Philosophy

quote:

Has anyone created such a document or have any suggestions on what you think would be important to include??

This has the potential to be a good thread.

Starting with an off-season throwing and lifting program might be a good idea (Jaeger/Jon Doyle maybe).

The mechanics portion of this bible will be fun to put together as well. I hope some of our posters will put forth some ideas for this book...

Start with a discussion of mental toughness. As Tommy Lasorda said, this is the one thing that a pitcher absolutely must have to be successful.

In no particluar order:
Strength, conditioning and agility program for pitchers, off season and in season. Should include guidelines for limits on lifting for younger players, i.e. 14yo freshmen.

Policy on how much throwing two way players should or shouldn't do during practice in addition to pitching and bullpens.

Policy on integrating throwing done with a pitching instructor into school's throwing and pitching work. Tough for some pitching coaches to deal with but hey, it's a reality.

Policy on integrating summer teams, showcases, etc. with school teams during off season. (HS team should come first for the player, the player's development/future should come first for the coach as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on the rest of the team. For example, I plan on signing CASon up for a showcase that conflicts with a winterball game. He'll honor the winterball commitment even if it means missing a day of the showcase or not being invited to the showcase. My guess is that as long as he's up front with the coach there'll be no problem unless they're short on pitchers that weekend.)

Throwing program per deemax's suggestion. I'm a big advocate of long toss to build arm strength and endurance in the off season during a period of no pitching in games.

Mental toughness discussion per Texan's suggestion.

Description of bullpen routines, when to implement them and what the pitcher is trying to accomplish with each different routine.

Policy on being honest about telling the pitching coach how the arm is doing especially when there's pain. Should include being honest about innings thrown outside program. Pitchers, especially the younger ones, also need to inform the coach if they start feeling lower back pain.

I liked what I heard at one college camp and that was when things aren't going well don't try to make changes, just get back to the basics that got you where you are.

Policy on maintaining high academic standards.

Policy on behavior on the field, especially when the defense is not playing well or a pitcher is being squeezed by the ump.

Policy on behavior off the field, i.e. representing the school and the program.

Description of pitcher's fielding responsibilities, i.e. covering first, bunt coverage, backing up throws, holding runners.

These days a policy on immediate dismissal for use of PEDs.

Since BOF has identified me with the topic in the infamous fruitcake thread, a discussion of first pitch strikes and staying ahead in the count.

Players belong to the HS coach in the spring. Summer and fall there should be no impediments to players who choose to do select.

Great idea and some good suggestions already.

I would try to keep it simple and focused on your objectives for staff. Pick the 5 most important things you want them focused on and fill in some background information from there. Every one of the kids should be able to repeat to you what ever “your 5” is. Use the KISS approach. I would build the book up over time and not try to do the full thing in one pass.

Webball has some stuff you can extract and potentially use at:

www.webball.com.
Jaeger long toss and band work or AMSI throwers 10 armband workouts at:

http://asmiforum.proboards21.com/index.cgi (search on throwers 10)

www.jaegersports.com (have to purchase the DVD)

Extract some stuff out of some of the books you may have around.

I really like the new stuff by Perry Husband (book 3) regarding pitching philosophy and approach. His EV concepts give a visual tool that kids can grasp. I would extract a few things from it on pitching approach. (full book would put them to sleep)

turnin2 posted these links in the “first pitch strikes thread” Great stuff, maybe too much for a HSer.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/printarticle/the-impo...-strike-one-part-one


http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/printarticle/the-impo...-strike-one-part-two


Good Luck!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BOF:
turnin2 posted these links in the “first pitch strikes thread” Great stuff, maybe too much for a HSer.

Ooops you are turnin2...

Regarding pitch strategy.

Deception - The pitcher at times should use deception. E.g., follow an outside fastball with an outside changeup. It appears (if the changeup is thrown properly) to be the same pitch coming in. Or even different fastball grips thrown on consecutive pitches to the same location. The slightly different speeds and the different movement can work to the pitcher’s advantage.

Variation - The pitcher can vary significantly from pitch to pitch. E.g., work the batter inside, then outside.

Pitchers should have different speeds, locations, movement (e.g., grip) and angles in their arsenal. They should use both deception and variation. But they must keep the batter off balance.

The pitcher must never become predictable. On any count. Pitchers need to be confident throwing a changeup on the first pitch or on a full count.

They also need to learn to read the batter for weaknesses and opportunities. Granted the catchers should do this as well. But that doesn't always happen in HS ball.

Of course, the above assumes that the players call the pitches (as they should), rather than the coach.

Texan, no mention of brushing the hitters off the plate?

