Post-Game Recovery
I was wondering if you have any exercises that you use after a game to help pitchers recover?
This question comes from McKay!
Read MoreAdvice and Strategy
How do you fix your mechanics when you’ve got games to pitch?
I was working with a student yesterday for the first time since last year as she spent the entire off-season recovering from an injury. We spend the whole time doing specific drills and she put in a really outstanding effort to smooth out the illegal hop in her drive through. After the lesson she asked me, what am I supposed to do in games?
Read MoreThe Consequences of Early Sport Specialization
When I moved to Westchester, New York in 2009, I thought youth “sport specialization” was an issue exclusive to affluent communities where parents could afford the travel and private “tutoring” of athletes. Either I was wrong, or this problem has incomprehensibly metastasized across the country since. This week, I’m forwarding you to a must-read article on this subject and its hard, cold consequences for adolescents.
Read MoreRapid Fire Speed Pitching: Good or Bad?
I don’t know if this is a recent epidemic or a coincidence, but I’ve had several parents come up to me recently saying that their daughter’s coach has asked her to throw as many pitches as she can as fast as she can in some set amount of time, and wondering if that’s okay. This is an easy one: NO IT’S NOT!
Read MoreMaking the best of an injury
In this week’s video, I answer a reader question about how to mentally come back from a major injury.
Read MoreReader Question: Is a “Backdoor Screwball” Possible?
Read MoreMy daughter is a sophomore and her coach is wanting her to throw a screw ball to a left handed batter that looks as if it is going to hit the her and then screws over the plate. The mechanics of the screwball does not allow this with out going way out of the throwing lanes. I tries to explain it to him but he insist that he watches college ball all the time and there is a such pitch. Am I wrong and if so how do I teach her to throw this pitch?
Don’t let your desire to reach your destination prevent you from enjoying the trip
I’d always been a point-A-to-point-B kind of person; “I’m here, I need to get there. How do I do that as quickly as possible?” The problem with that, I’ve discovered, is that most of the wonders in life occur between point A and point B.
Read MoreThe Biggest Mistake in Conditioning Softball Pitchers
Last week when I answered reader CC’s question I promised I’d talk more about training young athletes and the Long Term Athlete Development Model. Following is an article I recently had published in the Performance Conditioning newsletter for baseball and softball. The information is indispensable for any parent of a young athlete!
Read More“How fast are you pitching? Should we get the radar gun?”
When evaluating pitchers, most folks reach for the radar gun. A common tool, but is it the best one for the job?
Read MoreReader Question: How Much Should a 10u Athlete Pitch?
Read MoreHey Carly! I’ve got twins at the 10u level that both pitch, but in games both of them tend to not reach their optimum speeds/groove until the second inning, and this is after I have given them a complete warm up. As a result I have had them pitch a tad more than most (30 pitches) after warm-up and before the first pitch. We usually throw 100+ pitches in practice sessions so I feel like I have built or I am building their stamina.
We typically practice a couple times a week mixed in with a lesson, so they pitch 3 times a week(If everything falls into place). Does sound right to you? Any tips on how to keep them better prepared without pitching so much before games?
—CC