I don’t work with a lot of very young pitchers these days.
In fact, I think TOO much coaching “mechanics” at a young age can actually throw a pitcher’s development right off the rails…
But the other day I got a chance to do some work with a 10 year old pitcher (FUN and refreshing).
And this kid has a very cool setup at home.
Up in his “attic” they’ve got a long room with a gym setup…
So at one end of the room there’s an area for weights along with a big full length mirror.
Then on the other side of the room he’s got a pitching target and a bucket of baseballs.
My first piece of advice to this kid…
“Those two things will be the BEST pitching coaches you’ll ever have.”
And I meant it.
It’s something I do at the facility with guys all the time.
- Hop in front of the mirror
- Work on your motion
- Get a good sense of how you’re moving
- Then out to the turf to start connecting that feel with hitting a target
Now I also don’t do a ton of video work with young pitchers. Doing HEAVY motion analysis for a kid just learning the basics of the pitching motion… not recommended.
(I go over all this stuff, along with the HOW, WHY and WHEN of video work, in my upcoming program, The Motion Mapping Method – currently closed, but you can go here to get on the waiting list)
But… that doesn’t mean I’ll NEVER use video with a young pitcher.
See, from 10 to 14 years, you’ve got this prime window of adaption for young athletes to develop good movement patterns.
If you just turn him loose without any guidance, you can bet he’s gonna develop some bad habits…
And those habits are going to get SERIOUSLY ingrained.
Case in point…
This same 10 year old pitcher was working on things in front of the mirror… And it was clear right away that he was dropping his glove-arm WAY early…
I pointed it out. Made him feel it… Let him SEE it in the mirror.
And he could get to the “position” no problem.
But… When he went back to his full pitching motion, that glove arm totally dropped again.
So here’s what we did.
I got out my phone and took a quick video of him performing his motion.
Then I loaded it into a mobile app and showed it to him.
I let HIM actually take control of it… slow things down, forward and back.
You could see a whole new level of engagement (the magic of video).
“Oh, I totally see it now.”
Then he got back up in front of the mirror, and Lo ‘n Behold…
That glove arm timing was a thousand times better.
And with each rep things got smoother and smoother… And he was ready to grab the bucket of balls, head over to the target and get to work.
So NO… I don’t do a lot of HEAVY motion analysis for very young pitchers.
But video can still be a VERY powerful tool.
Because now he knows what what to work on…
And that mirror and target become what they should be.
The two best pitching coaches he could ask for.
That’s all for now.
Committed to Your Pitching Success,
Coach Phil
PS – Nipping bad habits in the bud is easy when you know what to look for. It’s what the videos in the Flaws & Fixes section of the Ballistic Pitching Blueprint are all about. So you can identify red flags early and know exactly which drills to use to make the needed adjustments.