To all my Little League coaches, [censored] you

[kyleb]

Over the weekend I played a bunch of right field since my arm is pretty good (and there's the fact that my team drafted some kid who is the Ozzie Smith of the amateur leagues to play second base), and while throwing to get warm I noticed that I was throwing from a three-quarters angle pretty naturally. I had experimented with throwing from a lower arm angle to protect my shoulder (subluxation of the arm - when the elbow is higher than the shoulder - is dangerous; think Anthony Reyes for the best modern-day comparable) and didn't have great results, so I continued to throw over the top like my Little League and high school coaches drilled into my mind.

Today I threw long toss and threw about 70 pitches from a mound to my workout partner, trying to stay loose and throw from that same three-quarter arm angle as I did over the weekend. The difference was immediately noticeable - my control was a lot better, and though the mechanics were raw, the velocity was great. After some trial and error, I realized that I could easily throw a slider, split-change, and gyroball from this arm angle, all accurately and with good results. Obviously it's a bit early to be trumpeting the fanfare, but I'm pumped to show this to my pitching instructor.

So, to all my Little League coaches (and all coaches out there, actually) who demanded that I throw over the top, I say [censored] you. Attempting to change someone's genetic arm path is crap.

I'll take video ASAP. I have a feeling that my mechanics look a lot smoother despite being raw.

[mrclean368]

I read something about Roy Halladay a couple of years ago, he was at the beginning of his MLB career and he started coming more over the top and lost movement on his pitches got shelled, they sent him back to the minors, then he worked on more of a 3/4 type of delivery and gained movement and made it back to the show.

From my experience (MSBL), and I would much rather face an over the top guy as opposed to the 3/4 guy. The 3/4 guy has more late movement on pitches, also the ball comes in at a angle (especially a righty pitcher on the right side of the rubber), plus its harder to pick up the ball out of his hand. The over the top guy is more like the pitching machine (less movement, no angle), but their curveball is sometimes more difficult to pick up.

Liked your batting tee thread, was thinking of doing the same thing. I started doing more tee work lately and had good results.

[JSim1020]

Idk how needed a split change or gyroball is. As I'm sure you know, sliders are absolutely terrible for your arm (if you throw it correctly- and no it's not a curve from a 3/4 angle).

How do you throw your slider?
Because, while I never adopted the strategy, the fastball/change repetoire will most likely be good enough.

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
From my experience (MSBL), and I would much rather face an over the top guy as opposed to the 3/4 guy. The 3/4 guy has more late movement on pitches, also the ball comes in at a angle (especially a righty pitcher on the right side of the rubber), plus its harder to pick up the ball out of his hand. The over the top guy is more like the pitching machine (less movement, no angle), but their curveball is sometimes more difficult to pick up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a RH hitter, and I'd rather face LHP who throw from a 3/4 arm angle since you'll see the ball longer, but I'd rather face RHP who throw over the top. The exception is really tall pitchers (6'3"+) who throw over the top - they are often throwing significantly downhill and it'll be tough to hit line drives off of them.

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
Idk how needed a split change or gyroball is. As I'm sure you know, sliders are absolutely terrible for your arm (if you throw it correctly- and no it's not a curve from a 3/4 angle).

How do you throw your slider?
Because, while I never adopted the strategy, the fastball/change repetoire will most likely be good enough.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sliders are not terrible for your arm - every pitch, when thrown correctly, produces no more significant stress on the arm than the fastball. The slight exceptions are cutters, splitters, and changeups (CU is "better" for the arm), but even then it's not that big of a difference. Tom House and Glenn Fleisig have done biomechanical analysis that pretty much proves it.

That being said, you make a very good point - the changeup is usually the best pitch to develop. I really stress that for my Little League and high school kids, because almost every pro pitcher wishes they developed a changeup and every pro batter says they have a gameplan for every pitch except the changeup. Breaking balls are really overrated.

When I said I could throw those pitches from that arm angle, I didn't necessarily mean I would in the games. I'll probably rely heavily on my fastball/changeup combination and mix in a slider the second time through the lineup.

[Your Mom]

I naturally throw 3/4 so that's what I always stayed with. My main coach was my dad who liked it since it made my pitches sink naturally. I developed a really good slider throwing this way. Frequently, I would drop down even further throwing the slider and it would pretty much make the ball go completely sideways without a whole lot of drop to it. Unfortunately, God didn't bless me with the ability to throw very hard. At basically every level I played, I was one of the slowest pitchers in the league.

Only downside to throwing 3/4 in the outfield is that your throws will run away from your target some. This can be easily accounted for. Soriano is a perfect example of effectively using the 3/4 approach from the outfield.

[JSim1020]

Sliders put a lot more torque on your elbow and its ligaments then a more natural pitch like a fastball. The fact that you are basically spinning the ball in the same basic rotation as turning a door knob. You are right; obviously if it's thrown correctly it shouldn't cause any injuries. However, I know that every pitch that I have ever thrown isn't correct.