Pitching Questions

Tim Wakefield maxes out at 70 - 72 mph Okay, he's a special case and you probably aren't throwing knuckleballs.

re: "forkballs okay?"
--I believe that any pitch type is okay if your mechanics are sound and you are in good pitching condition.

Will the weight exercises you mentioned improve your velocity? I doubt it. Many pitchers don't really realize that about 80% of throwing velocity arises from the core--that is, the primary velocity-generating event is separation of the hips (as they rotate toward the plate) from the shoulders right around foot-strike and a little after...achieving maximum hip/shoulder separation, followed by release of the shoulders as you square up to the plate to release the ball is what you may need to work on.

There are some drills that help with this but, a good pitching coach will tell you to start from the beginning:

1. Optimize your starting position balance and posture

2. Make sure your fanny (actually, your glove-side hip) is moving straight toward the plate at the same time, or even a split second before, your leg lift commences. Generating early and adequate forward momentum is a huge issue for many young pitchers.

3. Your glove-side arm should be in balance with, or "mirror", whatever your throwing arm does from first separation of your hands through to foot-strike.


4. Now you can work on those drills that help maximize hip-shoulder separation at foot-strike.

5. You should stabilize your glove out in front of your torso, over your landing foot--and you should learn to bring your chest forward to meet the glove in your delivery. Guys who loosely flop their glove down to their side before they release the ball are generally not going to go very far in pitching. Guys who pull their glove into the chest can survive longer in the game, but the majority of elite pitchers who really know what they are doing actually stabilize their glove out front and track forward to meet it.

6. Release and follow-through will be fine all by themselves if you master the earlier stages of your delivery.

By the way, an under-appreciated bit of information may help you: Most pitchers have no idea that they cannot throw the ball faster than their body's capacity to decelerate the arm/shoulder after release. Thus, if your decelerator muscle groups--the triceps and the musculature holding your shoulder blades to your back, etc--are not strong enough to decelerate your arm from an 80 mph throw, you will never be able to throw an 80 mph pitch without serious physical damage.

My son and I do lots of prone holds and triceps push-ups to work on these oft-neglected muscle groups.

Thanks for all the tips! Do you think throwing high 60's to low 70's is good enough to make the team?

quote:

Do you think throwing high 60's to low 70's is good enough to make the team?

--ro1249, there is no possible way that I could know the answer to that question. You need to tryout to find out.

On the other hand, if you are serious about pitching, you'll naturally want to keep developing that skill whether you make the frosh team as a pitcher, a position player, or don't make the team this year at all.

If your pitching mechanics need lots of work, you might be better off not pitching until you have had a chance to put some reasonable effort into making them better.

People have told me I have pretty good mechanics but I'll keep workin. Does pitching from a mound increase speed? Last time I was gunned, I was pitching on flat ground.

Does anyone know? Also which pitch is faster: A 4 seam fastball or a 2 seam fastball?

as a freshman in HS I am surprised you haven't been told these things. Increased speed pff a mound and the 4 seemer is a bit faster with less movement than a 2 seemer.

Do weighted baseballs work? I want to get up to around 75 MPH by February.

Does anyone know?

Sorry about being really annoying but can anyone answer my question about the weighted baseballs?

YES weighted baseballs really work IF YOU KNOW the right ways to do it. Don't be in any hurry however at your age. There are other things you can do to get results.
see www.fletchspen.net

How much speed do you think I will gain on my fastball if I throw off the mound? I usually follow through a lot better when I pitch from the mound than on flat ground. I was clocked at 70 on flat ground. I might be able to maybe hit 75 on the mound. What do you guys think?

Mounds do increase speed if you have good drive downhill, however they also add stress on the arm--some studies have shown. Adding speed is all about mechanics, and strength. Strength in the torso, the legs (especially upper legs), and in the shoulder/back area. If you have really strong abbs, and legs, and your back muscles can't support the stress throwing puts on your arm, your arm will naturally hold itself back because the muscles that descelerate the arm are weak. Make sure you work your front and backsides out equally.

I was the 5th pitcher in my area (a major city/region) for the highest (5A) level of high school, and I top out at 83, maybe 84 if the adrenaline gets going. It ain't all about speed. Understand what pitching truly is.

