when did your son gain control?

I feel that Ryno made a huge jump after Freshman Year, and got even better after Sophomore year.  It seemed that he was always just a little wild, and as a result, he gave up too many walks. I am not a pitching guru, so I am not sure that I will describe this correctly, but Ryan's plant foot (foot closest to home plate) was never pointing straight towards the plate.  It was always turned a little, so his control wasn't where it needed to be. 

       
       
It's just soothing to hear  can get better with time and innings!  I have coached pitchers quite a while and certainly can see his mechanical flaws.  Problem is he has grown so fast he is still a bit awkward.  So right now I am not sure he is physically capable of making all the needed changes.  I keep trying to explain different ways and go over video hoping I will find the right way to light the bulb!  7th grade and 6'2" is not always a bargain.  And then it snowballs cause when he gets wild he is afraid to really let it go and his velocity suffers as well.  Last night was so typical.  Walks a kid, gets an out, walks a kid, strikes a kid out.  2nd and third weak ground ball to 2B...  error, two runs score as 2B in a panic picks up ball and still throws to 1st and overthrows on top of it.  2 runs, not a single ball leaves the infield.  Frustrating. By the way some pitching coaches actually teach to land a little closed.  Personally I leave that up to their comfort unless I feel it is causing a problem.

I always took a different approach as a pitching instructor with young pitchers. I taught velocity first. My thoughts were that control will come with time, but that I didn't want to teach taking something off in order to "throw strikes." My own son was extremely wild when young, but threw very, very hard. Until 12u he still walked more than he K'd, and he K'd a LOT. By 12u, he was slightly on top of the numbers. By 13, control was good, striking out about twice as many as he K'd. By 14, control was excellent. In his last 35 innings of the 14yo season, he K'd 60 and walked 3. So, around 13, he really started gaining control.

My son always had reasonable control. From the beginning in 9/10s I emphasized footwork. Balance starts with footwork. I told him he should roll up socks and pitch them to the mirror until his feet always ended in the same place without thinking about it.

He gained control of the computer around 9th grade.

 

He gained control of the family vacation schedule when he started travel ball.

 

He gained control of the refrigerator and grocery shopping lists when he qualified for the state wrestling tournament. 

 

He gained control of the car keys at 17.

 

He gained control of the family budget when he entered college.

 

My question is, "When do I re-gain control of anything?"

 

Oh. Wait. Did I misunderstand the question?

 

Agree 100% on this. 2019Son was extremely wild when younger (example: opening day of LL when he was about 8 years old, he hit the first two batters of the season, both of them in the head). When LL coaches tried to get him to throw it softer in order to "just get it over" I had to (gently) urge him to continue to try to throw hard. His control has gotten a little better every year and then this year took a major step forward -- he is actually hitting spots!  

 

2020dad, you may be surprised (like I was) that your son's control is better at 60 ft. than it was at 54 ft. -- just as a result of getting more comfortable with his body, getting more reps, etc.

Couldn't agree with you more.  Being tall is great for a pitcher.  Getting there isn't always a lot of fun.

 

My 2016 is 6'-6".  Those high growth rate years were very difficult for him athletically, and not just specifically baseball:

 

- He's had nagging problems in virtually every joint simply because the soft tissue wasn't keeping up with the bone: Osgood-Slaughter's in both knees; most of his 12U season wiped out by Little League elbow even though he hadn't pitched in over a month when it started; rotater cuff tendinitis; elbows that wouldn't straighten because his humerus outgrew his biceps.

- Every morning he would wake up with his hands and feet further away than they were when he went to bed, so he almost had to relearn how to walk every morning on the way to the bathroom, which often resulted in tripping over his size 14s or walking into a door frame.

- He went through a stretch of about a year where I don't think he was physically capable of running in a straight line.  Some days I'd watch him run and wonder why he looked drunk.  Seriously, it was that bad.

 

2016 didn't really start showing consistent mechanics and timing until his growth slowed down to less than 2 inches per year, which just happened in the past year.  And without consistent mechanics and timing, there is no control.

 

Portable mounds are also the bane of the tall pitchers.  I personally believe anyone that sells portable mounds that are not built to actual mound specs (particularly the 1:12 slope on the front) should be drawn and quartered and have their entrails burned.  Those things really exacerbated 2016's control problems during the 12U-14U years, as he was constantly adjusting his stride length to avoid landing on the edge of those abominations.

 

But even dirt mounds can be a problem with tall kids if they are not maintained properly.  2016's longer stride would often land on the front edge of the crater left by average-height pitchers.  During 15U fall ball he played at a local high school where they just raked regular dirt into the crater rather than pack it with mound clay.  He pitched 3 innings, and fell down twice.

 

During those 14U-15U years, he (and his coaches) eventually figured out that mound quality affected him far more than the other kids.  (He "ah-hah" moment was when he pitched at a minor league park and had far and away his best outing.)  It got to the point his coaches wouldn't even warm him up to pitch until he had made a few "dry" throws off the mound to check it out (typically on his way to or from the outfield between innings).

 

The point of the mound rant is that your kid is not only fighting his body right now, he's also fighting against mounds that probably don't fit him.  And watch out for bad habits he might develop as a result of trying to compensate.

 

Finally had to almost start from scratch rebuilding 2016's mechanics about a year ago, as he got maddeningly inconsistent.  He had two outings last spring where he was pulled with a no-hitter because he was so wild.  One of them he only had two balls put in play, and neither made it past the mound.  But he was walking and plunking hitters at an alarming rate.  (Other teams' parents get a little testy when you hit 4 batters in 3.2 innings.)  His velo dropped pretty drastically while working on the changes, as he has been focusing more on controlling his body than making explosive movements.  Now that he seems to have better body control, he has starting working on making explosive movements within that framework without losing the control.

 

Bottom line, with really tall kids it can be a long process.  Be patient, 2020dad.

       
       
Thanks so much for that post.  At least 80% of what you described has been or is experienced by mine.  And of course the expectations when you are a 6'2" 13u are through the roof.  I don't think people realize what a DISADVANTAGE it can be.  If you don't mind sharing what is your son's velocity?  I also wonder if those 4 inches or whatever he has left will be as advantageous (eventually) for him as say a kid going from 5'10" to 6'2".