PITCHING EXCELLENCE

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HOW DO YOU BUILD AN ALL-AMERICAN? Naturally, I know a few of these people. Some of them quite well. Here is what I find they have in common. If you are a coach, parent, or someone else who works closely with a pitcher, THESE ARE KEY INGREDIENTS.

1-These kids may or may not absolutely love the game, but they are OBSESSED WITH BEING THE BEST AT WHATEVER THEY DO. They want to be pushed, but they want a plan, and it had better make sense. Throwing a bunch of drills at them insults them. They want a process.
 

All-Conference Wesley Wolverine junior
#12 P Lindsay Siok (Milford, DE)

2-PROCESS IS HUGE. During the off-season, they want time to clean up issues in the form, maximize speed, get their timing back, and feel confident on the mound. Don't rush them. This past weekend a kid came to her session wanting to work on movement. Her form was pretty rough after playing so much this year, so I simply asked her, "Do you want to work on movement, which will be difficult, or to gain 5 miles per hour today?" She was shocked. Of course she wanted the speed. When we cleaned up the issues limiting speed, we quickly made two of her moving pitches very, very exciting, very easily. FORM IS SPEED. FORM IS MOVEMENT.

3-"THE PURPOSE OF SPEED IS TO MAKE A BATTER MAKE A QUICK DECISION. THE PURPOSE OF MOVEMENT IS TO MAKE HER REGRET THAT DECISION." That's one of my original quotes. Every pitcher learns it eventually. If a kid increases her speed by 5 miles per hour, the hitter has to make a decision whether to swing when the ball is 5-8 feet further from the plate. For most pitchers, suddenly that means hitters are deciding on the path of the swing before actually getting to read the seams or the direction of the break. The earlier she decides, the better the chance that your movement or off-speed will burn her.

4- ALL-AMERICANS NEVER PLATEAU. The better the form, the better the speed and the movement. If those things are perfect, THEY SEARCH FOR OTHER WAYS TO ENHANCE THEIR GAME like proper strength training, conditioning, more meticulous practices, and the mental game. We have great resources for our pitchers in each of these areas.

5- THEY DO NOT PLAY AND PLAY AND PLAY. THEY RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT TIME. Kids who play too much become results oriented. As they tire, they look for shortcuts to get batters out. Many of those are not healthy and actually get in the way of long-term development.

6- THEY ARE SMART. They are a step ahead of you. They are not "Instructor Dependent" but often lead the lesson, just inviting us in when needed. THEY THINK FOR THEMSELVES. We love watching a kid take it and run with it.

These are a few of the qualities we notice among kids who take it to an entirely different level in college. EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS HER OWN UNIQUE ADVANTAGES AS WELL. CELEBRATE THOSE, ENCOURAGE THEM, AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY with her.