Teaching a young ballplayer to pitch (warning LONG)...

Whew... what was that about "Don't throw (no pun intended) it at them all at once." ... ;^) MEN to THAT!

A lot depends on how much time you have to work with a pitcher. With my own sons I have a lot of time and we work on a lot of issues and continue to work for a long time.

With a "rec" team (especially 7-8-9 yos) Quite often most of the practice time goes to the simple fundamentals, like regular throwing and catching a ball.

I find it rather difficult to teach pitching to a group (especially at that age)... while I'll attempt it a couple times pre-season and a couple more during the season... I 'll select 5-6 kids which I'll schedule one -on-one sessions with him and a parent... (Parent has to learn what I'm teacing so they can work with child during the week without me!) I usually don't have time to do more that 3 or 4 sessions (if that many) (over a typical season) with any one pitcher. So there are a lot of basic issues you have to introduce and then hope they can expand on it.

Selection of kids: ATTITUDE is my primary trait it look for. A willingness to listen and ability to apply what they hear! Theoretically you want to give every kid a chance, but the reality is you will end up working with the kids that show progress and "WANTS" to work to get better..

I only teach the "Strectch" position until they have mastered it... (may take a year or two). I begin with positioning in respect to the rubber and plate, go to leg lift and balance, then arm break and positioning (I like term "up and out") and then extension and follow through. Now, I will not use all those terms with a first year kid but I will concentrate on "BALANCE" and what you call "direction" (delivering the ball straight to the target.) If I can accomplish this with 3-4 kids in the first season I'm a happy coach!

I teach the both 4 seam and 2 seam grips but don't worry too much at the early ages becasue most have a hard time holding the ball with less than a 3 fingered grip... and a lot of kids seem to hold the 2 seam grip easier than a 4-seam. From there I just strive on throwing strikes and I'll make adjustments as needed individually.

Now with my own sons... there is a different story because we usually work at least twice a week for a large part of the year. I didn't start with my oldest son until he was 8 (primarily becasue our LL didn't allow pitching until kids were 9) and my youngest at 7 (becasue he couldn't wait to be like his big brother).

We work all the ABOVE plus... We talk about situations, we start working LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, constantly working minute details of mechanics.

Each pitcher has unique mechanics, but I strive to teach the basic set (you've described a lot above) but I'm NOT stuck on absolutes. If a kids is having success and his mechanics are in a form that (I think) will not injure him, I will refine slowly. Finally, after they have mastered a decent pitching style I start working the MIND!

Thinking like a pitcher... Thinking like you Control the whole game!, You own the Plate... You dictate what the hitter sees... As the pitcher gets older this aspect becomes more and more important.

So, the only improvements I may offer you is...REMEMBER #2... Do Not to Overwelm young pitchers (and their parents unless they bleed baseball) with ALL the mechanics (mentioned above) in their first year (unless you have many, many sesions with them), and then don't forget to get the kids to start thinking like pitchers!