Why Most High School Pitchers Will Never Pitch In College

by Dick Mills on June 08, 2009

Unfortunately most high school pitchers will not pitch at the college level...just like most Little League pitchers will not pitch at the high school level.  And the reason is simple.  Most lack the necessary skills.

There are approximately 134,400 high school senior baseball players in this country but there are only about 8200 freshman spots available in all of college baseball.  So the deck is stacked against most high school pitchers playing at the college level.

The question is how does a pitcher improve his chances of being one of the very few or 6% who end up pitching at the college level. They must be smarter than the next high school pitcher.

Pitchers today are wasting as much as 50% or more of their time practicing activities that do not improve their pitching performance - activities such as long toss, towel drills, flat ground pitching or throwing at less than game intensity during bullpens. Or wasting a lot of time in the weight room believing that extra strength is going to improve pitching velocity.  The research does not support those activities as being valuable.

None of those activities works to improve a pitchers chance of pitching at the college level.

What does? 

Pitchers as well as coaches and parents must first understand that pitching is a highly skilled activity. It is not a strength activity.  Since the foundation of pitching is having quality mechanics, then constantly working to improve and refine mechanics should be the key to overall better performance.

It has been proven that long toss or weight training or weighted balls will not improve pitching velocity. Only improving mechanics will allow a pitcher to use his body more efficiently so that the body's forces are transferred to the ball. That is how velocity is improved.

However, refining mechanics requires a basic knowledge of mechanics and especially common mechanical faults. These faults are very obvious even to parents once they learn them and are easily observed using a common camcorder. 

Once mechanics are improved then control is simply a matter of target practice while mentally focusing on making the mechanical adjustments that will cause the ball to change locations.  This requires that many more pitches are thrown during bullpens than is commonly thought by most coaches. Pitches today simply do not pitch enough from the mound.

Because many coaches today believe that getting bigger and stronger is the key to more velocity high school and college pitchers are actually functionally weak and non-flexible for pitching. Pitchers need full-body explosive conditioning exercises that also produce functional flexibility.  When pitchers are functionally strong and flexible they are able to use that to help support their improved mechanics.

Two Things Every High School Pitcher Needs Annually

There are actually two things every high school pitcher needs on an annual basis if they expect to maximize their performance and pitch at the college level.  An annual functional strength and flexibility assessment as well as a video analysis of their mechanics by an expert pitching instructor.

With only a bit more than 6% of high school players being able to pitch at the college level...high school pitchers cannot waste time on practice activities that do not work. Without understanding common mechanical faults and learning how to videotape and improve pitching mechanics...high school pitchers will continue to struggle to play at the college level.