Yea taht is why I think I throw harder on a mound. One thing I like to focus on when I pitch is my stride. For some raeson when I pitch on a mound, I feel more flexible and less stiff. Sometimes my legs fell stiff when I pitch on flat ground. i want to build a wooden mound at my house. Any tips on how to do that?

Any good pitching coach will tell you since you are in the ninth grade, first good luck on the tryouts. Second If you have good mechanics, the next step would be hit the weights, do squats, abs, keep shoulders in good shape (i suggest the throwers ten excercises), back and do alot of dumbells for chest. I am not a believer in the weighted balls but they could work for you. I believe in long toss and throwing wiffle balls. Long toss makes a young mans arm stronger and a mature arm consistant, wiffle ball throwing works on arm speed, some young players just don't learn how to speed their arm up. But like anything do everything with good mechanics. You will eventually begin to throw harder based on getting older and gaining some mass to your body. Good luck and just work hard no matter what happens. Don't over analyze things it will only give you a headache and make things worse, some things just take time.

Increased velocity will come from improving your mechanics, growing stronger and getting bigger.

The latter is pretty much out of your control. Just make sure you get enough protein (and that can be done with regular foods, it doesn't have to be supplements).

As you work on strength training, just be sure to use a baseball oriented program. Conditioning is a part of this as well.

A top notch pitching coach (which is often difficult to find) can help with the mechanics.

You need to work on both mechanics and strength.

Be careful of the weighted balls. It is very easy to over-do and end up injured.

Also, there are no two month "quick fixes" for jumping velocity. Sometimes velocity may jump, but that is almost always tied to growth spurts or to major improvements in mechanics. But even then, it doesn't happen overnight.

The forkball is very stressful on the elbow. I would recommend you work on a good modified circle change or three finger change instead.

Following is a list of tryout suggestions, to which several of us on this site have contributed. Most of it you probably know, but perhaps it will help keep things fresh in your mind.

1. Be in full uniform.
2. Wear the same uni every day, to make it easier for coaches to remember you. Your mom will understand and wash the uni each night for a few days.
3. Be there early & warm up, stretch, etc. extremely well. Take a jog.
4. If possible, warm up with one of your upperclassman friends.
5. Don't stand around cutting up with the other freshman.
6. Hustle - every where, every time.
7. Help without being asked (e.g., moving a screen, ball bucket, etc.).
8. If the gun comes out during IF or OF drills, throw hard - going for speed over accuracy (within reason).
9. If you pitch just to a catcher (no batter), don't try to clip the corners (yet not throwing everything right down the middle, of course). Better that the nothing gets by the catcher. And keep everything low. While it can be extremely effective to go upstairs to a batter, it won't look good in a pen to most observers.
10. Don't go nuts trying to make a play & risk throwing a ball away. E.g., you are playing second, and get a late or bad feed from SS & have only 0.1% chance of getting the out at first - don't make the throw or take the normal time to make a solid throw.
11. If the team runs, be at the head of the pack.
12. Be accurate in warmup throws.
13. Listen carefully & follow instructions. Ask if not clear.
14. Exude confidence (not cockiness) in how you carry yourself. Look like a ballplayer, act like a ballplayer.
15. Don't swing at anything that is not a strike, regardless of how many pitches you have to take or who throws them.
16. If a ball gets by you, go after it like mad.
17. Don’t show any emotion, no matter what happens.
18. Never talk when a coach is talking, and make eye contact so he will know for sure you are listening.

Best wishes for you in tryouts.

Your velocity is quite reasonable for most freshman teams as long as you can throw strikes and move the ball around a bit. At your age you can reasonably expect to pick up a couple mph between now and the end of the season. In our area low 70s was typical for average freshman pitchers, mid to high 70s for sophmores. Last season our JVs had 5 sophmores throwing 78-82 and a couple others throwing low to mid 70s. I'd say that was well above average for a JV staff although we did run into a couple JV teams with pitchers throwing 82-84 but their varsity teams were nationally ranked.

ro has a PM. Aren't these people lucky?