The Pitching Guru

Parents wondering what happens when we don't provide proper instruction and proper conditioning/care. Way to many kids are getting injured today compare to 20 years ago. Some people say it's over use, lack of conditioning. The truth is 99% of the time it's poor mechanics. With poor mechanics and lack of conditioning/arm care you are going to kill a kids arm. Teach kids how to throw right and their arm will not drag. Teach kids how to use their front side and they will not fly... open and create back arm drag. Teach kids to condition their whole body so it can work as 1 unit not fighting upper half with lower half which creates back arm drag. Look parents if your going to put your kids in a lot of ball during the year make sure they are conditioned right and they have an understanding of the basic mechanics. Pitchers at all levels are sacrificing health for velocity GET YOUR ARM IN A GOOD THROWING SOCKET and work hard on your front side. Your front side will save your back arm!!!!!!! I want to thank Thomas And Matt for their pic they posted. Your son could be next if you don't take care of yourself. See more

Okay parents PLEASE read this over: I know that as a parent we tend to always think that our kid is in the top 3 for being the best on our team. When your coach sits your kid or puts him in a position you don't think he should be playing stand back and enjoy watching. You don't always have to be critiquing the coaching staff. There could be numerous reasons why the coach is playing or sitting your son. 1. Giving another player a chance to get in 2. Your son could be sitti...ng because he broke a team rule 3. He is not as good as you think 4. The coach might not really have a total grasp on the game There can be many more reasons, but there is one thing that all these reasons have in common. The coach makes the decisions not the parents. Remember you had the chance to make the most important decision, and that was where do I want my son to play. After you take your son to a team and he makes it, from day forward the coach makes the decisions. All I can suggest to every parent out there is form a parent committee with an uneven number of members and from this committee select a parent rep. When you have a problem or a concern you meet with the committee and express your thoughts. The committee will then decide if your situation is something that can be brought to the coaches attention or not. If the situation is something that can be brought to the coaches attention then you and the parent rep will have a meeting with the coaching staff where you can then express your concerns and only the concerns that were approved by the committee and nothing else. Parents once your son make a travel team / rep team not all teams have rules like equal playing time or a rep coach might see your son as a better 3rd baseman then 2nd baseman. Remember this is the coaches decision you had the chance to make the BIGGEST decision so let them play their role. I see to many parents wanting reasons and explanations for a coaches decision he makes regarding their kid. The coach is there for the boys as a group not for the parents. Stop trying to talk with the coach on his way back to his car or before the start of the game. Let the coach focus on the game and the kids, and not bug him after a game (most likely the coach is volunteering his time), because it's not normally going to end the way you want any how. It's a bad thing to say but sometimes your son's playing time is a reflection of your actions or comments. Parents please do not take this the wrong way. We are all here for the kids See more

Okay parents I can only put it to you this way. When it comes to who is the right "coach" or the right team for your son...... It's simple "YOU CAN ONLY GO AS FAR AS YOUR COACH DID". Now, I know that's a pretty bold statement but if your coach has not been there done that the likely hood of him knowing what takes to get there is not very high. Baseball is a sport that you have to experience not read in a book (plays, technique, and mechanics) because there are just to many l...ittle intricate details to the sport. That being said we must also remember that 98% of our coaches are volunteers with some background but not to much. We must congratulate these coaches for doing a great job devoting their time for our kids. Look by time your son is 11-12 years old you should be looking to move forward with higher qualified coaching because the next few years after that are their most influential years with development. This is why you are seeing more travel teams at the ages of 12 and up. Picking a team (coach) before the age of 12 you want to look for a coach who makes the game FUN!!!!! When looking for a coach or team by time your son is around 11-12 you must start to look for experience (how far did the coach get?) and here is a big one, start to look for a team where the coach HAS NO KIDS OF THEIR OWN on the roster so there is no confusion of why he is coaching the team. Please do remember most coaches are volunteers because no one else is willing to step forward for the kids so do not expect the world from them, and if you plan on giving them a hard time "step up and put your neck on the line". I hope this answers your question to the 3 of you families that were wondering the same thing. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact us any time. Sit back and enjoy watching the game it self See more

Topic today: GOALS At the beginning of every season you should encourage your son, or all the players on your roster to set at least 5 personal goals. If your a coach encourage your team to also set 1 Ultimate Goal. As a parent or coach it is in your best interest to get involved with their goals (read them or even ask them to tell you) seeing as you are going to be the ones who should help them plan out how to achieve these goals. We as parents and coaches are here to giv...e our kids and players guidance to achieve their goals. If a player is saying he wants to walk a max of 2 batters per game and he normally walks 4-5 batters a game. Something that we can ask him is why are you walking 4-5 batters a game? What do you think you can do to cut down on your walks? What can we work on to help achieve your goal? These are just some questions I would ask my son or player. If you make them answer the questions to help achieve their goals they become more in tuned to what it will take to become the player they are striving to be that season. The lesson here is ASK THEM DIRECT QUESTIONS about what they really want. When a player sets real goals and follows the steps to achieve them they will see that they will be the player they were hoping to be. What you can also encourage is setting smaller goals along the way to their ultimate goals. Remember "you only see obstacles when you take your eyes of your goal". Have your players or son write these goals out and read them once a day before bed or when they first get up and I can guarantee they and you will see drastic results by the end of the season. As the parent or coach helping or kids believe that they can achieve all that they set out to do is our role. Till next time feel free to send us any questions you may have and we would be gladly to give your our opinion. KEEP WORKING HARD TOWARDS SOMETHING See more

I just got a very good question from a mom. "Should I take my 15 son out of football and focus on baseball only"? Here's the thing. MLB scout and a very good friend of mine has told me on more than a dozen occasions that he has seen young players with the potential to move on to the next level (pro) but hurt them selves playing another sport which then prevented them from playing baseball at the pro level. Now what my friend has advised me and other parents with kids who pla...y more than 1 sport is "where do you expect to go with each sport"? If your looking to move on and receive a scholarship in baseball and your just involved in another sport to "stay in shape". How much would you regret getting hurt playing the sport "to stay in shape" and not being able to move on playing baseball?????? I also have a very good friend of mine who was getting drafted (in the MLB) and decided to go out and play pick up basketball the night before his private work out with a dozen MLB scouts 1 Week before the draft. This friend ended up rolling his ankle and ran the 60 yard dash with a time of 7.15 when he normally runs it at a 6.65. Besides his poor run he could not finish his swing so he had no pop in his bat that day. The scouts asked him what was wrong and after telling them what he was doing the night before they thought that was very disappointing to hear about his poor judgement. You see when it comes to asking a child (your child) to quit a sport it's very difficult but you must put it into perspective to them. Regret is a feeling we do not wish upon any one so try and imagine your son regretting getting hurt playing a sport he plays for fun and he has to stop chasing their dream. I would give you a totally different answer if you were to tell me that your son is just as talented in more than one sport and he has a chance to receive a scholarship in another sport. Well then stay the corse and keep playing both sports at their highest level. I hope this answers your question mom and any other parent who is about to go through this same situation. Till next time please feel free to email us anytime with any question and we will be more then happy to respond, but remember it's just our thoughts it's not the end all and be all. See you around the ball park See more