I’ve had a few practices with my new team, with fantastic help from parents. I’ve had almost a 1-1 ratio of coaches to players on the field at every practice and it means I can do a LOT on 1-1 mechanics. Instead of just saying LINE UP FOR Grounders and me hitting a ground ball to the player in line — I can have 12 parents roll a ball to a player. In the same time of getting one good rep if I’m lucky as the player at the front of time would be distracted by the kids in the back of the line — I’m getting 12 reps.
So I started working on throwing last week. I wanted them to do the following steps:
- STEP and AIM — step on a line to the target, aim their glove, make sure throwing elbow is above shoulder.
- SQUEEZE their lead glove so it stays firm.
- TURN THE BACK FOOT (so they get an idea for driving the hips) and
- Throw.
I did this for many throws — having the coaches say 1, have the kids do 1, have the coaches say 2, have the kids say and do the next step and you get the idea — all the way to 4. I did that for maybe 5-10 reps and then said go on out in the field and I’ll hit some ground balls and THINK ABOUT THE STEPS.
I saw almost immediate regression back to what they were used to.
So were the steps a waste of time?
I don’t think so.
I think their brains will keep thinking about those steps and when I do them again in another practice they’ll be more familiar. My theory is that if I do them for a few minutes at many practices, I’ll end up in a happier place than if I were to do a miserly drill of doing step by step for 30 minutes and then maybe step 1-2 followed by 3-4 and finally 1-4.
I believe that mechanics takes time and constantly correcting kids on a thing they’ve been doing for years is a way to take the fun out of baseball.
On the flip side, I believe mechanics is critical to good development.
The secret?
Go slow, do some mechanics for a few minutes, be very consistent in doing it, and then move on. Then see what happens next practice. So far I’m seeing tiny bits of improvement which makes me think the players are thinking about it.
It’s really interesting, but just remember, if they are 10, they have been throwing for 5 years and they may well have learned some really odd habits. Stepping way off line, short-arming the ball, dropping the throwing elbow before the throw.
The good news is that this throwing drill is really the precursor to good pitching, so if they get the hang of this they’ll be able to pitch. Maybe not right away, but I have seen it happen after a few weeks.
The message — be patient — do some mechanics but not all mechanics and don’t worry about it if nothing changes right away.
