My youngest loves soccer, and also plays baseball. I took him to a baseball camp this weekend, more for the fun of it than anything, but also to work on his hitting. He decided to work with the pitching group. They had a speed gun, I thought mainly for the fun of it for the kids, but my kid launched an 83 mph pitch, supposedly. By chance it was a strike. This year in little league, he is 12, he cracked a helmet with a beanball. I told the coach to pull him before he killed someone. I thought at the time it was just an old helmet. The guys running the camp went nuts with a 12 year old throwing that hard. I told them to get their gun checked and calibrated. Anyone knowledgeable in baseball have some input as to whether I should be an obnoxious sport parent and go whole hog into baseball? I knew he had a good arm as he has played 3rd base through the age groups and could throw out the kids 2 years older, but again, accuracy was a problem at times. The guys at this camp were trying to tell me about national camps that cost stupid money, but get him exposure. I don't buy it, but if someone knows if this stuff is worthwhile I'd appreciate the input. No this isn't the only place I am asking, but as good as any I suspect. I also am inquiring locally. Thanks
At 12 there is a good chance of hurting his shoulder/elbows from throwing that hard. If he is going to continue, have him start doing rehabilitative exercises for his elbows and shoulders so he doesn't blow his elbow out. As far as camps go, unless you think his form needs a lot of work I wouldn't pay anything ridiculous. At 12 you DO NOT want him throwing much faster lol. Just try getting him on a traveling team or something so he can play with kids more on his level and the coaches might be able to train him better also.
Oh and dont forget accuracy comes first! Don't let anyone try to get him throwing faster until he can throw a strike pretty consistently. Talk to local colleges and they will work with him I'm sure or they might have camps that aren't expensive.
Was this on a 46 ft little league distance ? Starting at 13 and up the distance will move to 60 ft. For under $20 you can buy a radar baseball and go measure out either 46 ' or 60' 6 " and see what he is throwing.
I need to check the distance. I forgot about that. It was off a mound which we didn't have last year at his age group. The injury stuff is what I was worried about too. My oldest gave me the phone number for his old high school coach and I going to check out what he knows. Good ideas, Thanks
1) Avoid throwing anything other than fastball pitches because he's more likely to injure himself throwing pitches that involve a different grip on the ball. :eek: :eek: 2) Treat the game like "little league" and not an MLB "combine".
1) Is an adolescent's hand big enough to get a proper "grip" on the ball? 2) To "push" the ball instead of "throwing" it with a finger-tip release stresses the hand and arm in a manner that a teenager is less prepared to deal with.
I am most worried about screwing up his arm. Does he have big hands, yea as big as his middle brother who is 6'2" and 5 years older. I gather from what I have seen if you are taught the correct way to throw other pitches your arm is pretty safe, and maybe safer than throwing a straight fastball as hard as you can. I was always told that curve balls were a danger for kids, but from what I read that is old story and not true. Waiting for a coach to call, and no I don't plan on spending money for fantasy crap. That is why I am looking into more info.