Wind-up...to the stretch?

[bbb3601]

Hello all I haven't posted in a while but I now have a new question. My son who is ten has started to pitch more often. He has good control of his fast ball, and is really starting to get the feel of a change-up....when to throw etc. My question is ,or his coach's problem, seems to be he looses his command when he winds up. If he throw's from stretch only all is good always. I really don't see him becoming some great high school pitcher (he loves c/f) but is their a big problem if he always throw's from the stretch? My kid say's he just feels more comfortable?

[bhss89]

bbb3601,
My own opinion is that one of the most important, if not the most important, aspect of pitching is for the athlete to be comfortable and confident before they ever begin their wind-up/approach to the plate. That said, if your son wants to work from the stretch position, then that is great for him and should not be a problem.
I have coached a h.s. pitcher over the past few seasons that has problems staying back and staying connected (glove-side arm flying open, etc.). I have asked him to work exclusively from the stretch and it has helped him tremendously. He is, however, working on becoming more controlled and compact from the wind-up, and he has set an improved wind-up motion as a personal goal of his. I don't think your son should abandon the wind-up completely, even if you/he feel his future is not on the mound. Throwing from the wind-up should always be a goal that is being worked on, IMHO.
Best of luck and keep us posted on his progress.
Also, I like the fact that you're seemingly (according to your post) allowing him only to work on spotting fastballs and change-ups; this will truly allow him to pitch and develop a solid base that is founded on changing locations and changing speeds. The Ground Ball Mantra: "A little on, a little off, a little in, a little out. Let's hit some bats and let our fielders go to work." I've found that approach works really well with young pitchers.

[Jake Patterson]

Hello all I haven't posted in a while but I now have a new question. My son who is ten has started to pitch more often. He has good control of his fast ball, and is really starting to get the feel of a change-up....when to throw etc. My question is ,or his coach's problem, seems to be he looses his command when he winds up. If he throw's from stretch only all is good always. I really don't see him becoming some great high school pitcher (he loves c/f) but is their a big problem if he always throw's from the stretch? My kid say's he just feels more comfortable?
Letting him throw from the stretch at that age is fine. He has plenty of time to learn how to throw from the wind-up. The key at this age is keeping it comfortable and to contnue the learning process.

[TG Coach]

Pitching from the stretch cuts down a lot of body motion. This increases balance and mechanics for younger pitchers. If you look at many pro pitchers they're much more compact in their delivery than the 'ole days. My son is fourteen. There isn't much mechanically different from the stretch than the windup.

Your son is too young to make and concrete observations on his pitching future. He's going to change a lot physically which could change his potential to pitch successfully. His mental makeup could change. His passion could change. Just let him have fun for now. He's ten. He's a little kid.

[Ursa Major]

Sure, stay with the stretch for a season if he feels more comfortable with it. Kids that age trying to develop mechanics have trouble both turning the post/pivot foot (the one on the rubber) and keeping their hips closed in a regular windup. Pitching from the stretch eliminates some of these potential distractions, and allows you to more easily isolate the specific (and more important) actions to be taken after the pitcher starts his hand break. So, working from the stretch is a possible solution. My son pitched from the stretch as an 11 year lod, and I don't think his fastabll from the stretch was ever more than two or three MPH below what it was from the windup.

And, since I assume there is no stealing and no balks at this level, the kid doesn't need to come to a stop at the stretch position and can just keep going, thereby maintaining his rhythm.

A compromise motion might be to have the kid face sideways and rock back toward first base (assuming he's right-handed) with his hands staying no higher than his chest. As he gets more comfortable, he can work on setting up faced more and more toward the plate, and making his rocker step more and more toward second base. Some coaches don't like this, as it's antithetical to the idea of having all motions directed in the direction of home plate.

One thing to watch for: young kids at this age pitching from the stretch will often just pull the ball straight back toward second base with their elbow straight down, and just fling the ball almost like their throwing a hand grenade.

[Drill]

Give him a $5.00 dollar for every strike out. Get him use to the pressure of making sure he needs to have control to set up the hitters for K's.

LOL, I know, I know, but I got to thinking about this and want to relate a little story about what happened during a youth soccer match.

For weeks I kept wondering why this real good youth player was such a ball hog. It turned out his father would give him $5.00 for each goal. One Saturday morning I heard his dad saying after the game, kidding with his son, are you going to take the family out to lunch. The 9 year old scored 5 goals.

pitch from what ever legal position he feels most comfortable with.


respectfully yours,

drill

[Chris O'Leary]

but is their a big problem if he always throw's from the stretch?

Simply put...

No.