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pitchability?

playfairplayfair500+ posts
Another thread prompted me on this one.....

My son's father past up his draft in his senior year of hs to go to college (1970s).. He blew his elbow up his sophomore year. Now it all ended up well for him as he got his college degree and went on to be quite productive in society but he feels his injury was due to overuse, throwing too many curves as an unphysically mature child.

Now his dad was always his coach and wanted to win but back then they did not have Tommy John.

When it came to our son we said "no pitching" until the growth plates are closed. (17U was the first pitch the kid ever threw.)

Now our child is a big strong kid with a very strong throwing arm but he is in college now we are wondering if he has "pitchability". (He is a fine catcher but with college shrinking budgets it would be nice to be "two way".)

He can hurl a mighty fast fast ball from the mound but he does it with catching mechanics... (right over the ear with deadly acurate precession)..

The conversation is this:

To save from injury to the arm we staved off pitching but now when he has great velocity he does not have the pitchability that kids who have been pitching since before physical development have.

So how do you develop "pitchability"... What is the balance? Does it start early, can it be developed late... How is pitchability developed?
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Coach_MayCoach_May10,000+ posts
I just believe that you can be a very good pitcher without throwing a breaking ball at a young age. And you dont have to be rode like a horse either at a young age. Learning to locate your fastball and learning to change speeds on your fastball can dominate young hitters while your also learning how to actually pitch. As the player gets older then you can start to teach them how to properly throw breaking pitches while still limiting the amount thrown in game situations.

My own personal opinion and this is only my opinion but I dont think kids should start working on and throwing breaking pitches until they are in hs. And even then they should be limited in use. The focus should be on teaching sound pitching mechanics. Working hard on building a strong healthy arm. And learning to pitch.

Many young kids dont learn how to pitch because they dominate young hitters with a good arm - thats why they are pitching - and they dominate young hitters with breaking balls. By the time they get in hs or college they are on the downside of their career.

As far as your son does he want to learn how to pitch?
TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
Good post CM.

playfair,
I have seen one catcher converted to pitcher, and suffered some arm issues which set him back. FWIW my friends son was a catcher and his organization just converted him to a pitcher, doing well, but his velocity he had as a catcher is much lower as a pitcher. He is able to get people out, but not so much with his FB, but with breaking stuff and not sure if he will move to the highest level in MLB, only time will tell.
I think it takes a very good pitching coach to convert a pitcher at an older age, the coach has to know how to teach the mechanics of pitching soundly and safely.
You don't want your son to catch and pitch at the same time at any level (just my opinion), as infielddad suggests, contact Fungo.
Last edited by TPM

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