Opinion on 14 y/o Sons Mechanics

It's a hard angle to tell but, is he striding towards the plate or a little towards first?

looks pretty good. my only thought is he seems to be dragging his back foot a bit before he comes over the wall. We used to put a few blocks in front of the back foot and try not to knock the over on the delivery.

Your son "physically" looks impressive (14 yo and 6'1"....yikes! )

His throwing mechanics need some work in the arm action area and also the rhythm/timing of his throw.

Hard to see in this video (I typically don't like youetube videos because they lack detail and this video shakes a lot too).

He has a pause at the top of his arm motion and then he throws the ball. You should try to get rid of that and make his motion a nice smooth "one piece" delivery (by "one piece" I mean all segments of the throw happening at once in a perfectly timed throwing rhythm).

Think of cracking a whip with the end of the whip being his forearm and hand.

Thanks guys. Mom took the video with baby sister on her lap. He's grown 4 inches over the last year and the coordination thing is becoming an issue. He turns 14 next week and with size 14 shoes I think we may have to go out to the BB court and work on his low post game. Rob V I agree that there needs to be a rhythm but he is "rhythmatically challenged!"

I think he is a fine looking young man!

I am also not big on Utube stuff unless you get the right angles and slow down the video, as too much gets lost in the blur. I see a couple of things but think you should find a good pitching coach who has worked with tall kids who grow rapidly.

My son is also tall and we were fortunate to find a guy who had experience with tall pitchers going through growth stages. I kept telling him I see "XYZ wrong" and he kept telling me to relax that as kids grow they naturally get to the proper points in their delivery when their frame can support them. I would also encourage your to have him play basketball, it will help him with his overall coordination and explosive strength.

Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Jimnev:
Here is a video of my son pitching recently. He turns 14 next week, is 6'1" and has been gunned in the low 70's. I've had people tell me his mechanics are good and others tell me he is to loose. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uWoHd6f-0

Need be more compact with his pitching form, low 70s for a 6'1" frame is kinda low. I would say do some long-toss over the off season, see if you can increase his arm strength. People here are very kind to the young kid, usually if they don't have anything good to say, they will just keep quite. I am a straight forward guy. I will be honest with you, if he goes to a PG event now and to show case as a pitcher, he will probably score under 7. Please talk to some pitching instructors for details, I think he need a lot of work on his throwing arm action. JMHO.

bbking is generally correct in his comments except his velocity. Just because he is 6'1" does not mean he has the same strength as a 6'1" Sr. His velocity is just fine for a 14YO and is actually on the high side. Do long toss and get a coach is spot on advice. Is he 8th grade or Freshmen?

He's in 8th grade. Why would I send him to a PG event? He's barely 14 and not even in high school. I'm not as concerned with his ability to score high on the scout's radar right now as I am making sure his foundation is correct. Thanks for the help and we're looking to find a pitching coach.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimnev:
He's in 8th grade. Why would I send him to a PG event? He's barely 14 and not even in high school. I'm not as concerned with his ability to score high on the scout's radar right now as I am making sure his foundation is correct. Thanks for the help and we're looking to find a pitching coach.

Sorry, I am just disappointed with the low 70s reading.

BOF, if he is 6'1" but still throws in the low 70s, that's not a good sign. Trust me I see a lot of stud pitchers at age 14 throw much hard than him. Generally speaking, those guys are about 5'9"-6', but their speed rage from 77-82 mph. There're some mechanic issues of this kid. Call me back when he is 15, I doubt if there's much Velocity gain if he keeps throwing like this. Go find a pitching coach now, correct the flaw early, then you will not regret later. I know critics are hard to take for some proud parents. But at this young age, I would rather listen to the criticizers than those "flatters'.

bbking:

Still have to disagree on the velocity since my son is/was exactly like him. He was throwing high 60's low 70's at 14, 72-76 as a freshmen (turned 15 in season and vel slowly built up during the season), he is now sitting at 80-81 as an early season Soph and our best guess he will be 82-84 at season end. His pitching coach thinks he will at least be a high 80's guy by the time he is a Sr. (beyond this it is hardwork and genetics) He was a hair over 6' as a 14YO and he is 6'3" now still very thin (I think 170) and just now starting to fill out. He is at least 1.5 - 2 years away from growing into his frame. It's hard to tell but Jimnev's boy looks very similar.

Everyone belives size is great for BBall (and it is) and that a tall kid should throw hard, but sometimes the tall thin kids need to develop their coordination and it just takes time.

