Pitching Conditioning: Great Workouts For Baseball Pitchers

By Steven Ellis, former pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization

 

I have to start this section by telling all those who have dedicated their time to helping or coaching a Little League team, ‘thank you’. It takes a lot of dedication to rake those fields, be there for practices and pick up all those stray bats and helmets. And we would all be taken off the roster if we didn’t acknowledge all those Little League moms! Thanks, mom.

I would have never had a career in professional baseball were it not for all my Little League coaches who gave their time, patience and encouragement to me. Little League, Pony League, Cal Ripken Baseball, American Legion et.al is the foundation of baseball. This is where a passion for the game begins and where a lifetime of memories begin to take root.

Youth baseball leagues teach not only the game of baseball but also valuable lessons in character that will serve them throughout their lives. Little League coaches have a great opportunity to teach their young players the values of winning and losing, sportsmanship and the importance of being a good teammate. If a Little League coach can teach and model these traits then, I feel, he has done an excellent job.

I love coaching but it is just as gratifying to get the opportunity to instruct and speak to kids at camps and clinics. It’s a chance to pass on to a younger generation my love of a great sport – baseball.

Coaching at any level offers an excellent opportunity for passing down the lessons and wisdom from a previous generation and our own experiences. I don’t care how old they are, kids need and want some direction. Baseball teaches enduring lessons about how to excel both on and off the field.

FAQ’s

I Hear Ya’ But What About...

Most all of the questions I receive tend to fall into two categories

* What do you recommend as the best baseball practice drills?
* How can I get my player to do...

....”How do I teach Jr. to throw a proper curveball?” or “How do I get Jr. to hit with more power?” All good questions but, not ones that can be answered honestly unless I saw the kid in action. Asked another way, “How do I fix this kid’s mechanics?”

Good questions but, most of the time, even at the professional level, the simple answer will do just fine.

My first year as a manager I was fortunate to have New York Yankees legend, Cy Young award winner and two-time World Series champ Ron Guidry, as my pitching coach. Talk about a guy who’s ‘been there, done that’.

One day we were down in the bullpen watching one of my young pitchers. Everything he threw was outside the strike zone and mostly high. In my best, authoritative professional jargon I asked Guidry, “How do you teach him to command the lower half of the zone?” Guidry gave me a knowing smile and said to the kid, “Hey, aim lower” – problem solved.

The lesson I learned that day was, baseball is a game of common sense and most often the best answer is to keep it simple. Throwing the ball too high? Aim low.

I was told later that this was the advice Thurman Munson gave him when he first got to the big leagues. Solid, don't you think? Hall of Fame advice from one generation passed down to the next - just one of the things that makes baseball such a great game.

These coaching questions, or fix-it questions are always motivated by good intentions and I recognize that all Little League coaches only want the best for their kids. However, for the little guys (ages 7-12), most mechanical corrections or adjustments are ill advised unless they can be supervised over the course of a season by an instructor who has proven that he knows what he is talking about.

Truthfully, much of the best advice you can give your Little League players is often common sense. Step toward your target when you throw, use two hands, anticipate the ball being hit to you…don’t wear your cup on the outside of your pants.

When your players are that young they will better served if they can learn just a few of the basic fundamentals every year. Trust me when I say, teaching your players the essential foundations of the game, is what great coaching is all about.

If they show a knack for the game and a desire to learn, they will be more receptive to and better able to implement some of the more advanced teaching they can get in their teen years. From personal experience, I can tell you that the most important thing I learned from all of my Little League coaches was a love for the game.

For some reason, many coaches feel like this either irrelevant or already a given. The single biggest mistake that all amateur coaches make, from colleges on down to Little League, is that they don’t value this enough. Teach them to love the game of baseball - first. Teach them respect for the game and how it should be played.

Baseball is unquestionably the most difficult sport, and the nature of the game is such that you’re going to fail - a lot. Fail 7 out of 10 times as a hitter, and you’re a great hitter. You can’t expect players to make such a large investment of time and ability in getting better if they don’t love the game first.

I think that amateur coaches make a huge mistake in thinking that real coachin is trying to fix a player’s mechanical flaw – whatever that might be. More often than you think, that flaw, is what allows that player to have success. Teach those kids the rules of the game, the strategies of the game, a respect for the game – and let the experts do the fine tuning if they are fortunate enough to sign with a Major League organization.

Listen to any coach in professional baseball (or any established veteran player) and they will all tell you that the single most important thing is: to learn how to play the game of baseball the right way. The best compliment any player can receive is, “he knows how to play the game.”

Run hard and always look to take the extra base. Know what to do if the ball is hit to you. Don’t embarrass your teammates on the field (off the field isn’t a great idea either).

Many amateur coaches, and unfortunately I see this the most in Div. I college baseball, think that having 32 different drills for batting practice or 81 different signs with floating indicators, that taking infield is more important than how you play the game…is what baseball is all about.

News Flash It ain’t. Baseball is about taking your hacks when step up to the plate, diving for balls in the field and sliding into home plate with the winning run. This is what makes baseball fun, that competition between you and the pitcher – your team v. their team. Strap it on, get dirty and hit’em where they ain’t

I know one Div 1 college baseball coach who has his pitchers practice, during their bullpens, getting a new ball from the umpire!

“When you were a kid, and your parents rocked you to sleep at night, how big were the rocks?”

Ultimately, I believe it is far more valuable to teach these kids about the game itself. One great way to do this is to teach them all how to keep score. What’s a hit? What’s an error? What’s the rule on that play?.... What’s an inning? Everything is boring or will seem tedious if you don’t understand it properly.

In the Minor Leagues, pitchers have to keep game charts for the same reason. It teaches them strategy and it gives them a better understanding of what things go into winning and losing a ball game. The more you understand, the more appreciation you will have for setting a goal and achieving it.

If you really want to be a successful Little League coach create an environment where everybody on your team has some fun. Create an environment where when they win, they have a real sense of accomplishment. When they lose, it’s not the end of the world but instead they look forward to improving.

And, win or lose, you do it as a team. Trust me, even if you are the coach of the ‘Yankees’, you’re not Joe Torre. So, pat your kids on the back when they do well, encourage them when they struggle, be the example of sportsmanship….and always have an end of the season BBQ