Baseball Pitching Coach

Question
Hi Rick,
My son is 9 years old and has been playing baseball for 4 years.  Last year was his first year of kid's pitch and he was one of three pitchers along with playing everywhere else except catcher.  He loves the game and loves playing all the time.  He has started asking me about pitching lessons and I would like to help him however I can.  I don抰  know what the norm is, but his average speed is about 46mph.  Is he too young to have a pitching coach and be throwing so much?  (We are always playing catch)  What do you look for in a good pitching coach?  How do you go about finding one? (We are in OKC, OK)  Are there any pre/post exercises he should do to keep his arm healthy?  Any other advice or suggestions would be appreciated.  I want to help him chase his dreams but I don't want him to hurt himself.  Thanks for your help.  

Answer
Jake, thanks for the question.  It sounds like your son has "baseball fever".  That's a good thing.

Your question is one which I hear a lot, in my association with the Diamondbacks Training Centers.

My personal feeling is, if they are excited about playing and can't wait to go to their games and practices, they are where you want them to be.

It is great that you and your son play catch.  That goes far beyond the baseball benefit for both of you.  At the same time it provides him a way of practicing his throwing mechanics in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.  Whether he actually remains a pitcher as he moves up through the levels you never know, but he will always have to throw in some capacity.

What you can be sure of is that he will need to have good throwing mechanics to remain competitive, and to provide the best insurance against arm problems.  No matter what position you play in baseball, it is very hard to keep playing if you are unable to throw, whether it be due to injury or the inability to throw accurately and with at least average arm strength.

There is such interest these days in how many MPH kids throw.  In D'backs camps and with my high school players, they all talk velocity, and are constantly chasing that magic number.  The MPH number won't mean much, unless they are able to locate that fastball for a strike, and change speeds to keep hitters from setting on their fastball.  Hitting is all about timing, pitching is the disruption of that timing.

Does he need a pitching coach?  In my opinion, at 9 years old, probably not.  I haven't seen him throw; but my guess would be, like most 9 yr. olds, he could really make great use of an all around baseball clinic, within which he could get a solid mechanics base for throwing, which will provide greater accuracy, additional velocity, and set his throwing motion whereby he takes the strain off his elbow and shoulder.

With the D'backs, our main emphasis in all camps, week long or shorter, is throwing properly.  Where I live, Tucson, Az, there are also other camps available to kids, and they emphasize the same things.  With a camp atmosphere, kids also have the opportunity to play baseball related games, hit, run bases, learn some rules, history of the game, social skills and teamwork.  I like the approach because they are not specialized, and focused on just one thing.  There will be opportunity later on, when they are older, to specialize.    

If I was looking for a pitching coach, I would want a person who will take the time to teach throwing mechanics and balance, in an environment where the kids aren't constantly throwing and checking their results with a radar gun.  Locate someone who is interested in your sons overall baseball experience, teaching him fielding skills as a pitcher, rules as they pertain to his age level, as well as an interest in other activities your son does besides baseball.

Shy away from someone wanting to teach him to throw a curve ball.  Fastball and changeup is enough for now.

Ok, and OKC is a hotbed for baseball.  I would guess there are a substantial number of clinics available, as well as quality pitching and baseball instruction.

Here in Tucson, quite often instructors advertise in the newspaper.  Our paper has a small column in the Thursday sports page for that, as well as available clinics and dates.  You may find local high schools that conduct clinics for their local little league feeders, we do for ours.  Our local Junior College has a hitting clinic.  Those are areas to look into.

Good luck to you both as you travel through this journey that is baseball.  You will never regret having embarked on the trip!

Yours in baseball,

Rick