Too Busy for Lessons?

The rush is on. Around the country many kids find that practices and games consume so much time that pitching lessons must take a back seat. Or, should they?

My rule does not change. You should spend two hours practicing for every hour you spend on the mound in games. The best way to develop bad habits, let your form sag, or get hurt is to pitch in games all of the time and spend little time in development. Someone needs to keep you fundamentally strong. Let’s put it this way. College teams play a huge schedule. Usually it’s 3 games on weekends and a mid-week doubleheader. The injury rate among pitchers is already bad, so good pitching coaches know they have to make sure everything stays crisp and sharp.

They will be right there with their pitchers during every practice, checking on little things, keeping everything in place, looking at timing, and correcting movements that caused issues during the last game. Then, on weekends, they don’t just bench the pitchers who won’t be pitching today. They will run “bullpens” with them around, and even during, the games. Some may be short because a pitcher could be needed for relief that day, or perhaps she will be starting the next day. But the coach is going to make sure everything is working at peak.

These are college pitchers and they get that kind of attention. Why, then, do we think young kids can go an entire high school or travel season on just a lesson or two? If she is struggling with a particular pitch, feeling a little pain, or the speed is fizzling, she probably needs someone to spot the problem and get her back on track.

Every summer we see some of our best students in June and they are pitching beautifully. They return in August, completely fatigued, looking bad from playing so many straight tournaments, they pitched so many games that form took a backseat, and they are sick of packing the car for another trip.

When we are in the development stage with a pitcher, the game serves one purpose. It should give us feedback so we can make needed adjustments to keep her growing. When the game, itself, becomes the purpose, someone needs to take a step back and remember the real priority.