Which side of the rubber??

quote:

Sons pitching coach really never sees him pitch in a game and was just wondering if a move to the left side of the rubber might generate move velocity???

No, IMO many pitching coaches have a vested interest to make changes that dont need to be made. If the pitching coach made zero changes to his delivery and you paid him 50$, would you go back for another lesson? If your sons coach thinks moving to the other side of the rubber will increase his velo he is really reaching..., infact hes just flat out guessing.

quote:

He generally is pretty acurate and doesn't walk many batters. He was moved to the right side of the rubber by his pitching coach to give him more room for his Slider?/
Thanks so much for any help or suggestions

Is he a sinker baller? What type of swings do rightys take off of him? Whats his arm slot like?Many, many MLB'ers throw across thier body, and it can add deception and sink depending on his arm slot and how you cut across the ball... Of course throwning across your body in excess can be poblematic as everything in excess usually is, but by your quote he seems to be throwing well...is this the case?

IMO - my son used to throw across his body, a lefty that steped toward the left handed batter. Once I took him to a qualified pitching coach, he made the necessary change and it helped his control and speed. I don't think it matters to most where you stand on the rubber, it's the step direction that matters. Just food for thought.

deemax
thanks for the quick response
son has been on right side for about a year or so now, again..his private pitching coach moved him to that side to help him with his slider
his fast ball does cut and he throws from a 3/4 delivery he does have alot of swing and misses. We rally didnt think about it much until we video taped him and you could really see on the tape
in 25 innings he has 44 k's and 8 bb's, so between his fastball and slider he gets most of his strikeouts Several people have mentioned that by throwing across your body you lose some velocity and based on his size and arm strenth( he can throw a ball over 300 feet) he should be in the 90's.
jsut wondering why it seems 90% of all pitchers throw from the left side of the rubber

The side of the rubber you pitch from should not impact velocity. This is more of a preference and can impact pitch location, which it seems why your son has been moved to the right side of the rubber.

As for the 300ft rule, I have seen players throw a ball 300 feet but yet are unable to throw 90 mph. I would think to arc of the throw would have something to do with this.

Throwing across your body isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are pros that do it, but most don’t. Who knows if correcting/changing will give him more power and control?

I like the low walks number but so few kids can hit a ball that moves in high school and below I’m usually not impressed by Ks from a curve/slider ball pitcher, it’s nice and I want one on my team but IMO it’s a case of hitter’s ability can’t match the pitcher’s. (no insult intended, that’s just me)

If your son is a slider pitcher he has a better shot at getting away with throwing from the 3B side of the rubber. Sinker ballers are the ones that have the toughest time with throwing across their bodies. Ask Brandon Webb. Between the 2005 and 2006 seasons he said he made only one technical change in his mechanics which led to winning the Cy Young in '06. He stopped throwing across his body. He started stepping more directly toward his target, allowing his hips to clear and allowing him to get on top of the ball and stay inside to get the sink.

If you watch enough baseball you see a lot of trends and you'll see in the majors that most LH pitcher throw across their bodies. And that's why you see almost no lefties throwing sinkers or runners (for those not familiar with that term the "runner" is the Greg Maddux fastball that starts at the LH batter and runs back over the inside corner). Most lefties in the majors throw across their bodies and they can still succeed because their rhythm and ability to repeat the motion allow them to be accurate slinging fastballs and big sliders.

For a RHP, a small step to the 3B side you can get away with. You don't lose a great deal of velocity or accuracy with those mechanics. If your son's step to the plate is significantly to the 3B side then you can lose a little velocity but more importantly, accuracy/consistency. A big step to the 3B side restricts the hips and doesn't allow them to turn through the pitch. That certainly will reduce a little velocity. You can't be a sinkerballer from that angle but as you've seen, your son can get away with being a cutter/slider pitcher from way over there. What I see from RHP's who do step that way is that they can still get a fastball accurately to the inside corner (for RH batter) most of the time, but unless their rhythm is really good that day, when they try to hit they outside corner they pull a lot of pitches off the plate. It's a long way back over to that outside corner.

All that being said, I could suggest moving your son to the 1B side of the rubber and minimizing the step toward the RH batters box. But in reality, it might make his mechanics look prettier to the observer and he might be able to throw a couple MPH faster, but he might be less effective getting batters out. Moving him over and changing his step will square him up more and take away the angle he's currently getting by throwing the slider from behing the batter. Watch LH batters facing LH pitchers that throw that way...they've got no chance most of the time. As long as it's not hurting his arm, you don't have to change him.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck.

Jon

Striding to the closed side and throwing across the body CAN limit hip rotation so it CAN effect velocity and it CAN put more stress on the arm (as well as the hip, knee and ankle of the stride leg). But whether or not this is significant depends on the severity as well as the pitcher's flexibility.

A slightly closed stride can be dealt with by moving to the left side of the rubber (for a righty) as that lessens the corner that must be turned to square up to the target at release.

But if a pitcher develops shoulder problems, this is definitely something I would look at fixing.

Your son is an 2008 with 25 innings, 44 k's, and 8 bb's....Oh, and he throws 87-89....Just let him develope, and dont listen to ANYONE who wants to change his mechanics or what side of the rubber he stands on that has never seen him pitch... It sounds like hes really pitching well so make sure you enjoy it, and dont let any of his coaches abuse him!

jhs tigerdad you have a pm....

My mechanics used to be simular, I would throw more across my body and stride almost towards the right batters box. This can create more movement, The only thing I would watch is to make sure he can still properly bring his hips through. When a pitcher strides across his body it can cause more struggle coming through and result in him flying out his left shoulder. Im not saying he does, just saying it's something to watch. When I worked on my mechanics and now throwing all down hill it resulted in a lot more control less stress on the shoulder and a rise in velocity. However when I was throwing across my body I was only throwing in the low 80's so if it seems to be working for him why change it. As far as what side of the rubber to stand on I was told both. My coach told me if you stand on the left side and you throw harder that a tailing fastball will appear harder to a lefty. I also was told that on the right side of the rubber it gives the illusion of the pitcher throwing at the right handed batter. All I would suggest is what ever is comfortable. I personally feel I have more success on the right side.

Make sure his back foot is parallel to the rubber, and make sure his hips aren't pointing towards the back of the RH box.

quote:

Originally posted by jhs tigerdad:
It seems to me that 90% of the right handed pitchers i have seen pitch (majors,college, high school) throw from the left side of the rubber.

Not accurate.

I'd say it's about 60/40 on the throwing side of the rubber. Your son is in the '60'.

But I'd say if he is having a problem working 'around the ball' I'd put him in the middle of the rubber until he gets his hips a little more open.