Why do pitching coaches exist? What’s the importance of them? Should you sign your son up for lessons? Is it worth the cost? All of these questions are ones that come up frequently when trying to figure out if pitching lessons are something you want to make the investment in for the young pitcher in your life. There’s no one right answer to any of these questions, but there is one answer that encompasses all of them: if you want to take your pitching game to the next level, it’s worth it.
There’s a lot that goes into getting the most of out of a high school pitcher. I would know – it wasn’t too long ago that I was one. My coaches knew how to make sure I was maximizing my own potential on the mound, and, spoiler alert: it had nothing to do with how fast I was throwing the baseball. Because they worked on coaching high school pitchers in the right areas, I was able to succeed.
As you could probably tell had you read the first two blogs posted on this site, arm safety is of paramount importance when developing as a young pitcher and learning how to take your pitching game to the next level. We emphasize arm safety for obvious reasons, the primary one being that it keeps your child on the field of play for the longest amount of time, both in a single game and over the length of a career. This is key in learning how to take your pitching game to the next level
We hear it all the time: “That guy has great mechanics.” We can probably even name two full hands worth of guys to whom this applies. But what specifically does it mean? Not every pitcher has the same windup, or even similar form, as every other pitcher that shares the quality of solid mechanics.
There’s a common misconception that exists among today’s generation of baseball players that faster is better, and slower is worse - that if I can throw 100 mph, but you can only catch up to 95 mph, then I’m going to win every time. We see this notion manifest itself each and every year in the majors.