Depending on the pitchers and what they can mentally and physically do, I've always stuck with the basics and built from there. I suppose there are good training aides out and about. I guess that would be up to you to incorporate.

I will tell you one thing I see pitchers do that when I work a game that I think hampers them in their efforts to throw strikes. They will take a deep breath and hold it as they pitch. Then they seem to want to rush their delivery. My job is to practically stare at them all game, so I tend to get a good feel for their flaws.



Good luck in your next stop.

I have created a team handbook for my team as well. I have a position player hand boook and a pitcher handbook, it has plays, conditioning, throwing routines, basic program philosophies. What i have found best is K.I.S.S, you will be more successful. The more stuff you put in there the less they will read. My pitching book starts out with the philosophy of the 4 C's -Contol, Confidence, Consistency and Concentration. Then goes into a pitcher before he throws must have 2 goals for that game or practice before he throws a ball and then the basic 13 pitch count per inning goal. Granted there is a lot more but i always gave a summary page which consisted of the basics and that is what they read the most. the players had to bring it to every chalk talk we had and every practice meeting. In the back of the book where about 20 blank pages the players could keep a kind of journal on their performances. But it worked out for the best the players actually got alot out of it. They could reflect back to their previous performance. I would even give examples of a journal i kept when i played, to give them something to use as a guide. There is alot more to it than i am explaining but Keep it simple is the best way over the years the more complicated i made it and more i put in it the less effective it was.

great replies so far...KEEP THEM COMING!!

Remind them:

NEVER show emotion on the mound. Always be cool, calm and collected. No matter what happens, good or bad. Maintaining an exterior calm will help maintain an interior calm. Getting upset just pumps up the opponent. Showing disgust with the blue's calls will never help.

Adjust to the blue's strike zone, because the blue isn't going to change it for the pitcher. Pay attention, know the zone being called so that you know where to go if you really need a strike. And where not to go if you must have a strike.

The pitcher is only responsible for doing his job. If he gets the batter to hit a ground ball or fly ball, he has done his job, regardless of what happens behind him - whether an out or an error. If a passed ball allowed a batter to reach on a dropped third strike, the pitcher did his job. Don't sweat it, just get the guy at the plate. The pitcher must just keep doing his job, no matter what happens. That is all anyone can ask of him. This is vital to mental toughness.

First pitch strikes will ultimately result in outs ~70% of the time. Work ahead.

Pitch aggressively.

I am not a pitcher, but my Dad and brother were, and here is my two cents.

My Dad, who learned this from his first coach in pro ball, always told me, "Pitching is three things:"

LOCATION, MOVEMENT, & DECEPTION

Notice there is no talk of velocity in there, and if you want to put an emphasis on velo, consult Maddux and Glavine first

The last thing I will say is about the best pitch in baseball, also something I learned very early from my Dad.

What is the best pitch in baseball?

STRIKE ONE.

Now I'll go back to the hitting forum

My number one philosophy with respect to pitchers is, determine each pitcher's strengths and weaknesses. In games, work to his strengths. In practices, reinforce the strengths, then try to improve on the weaknesses.

It's hard to get more specific than that, because pitchers tend to be so very different, one to the next. The one thing I know for sure is, trying to fit all the differently shaped pegs through one uniformly shaped hole is a recipe for failure, both for many of the pitchers as individuals, and for the team as a whole.

In my mind, there is a lot less lattitude for hitting technique and fielding technique. In those areas, a uniform approach that emphasizes sound mechanics is often successful.

Pitchers should not throw every pitch with maximum (100%) effort. Rather, throw at 95% (just throwing out a number for illustration purposes). Save that little something back for that really difficult AB where a tad more velocity (e.g., max effort) will do the trick. This will also have the advantage of lowering the risk of injury.

Never lose focus on the batter. Especially with two outs. With two outs, largely quit worrying about any runners (e.g., hold them with looks, not pick throws). GET THE BATTER OUT! How many times has a pitcher, with two out, started making pick throws. And soon he upsets his own rhythm, and loses his focus on the batter. Next thing you know, there is another runner on base. I have observed this on far too many occasions, in college and pro ball.

Never worry about a HBP. It is part of the game. It is gonna happen from time to time. If the pitcher works the inside, as he should, he is going to plunk someone every now and then. Again, mental toughness...

beemax,
Your dad also told us Maddux threw pretty hard coming up and my guess is Glavine had no problem breaking 90 mph as a rookie. Bum has a pretty good quote about a college coach who rated velocity #4 for his staff. To paraphrase, when one of his players quoted him on it he told the player the reason velocity was #4 was that you if you didn't have it already you wouldn't be on the staff. You have to have the velocity in the first place before you can back off to improve your location. I've seen a few minor league games where the pitchers were throwing 84 to 86, but they invariably were able to pop one in at 89 or so when they wanted, but the one I saw who was the most successful was the one who was dialing it back from 94 and working at 89-90. Minor league pitcher of the year I believe that season.

