only throwing from the stretch,gripping the ball across the seams and not throwing so hard that he's straining.Basically trying to keep it simple.

Hmmmm. It's not always a waste of time at that tender age. At 5, infidel_son was "pitching" to me regularly. What are you going to do with a kid who loves the game and wants to pitch; let him continue without knowing proper mechanics? My guy always pulled me to play catch and was more than ready for instruction from an ex-Pro at 8. He did pretty good playing against the older boys. Of course most kids aren't ready to learn to pitch at 8. Happily, my son was and has loved pitching ever since.

The league we grew up in used tee ball at ages 5 & 6, coach pitchers at ages 7 & 8, kid pitchers in the minors (9/10) league and on up the ladder from there of course.

Very few 9's were able to pitch effectively in the minors. By rule, if you had two games/week, you had to get 2 innings done using 9's -- a rule adopted to force coaches to at least introduce younger guys to pitching. Even that low requirement was sometimes hard to satisfy without things getting ugly.

After using gas-powered JUGS machines for a while, they have changed the 7-8 league to one using a spring loaded pitching machine. It's not perfect but it is more reliable that using coaches (dads), some of whom could throw strikes and some of whom could not.

I am generally not a fan of kid pitching at the younger ages. My concern is not so much with strain on arms; that can be managed by pitch and inning limits rules. The problem is that the game descends into little more than walks, hit batters and strikeouts. It's no fun to watch and less fun to play.

Coach and machine pitch games tend to result in the ball being put into play fairly consistently. Batters don't get walked at all, and they don't get hit with pitches, so they don't have to work on overcoming that fear until they are a bit more mature. Games usually start out pretty high scoring, but as the fielders get the hang of making plays, by spring's end you'll see some well played, lower scoring games.

To me it's just a smoother progression to go from tee ball (hit a stationary ball) to coach/machine pitch (a moving ball that we're trying to put in there so that it's easy to hit) before going on to kid pitch (he's trying to get you out this time, but beware, he is probably a bit wild). If you remove that intermediate step, I think you lose something valuable.

I can see how beneficial machine pitch would be but I doubt it will ever happen here.It's been like that since I was playing many years ago.In the league we play there is a huge gap between some pitchers skill and velocity that it's hard for hitters to adjust and get hits.Some of the 10yr olds can really throw hard and some first time pitchers are barely making it to the plate.
This is also the first league/season that the players are allowed to take leads and steal bases(except home) so there is alot of new skills that they need to learn.We do have a main season and a couple of developmental/instructional seasons to get the kids started.

Leading and stealing in an 8-10 league?

Trying to teach kids to pitch at that age while also working on holding runners is really asking for too much. It's a great way to kill someone's confidence at an early age.

You need to look for another league!

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
Sugi,

Lots of good advice given and I wish success to your son. However (IMHO) pitching at 8 years old is a waste of time. In fact, I don't even know why they would use live pitching at that age.

That said, I think it's OK to learn how to pitch at that age. Stick to the basic fundamentals and the best advice of all is to make sure your son has fun with the game.

PG...your first statement is spot on with how I feel about it! I've watched some 8 year olds pitch, and boy is it painful! No wonder so many kids hang up the cleats at an early age...they are bored or scared to death!!!

Would like to know what you think of another idea I've been promoting around these parts for the past 5-10 years...with it catching on with some folks, and not with others. It has to do with coach pitch baseball (usually 7-8 year olds in these parts). I've seen all kinds of dads pitching, and universally they are bad! Large arcs on the ball, hitting batters, one strike in five throws, etc...

I've been advocating the dads start throwing the ball underhanded to the batters. For one, they will be more accurate. Two, the plane of the ball is much more in line with what they will begin seeing when they start playing kid pitch. And finally, more kids will hit the ball keeping everyone in the field from dying of boredom.

What to you think?

larry,

I like your idea, but anything that makes the game more fun is whats most important at 8 years old. The main job is to get those young kids to fall in love with the game.

