Curveball Classified As Nasty?
March 25, 2013
Core Strength Training For Pitchers
March 25, 2013
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Being involved in Baseball for 26 years and instructing pitchers for the last12; some things never change. It is said that Baseball is a game of failure coached by negative people in a misinformed environment. Hey, I know a lot of great coaches; I worked with many of them. However, I would say the majority are misinformed especially when it comes to throwing mechanics. I enjoy instructing pitchers, I think I have the greatest job in the world. One of the most difficult parts of my job is changing behaviors that previous coaches have taught their pitchers. I want to focus on just one of them that comes up on a daily bases in the baseball world and needs to stop! Coaches are still teaching pitchers to “throw down on the ball” or “over the top” of the ball. Now this means different things to different coaches. Let me explain. When a pitcher gets to foot strike (landing leg hits the ground) they should be in an equal and opposite position with both arms. Once in that position, a lot of coaches teach their pitchers to raise their throwing arm higher and throw down on the ball. How many pitchers in the Major Leagues do this? I don’t see any! Why is this taught? My guess is that they were misinformed in youth baseball and they are just teaching what they were taught many years ago. You guys, yesterday’s practices may be the cause of so many pitching injuries today! Again, Baseball is taught by so many coaches who mean well, but just don’t have the knowledge to instruct proper throwing mechanics. Take the “throwing down on the ball” example. It should be common sense that you don’t throw with just your arm, you throw with your entire body particularly your legs and hips. Why would we want to slow down our momentum, raise our arm high above our head and throw down on the ball when it clearly puts undue stress on our throwing arm? It doesn’t feel right coaches! It hurts to throw this way and is far from a healthy practice. This is just one of many ways misinformed parents and coaches are keeping orthopedic surgeons so busy. no, this is not a coaching bashing session by any means. This is to inform all coaches and parents to simply be aware what you are instructing your pitchers. Make sure you do your research before just teaching what you were taught as a kid. Most likely, it didn’t work and there’s a clear reason why. Let us help you help your son learn proper throwing mechanics so they call excel in this great game. We have created a Pitching Mechanics DVD that will help you learn how to teach your pitchers throw harder, throw correctly, throw accurately and more! The DVD can be found below! Disc 1 |
