son gets wound to tight when pitching

Have the coach DH for him. Not unusual for coaches to allow their pitchers to just focus on pitching.

Pitchers and catchers also can see their hitting suffer from simple fatigue. So don't be too quick to think it's a mental thing. When your shoulder is tired and your legs are tired, you lose bat speed and precision in putting the barrel to the ball.

The DH idea is a good one. It will save him his bad AB's and thus, leave his batting average up there where you'll like it more.

quote:

I have told the coach upfront that he is not a starter, but he has such a strong arm
that he always starts a game on Sunday.

westcoastbuckeye, At this age you will not know what your son is capable of.
Just tell him to have fun,.
It's hard to concentrate doing both pitching and hitting.
Tell him to relax and take a few deep breaths.

Make sure he keep's thing's in perspective.
He is there to have fun playing a game.
Think about pitching and only pitching when on the mound.
And only about hitting when in the batter's box.
Don't carry them together in the dugout.
If you know what I mean.

EH

My son was a RHP/3B/1B in high school. During summer ball he typically pitched and played INF sparingly. When he finally figured out what it was he was meant to do, he relaxed.

I can't remember when it happened but somewhere along the way my son was told by someone he really respected in the game that when he was playing a Position rip the ball off the cover, and when he was schedule to pitch that day he was being "paid" to pitch and be lights out. That little philosophy helped him tremendously in so many ways.

We all know that Pitchers are a different breed..lol. It's how you approach them that carries a lot of weight sometimes.

Hey thanks for the replys. I like the DH idea.

One more question?

Does your son really like to pitch? I know some kids love to go out on the mound while others just plain don't. Does he get so nervous before a game that it keeps his head out of the game later on?

I only ask this because I have seen kids that go out and pitch simply because they don't want to let their parents or their team down but deep down they really don't have a desire to play that position. I have always felt that no kid should feel compelled to play any position that he doesn't want to play. I find it interesting sometimes that youth coaches will respect the feelings of boys that don't want to catch but put pressure on those same boys to get on the mound. I think a healthy challene is important for all boys but if a kid tries pitching and just doesn't like it then maybe the boy should look at doing something else.

If he loves pitching then he will come around. I don't know about the DH idea, I think that at his age every at bat helps. If he has trouble at bat when starting I would think it would be more an issue of him having early success and trouble in later at bats with fatigue setting in.

Have you considered not letting him pitch? To take the pressure off him if he's doing it for the wrong reason. He may misses it and beg you to let him pitch again or you'll find he never really wanted to pitch to begin with. He's young if he loves it the bat will come around. He'll relax if he's enjoying himself.

Patient: Doc, it hurts when I do this!

Doc: Don't do that!