Are Baseball Pitching Clinics A Good Investment? You Decide.

Are baseball pitching clinics a good investment to help your son improve his pitching mechanics…or his overall pitching knowledge? Not according to one of our clients who recently attended a college pitching clinic.

I am sure that there are some very good college pitching clinics out there. And some well qualified pitching coaches. But I think most parents and high school pitchers would be surprised how few there really are.

Here is post from one of my private discussion forums (customers only) about why baseball pitching clinics can be a very poor investment. And believe me I hear of this stuff all the time about baseball pitching schools or private pitching instructors.

I X’s out the school in order to protect their privacy.

Dick, went to another coach’s clinic in XXXXXXX and the college pitching coaches were horrible. They said they want early hand break…at the chest. ( I thought the belly button) when I asked why they said if you break the hands at the belly button it will cause the arm to drag.

Also said that a higher leg kick will improve velocity. If you want to throw the ball inside or outside don’t land on the midline. Change your landing position and that will help you with inside and outside location. I didn’t understand that at all.

He also said that Nolan Ryan used the towel drill all the time. Is that true? He likes for the pitcher to have no hand movement with the hands to keep them still. I am teaching my pitchers to have some type of movement with the hands to create rhythm.

One more thing on Nolan Ryan they said he never throw off the mound in between starts due to throwing off a mound in between starts would cause to much arm stress. Threw all flat ground. I thought that the more a pitcher throws off a mound with good mechanics the better he will be. How can these guys get these jobs if they are teaching this kind of pitching stuff.

Joe, The problem is that these pitching coaches talk to other pitching coaches or go to national conventions where they listen to pitching coaches who don’t understand the biomechanics of pitching. And then they listen to stories about major league pitchers (who are one in a million) and want you to believe that if you follow that major league pitchers routine you too will be a one in a million pitcher. The problem is that applying the routine of another successful pitcher will not help you become a better pitcher because everyone is totally different.

Using Nolan Ryan as an example may be a good story but will it help anyone? How many pitchers since Nolan Ryan or during his career had a delivery just like Nolan Ryan? None! How many major league pitchers pitched until they were 46 and pitched for 27 years? Not many that I know of.

I have no idea whether Nolan Ryan did use a towel or not but it doesn’t matter because even if he did…which if he did it was late in his career but I seriously doubt it…but if so the towel had nothing at all to do with his success any more than it does Mark Prior’s success or any more than throwing a football will…which Nolan Ryan apparently did as well as Roger Clemens. .

Keep in mind…telling stories about what the greats did or what major league pitchers do will not help another pitcher improve because these guys are a special breed…one in a million. They excell in spite of what they may do contrary to proper training techniques because they are good athletes who are masters at making compensations…which may also be contrary to good mechanics.

You must apply proper mechanics rather than try to copy what another pitcher does…even the greats. Copying another pitcher is the absolute worst way to try to improve unless your body and brain are exactly like that pitcher…which of course is impossible.

As for throwing inside and outside you will find that the landing position will not change very much…might only be an inch or so. If you want to throw away you drive the front hip and your head at where you want to throw. It’s a mind/body thing.

My feeling is that pitching problems of command and injury are the result of not throwing from a mound more often at game speed intensity. I doubt that Nolan Ryan threw on flat ground in the early part of his career but may have thrown on flat ground later in his career after he already had developed outstanding mechanics but throwing on flat ground did not make him a better pitcher and those high school or college pitchers who follow that advice will doom their pitching development.

Nolan Ryan was known for his good mechanics with an exceptionally long stride with good timing and that may be what kept him around so long…plus having good genes and staying in condition…especially late in his career.

By the way, that pitching coach should watch Nolan Ryan and he would find out that he does not break his hands until he is well into his stride. In fact, he is nearly 50% to landing before he breaks his hands. So much for recommending early hand break which is foolish because it is the speed of the lower body moving off the back leg which will speed up the arms and thus eliminate the idea of the arm dragging.

You want a later hand break…not an early one. Early is an indication of poor overall body timing. I have spoken of a high leg lift producing more potential velocity because the pitcher is developing more forces going downhill toward landing…of course as long as he is shifting his weight early and moving off that back leg with power.

Yes, moving the hands rather than keeping them stationary will help with rhythm and tempo. I don’t like hands that are stationary…although many pitchers have success with it.

Yes, pitching instruction out there at the pitching clinics or baseball schools or from private pitching instructors doesn’t seem to be getting much better. And they probably won’t for sometime until these pitching coaches study biomechanics rather than listening to the beliefs of other pitching coaches.

So what are parents and aspiring pitchers to do? They had better learn what good pitching mechanics and proper training techniques are all about before they put their trust in a pitching clinic, a baseball school or a private instructor. And well before they think that good pitching instruction is what they are assured of at every high school or top college baseball program.

Dick Mills

If you have questions about this blog post or on any phase of pitching—mechanics, strength and conditioning, mental training, strategy send those questions to dickmills@gmail.com and I will answer them here.

If you want an explosive body and explosive mechanics you need to get my Free Report at www.pitching.nexcess.net. We won’t waste your time. We show you how to recognize exactly what is holding back most pitchers…find the problem—fix the problem. I show you a comparison between two high school pitchers and a major league pitcher who throws mid to upper nineties. You will see the biggest problem that reduces velocity in the majority of pitchers.

(If you are a high school or college coach, ask for our special Free Coach’s Report.)