I agree he needs to work on some stuff, and they are doing the right thing and getting coaching. If he starts long tossing (BTW check out www.jaegersports.com) he will be fine.

Keep us posted Jimnev and you are doing the right things IMO.

Good advice from BOF. Although I see that same little pause, I agree with BOF's advice. Find a good pitching coach, let him decide what to change or refine and take it one step at a time.

His velocity is fine for his age. I think that's what mine was throwing back then and he's into the upper 80's now and still rising as far as we can tell.

I know of a stud pitcher who was just a bit shorter and hitting 80 or more at that age. He's topped out at 86 for the last couple years. Everyone is different.

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
I think that's what mine was throwing back then and he's into the upper 80's now and still rising as far as we can tell.

CADad, it sounds like your boy has made some dang good progress. Do you have any recent clips of him? It's been a while since I saw him throw. How is his health?

quote:

Originally posted by Jimnev:
He's in 8th grade. Why would I send him to a PG event? He's barely 14 and not even in high school. I'm not as concerned with his ability to score high on the scout's radar right now as I am making sure his foundation is correct. Thanks for the help and we're looking to find a pitching coach.

Are you from South Florida? If so I can recommend a very good pitching coach.

Yes Mom's a fan, we live in Pembroke Pines

Flipp,
Health is good. He's been throwing pens off the mound for about 4 weeks and we released him to pitch if really needed about 3 weeks ago although we realized he wasn't likely to pitch any earlier than about 10 days ago. He hasn't gotten to pitch yet and keeps throwing pens. He seems to be back up to the velocity he was at when he left off (84-86, 87 max on the Stalker) or possibly a bit higher but we won't know for sure until he throws to live batters in a game situation. He's one of those guys who normally throws harder in a game than he can in the pen, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has to back off a bit to throw strikes at first.

I'll send you a clip next time I get a chance to film him.

Here are some things I see he can work on:

1. At hand break make sure both arms are symetric and he breaks with his thumbs pointing down.
2. He seems to pause as he comes home, try to get him in a continuous movement home.

If you want more info just send a PM!!!

There are other things we cna discuss.

CoachW

Jimnev,

I have a left-handed version of your son. Just turned 14 in March and is an 8th grader. He is slightly shorter 5' 10 1/2" and only a size 13 cleat..lol. He too was high 60's when last clocked. We will also seek out a pitching coach to work with after the season to prepare for the next level.

The one thing I noticed on the video of your son is he seems to land on his heel and his front foot lands open not slightly closed as I have seen or been taught.

The velocity will come. A guy who posts on here named Bum has a son who pitches in the Pac 10 and at 14 I believe he was in the high 60's too and now throws 88-91. As I tell my son there is probably 5-7 mph hiding within his mechanics that a pitching coach will probably help unleash, then it is just the maturing of the body, working out etc that will help with the rest of the velocity.

BBking is correct that several kids the age of our kids throw mid 70's or higher, but they may have developed as pitchers earlier or have genetics on their side and have naturally quick arms. Doesn't mean that with hard work our boys won't get there as well.

I am pretty much in agreement with RobV and Patrick W.

First, I would like to see him be a bit more energetic with his upper body left side/glove arm. I don't want him flying open, and I understand the teaching of tucking the glove. Some kids overdo that and end up throwing against dead weight up front. Yours is not that far gone, but he could get more energy with his lead side.

Second, while he gets into a good "upward L" position, he gets there too early, and this leads him to pause as RobV noted. The thumbs position PatrickW mentioned will cure this. The result is that he will still get to/through the "upward L" position, but with more speed and whipping action. This should not only help him gain MPH but also allow for greater coordination with his core and lower body, which will help his control especially later in games when he tires a bit.

Thanks guys
That is some awesome advice from Pat,Red Sox and Midlo and everyone else. We've been working on some of the things mentioned here and I'm already seeing some postive results. I appreciate the input and I'll keep you all posted as things go along.

Redsox it's good to see some New England folks on here, I'm a transplanted Mainah myself.

I'd like to see him from 3rd base. I think its something his glove side is doing the throws the rhythem of his PAS when breaking the ball out of the glove. I think he keeps his Glove side elbow bend as he breaks the ball out which is uneven because his PAS elbow is straight as he drops the ball down to his hip.

UPDATE Today there was a gun at the game and my son was hitting 77-78 on the gun through 4 innings. Thanks for the help guys.

I have a 13 year old at 6'1 1/2 and he is throwing 75-76 I thought that was great for a kid hi age, considering how fast he grew