Maddux could touch 90 whenever he wanted when he came up in 1986, but he was 8-18 combined in '86-'87. not until 1988 did he go 18-8, and the rest is history. True, velo was a factor in him getting drafted, but location, movement and deception was the main factor in his 340+ wins.

Glavine was 9-21 in his first two years, when you say he could touch 90.

The point in all of this is if you throw 90+ and can't get anybody out, what's the point of velo? Why throw 90 and get hit hard when you can throw 86 and win?

I've seen so many guys get drafted by the radar gun and fail. If you can't locate, move, and decieve when you throw the ball, I think it is very, very tough to get anyone out.

I think rather than learning to throw hard, then to pitch it should be the other way around.

As a hitter I love facing guys who throw hard because I can just sit on one speed. If they throw hard and change speeds with location and movement, I'm in for a long day.

The guys that know how to pitch are the ones that win, no matter their stuff. Whether you are Moyer, Maddux, Glavine, Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens, all have different stuff at different velo's. But they all use location, movement and deception, which to me will always be number one.

beemax,
I talked to a minor league pitcher who is coaching my son's HS winterball team yesterday. You might have faced him one or two times in college. He's coming off a pretty good season in A ball. He said that the first thing they do in pro ball with most pitchers is slow them down. He and the other coach brought up Colon as an example of someone who was more successful once he dialed it down a bit. I don't think you and I were disagreeing. All I was saying was that it takes the ability to throw fairly hard to be able to take 3 or 4 mph off it to locate well and still be throwing hard enough to be successful in pro ball. I saw one of Maddux's best games while he was with the Dodgers and he was throwing 82 on the stadium gun and looked like he was lucky to get out of the first inning. Once he got up to a blazing 84 mph they never came close to touching him again. The point being there's a speed below which even Maddux can't be successful and I'd guess most pitchers could never locate, etc. as well as Maddux no matter how much they took off their fastball. I've always felt you had to do at least two things well to have a good fastball. If you've got velocity and movement then you don't have to locate all that well, but you also can't just throw it down the middle. If you've got movement and location then you don't have to throw that fast, but you aren't going to be able to throw it 70 mph, although Randy Jones came close. If you've got velocity and location, you don't have to have much movement but you'd better not make any mistakes. If you've got all 3 and can last long enough welcome to the HOF.

This guy should test the theory,
From Baseball America:

quote:

Danny Ray Herrera is the little lefty that could. Despite an 80-82 mph fastball that is slower than many pitchers' changeups, he's survived and actually thrived at times because his changeup is so good. It has a screwball action as it arrives at a bugs-bunny slow-ball-esque 55 to 60 mph. The changeup and a sharp, late-breaking slider have been enough to allow Herrera to get in hitters' heads. There are clearly questions whether his well-below-average velocity will play in Triple-A or the big leagues. At best he's a middle reliever and many will be surprised if he even has that much success, but Herrera has been surprising people ever since he was an All-American at New Mexico.

BTW, I'm sure you played against the minor league shortstop who is also coaching them as he played for your crosstown rivals.

CADad,

I completely understand your point on having velocity first and dialing it down. I agree that if you throw 70mph, you probably won't get too far even if you can pitch your a** off.

The points I wanted to make were these: Location, movement, deception & when it comes to the velo argument, I think that pitchers spend too much time trying to reach a number on a gun when they should be learning how to pitch.

Probably the best pitcher statistically in the Carolina League last year was a guy with the Royals (Wilmington Blue Rocks) named Rowdy Hardy. Check his numbers up. He sat on 81 and touched 83 with his fastball. If he was a first rounder or threw 92mph, he would be on everyone's radar, but he throws 82, which is a shame for him, because he really knows how to pitch.

My point being is if the guys that were throwing (or trying to throw) 90+ and not getting anyone out, whats the point? If they spent time trying to learn to pitch like this guy by taking a few mph off, they would be much better off.

At the HS level I always liked to have one pitcher who was a sidearm guy. This guy was always a pitcher who had a good makeup, and was on the verge of being cut as a traditional pitcher. My selected side-winders had great success with this. One of them went from the coaches arguing weather or not to cut him, to being named all-league.

This style is not for everyone. IMO the kid must be tough, and really want to make the team. This approach has also been sucessful with pitchers (some) who were dealing with shoulder pain throwing traditionally (not a cure, but sometimes it worked).

IMO it is very benifical to have a wide variety of looks on your pitching staff...including sidearmers.