Maybe the ideal thing would be for there to be no pitching for 8 year olds, but sounds like this dad doesn't have that option. My son started pitching when he was 8. The main thing I worked on with him was stepping toward the target. Most kids have a tendency to open up on their stride which will lead to inaccuracy. We would go out and throw on a baseball field, s****r field, anything with a line and play catch. I would have him check where his foot landed after every throw to make sure he was stepping toward me. He is now a 15 yr old freshman, still pitching with velocity in the low 80's and very good control. I probably started getting him lessons when he was 11 or 12 and needed his mechanics analyzed by someone with a better eye than mine. The other thing to make sure he does is keep his elbow up, even with his shoulder. Don't let him get into the habit of dropping his elbow. Arm slot will come naturally.

Anyway, if you focus on these two things at this point and just get him to concentrate on throwing strikes, you should be OK. I am sure there are more things he could do, but I think these are two of the most fundamental things you can do for a young pitcher.

Sugi,

I think this thread has generated a lot of very good opinion as far as describing pitching within the context of your son's age/experience.

If I can add one more idea to the discussion it would be this: While your son is basically having fun with baseball, learning various positions, playing lots of catch with you and his friends, etc, etc, over the next couple of years...you have a great window of opportunity during which to learn pitching deeply yourself, so that you can help him when he really needs it.

It's no secret that I personally like Tom House's approach to pitcher/parent/coach education: He teaches pitching mechanics, of course, but he also emphasizes proper conditioning for pitchers, good nutritional habits for athletes, and open discussion of the mental/emotional aspects of pitching.

Does your son need all of this landslide of information at his age? Absolutely not. On the other hand, when he does need a mentor who really knows his stuff, he'll have a great one right at his fingertips if you have prepared yourself...

It's a "window of opportunity" because your son simply doesn't need a bunch of technical intervention right now but, later, starting at age 13 - 14, he may stop listening to you at all for awhile ...so those ages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 can be a great time for you to really learn pitching inside and out yourself. You can crunch it all down and start helping him to get really good as he gets just a little older....then, if he does get really good, it'll give you two something in common to talk about throughout his teen years.

8 years old is when I first began to throw. My older brother had been pitching competitively for a while and had seen an EXTREMELY good instructor. At that point in time, offspeed and hitting locations (other than the strike zone in general) are the least of your worries. Stress using the whole body to throw the ball as opposed to all arm and use mechanics (Qualified instructors are great for this because describing mechanics on the internet is next to impossible and many people with a great deal of experience in baseball just don't know that much about the mechanics of throwing a baseball.) to facilitate the throwing of strikes. As far as that goes, emphasizing releasing near the mitt which needs to stay up throughout the motion is important. At that age, it is difficult to use the body much, but teach mechanics that don't hurt the arm or hinder the release which at that age is the key to control.

Also - keep it fun! Parents pushing too hard can kill a child's desire to play. If your son becomes frustrated, I would suggest to either be very positive, or if that is difficult for you, let him work it out on his own. Many young guys know that they are doing wrong, hearing mom or dad from the stands telling them to throw a strike usually just adds to the pressure.

I tried but failed to convince our LL to implement machine pitch for this age group.

I was more concerned with development of better defensive players rather then a pitcher.
At that age its a boring game if there's no action in the field.
Players are out there picking daisy's.
Lots and lots of walks.
EH

Sorry, but I don't see those "lots and lots of walks." We have had a lot of tight games in 8U Kid pitch where my son had the big bat. He led his team in extra bases and RBI's and was only walked once and hit by pitch once. Now my 8 year old has moved into the next division of 10U and has several travel ball games under his belt where lead off and stealing is allowed. My 8 year old doesn't pitch yet by my choice. A kid that walks more than a couple gets replaced. You may think this is cold hearted, but we don't want the younger kids throwing too many pitches. We have had pitch counts in our league since before my 16 year old was in t-ball.