Outlined below are some points that I’ve recommended and implemented over the years to parents with a high school baseball player or younger. This blog is meant to serve as a template to any parent looking to make their kid better but may not know the path forward. Here are 5 simple and basic tips all parents should embrace.
1. Don’t Pay For Lessons
I’ve outlined the reasons lessons are useless in a previous blog, so I won’t spend a ton of time on this subject. Simply put, the vast majority of pitching lessons are a scam and a waste of money. Paying for lessons 1-2 times a week will not make your kid better. Let’s take math as an example, if you practiced algebra once a week for an hour, would you get better? Maybe a little. However, if you truly wanted to become an elite mathematician, you’d contribute something towards that goal almost every day, right? You’re either getting better or worse and at the end of the day and most lessons will just make your kid worse due to your pitching coach giving your kid external queues for 30-60 minutes straight.
2. Throw As Hard As Possible To A Target
“Just throw strikes!” or “Just make contact” won’t get your kid to the highest level they aspire to play at. How many 82 mph elite strike throwers are there in professional baseball? EvenGreg Maddux had a 90+ MPH fastball when he entered the league. Only later in his career did we see his fastball velocity decrease after a career 5,000+ innings pitched. Each athlete also has a window of opportunity to develop and maximize their motor skills and if we are constantly training our athletes to move slow, we, as parents or coaches, will produce slow twitched athletes.
3. Lift Weights
The fallacy of “lifting is bad for youth athletes” couldn’t be more inaccurate. There is associated risk with everything that we do including eating breakfast, our morning commute, or even sitting and typing on a laptop. My favorite quote regarding strength training is, “If it doesn’t break it’s getting stronger.” The rewards of strength training far outweigh the risks especially with a complete and sound strength program. When athletes take up lifting at a young age, they have an opportunity to set their strength foundation to last them throughout their college years and even lifetime. It is much easier to fine tune the engine later than it is to rebuild during crunch time.
4. Leave Your Win Now Mentality At Home
Youth athletes should not be subject to sacrificing their development just for a meaningless trophy at a tournament in BFE. I want you to think about all of the parents and coaches who would do ANYTHING to win a youth game, pitching kids 300pitches in a weekend and having them throw curveballs at 10 years old are two examples that come to mind. Where did their kids play in college? My point exactly. Now please do not confuse the win now mentality with competing. Those are two totally different categories as we need to ensure our athletes know the importance of competition and how to compete. Winning is a good thing, but not at the risk and sacrifice of a 13-year old’s health and development.
5. Encourage Your Kid To Be As Athletic As Possible
Why can your kid run in the opposite direction throw off the wrong foot in hot box and hit their target directly in the chest but when you have them step on the mound, they can barely throw strikes? Because you’re over coaching them and suffocating their athletic ability. When I used to umpire little league baseball games time and time again the coach would pitch their best athlete. Typically, this kid played shortstop and had a beautiful clean arm action across the diamond. However, when he stepped onto the mound it was like somebody hit him with the Men In Black memory eraser and he completely forgot how to throw a baseball. Each athlete is going to move and throw somewhat different. Embrace it! Stop trying to mold your athletes into one mold and embrace their athleticism. As a pitcher their goal should be to:
1. Throw Hard
2. Throw Strikes
3. Get Kids Out
4. Throw Without Pain
Everything else is just noise and once you accept that, you can begin to focus your energy elsewhere and truly see progress.
Overall, these games and experiences are extremely enjoyable for them. Baseball will give them so many teachable moments to learn from and work through. Embrace their journey and give them the tools and resources needed to achieve their full potential. For better guidance contact Training@Connected-Performance.com