Sports

Ah, the fastball, king of pitches. Its where every pitcher starts and it accounts for most of the pitches thrown in any game–from the little to the big leagues. Even though a straight-ahead fastball does involve a lot of spin and snapping of the wrist, it can still wreak havoc on a young arm or even an old arm if it is overused.

For little leaguers, it is important to stay on a pitch count. Major leaguers are often on a pitch count themselves so theres no reason for a young pitcher to not follow that model. People think of it as a pansys way out, but theres nothing soft about not wanting to damage your arm.

Parents be aware: its often your job to determine a pitch count. Kids and even coaches dont always know when to stop. Youve given your kid a bedtime, now you have to regulate his play time. It can be hard to get in a coachs face in the middle of a game, especially if the game is on the line–but if your child looks very tired, or has gone way past his normal count, you may just have to say something.

Fastball Pitch Counts
Pitch counts vary for each young pitcher, whether theyre throwing all breaking pitches (not likely) or fastball after fastball. Some things to look out for are cold weather, whether the pitcher warmed up enough, or if its early or late in the season. Usually 60 pitches is the norm, but a lot of factors can affect when a young player comes out of the game.

Pitching is about mental toughness. In fact, pitching might be equally about mental toughness as about what stuff youve got. The great pitchers are able to compensate when they know they dont have their A game. Pitching is all about adjustments. If you dont have the mental toughness, you might just collapse when you find that your breaking ball isnt breaking as much as it should.

If you do bring your A game, mental toughness is about never faltering. Some pitchers, like Rick Ankiel, have had problems with the mental side of the game and theyve suffered for it. You can learn all the grips, all the principles of rotation, all the best ways to plant your feet, but if you turn to jelly while on the pitchers mound, it doesnt matter how great your mechanics are.

Relief Pitching
Starting pitchers get all the glory, but for my money, relief pitchers are just as important. They have to be just as mentally tough as starting pitchers. Usually theyre coming in from the seventh inning on. These days, major league pitchers dont go more than seven. Its rare for a pitcher to pitch a complete game–maybe theyll have one or two a season.

Relief pitchers come in the late innings, a very tense time. Maybe theyll only pitch an inning, or even to just a batter or two, but every batter counts. If you dont have the stuff to be a starting pitcher, relief pitching is a valuable job. Coming into a game with the bases loaded and getting a key strikeout can be electric.

The curve ball is the first pitch you should learn after you perfect your fastball. Unless you can pitch the holy grail of pitches, the knuckle slider, I think a quality curveball will do. David Wells has my favorite curveball in the game. It looks like its going to be the level of the batters head and then suddenly it drops right into the heart of the plate. Strike one.

In little league, curve ball pitchers are much less frequent. So if you are able to throw a good curveball in little league, you are going to be a hot commodity. The two things that are most impressive in little league are those pitchers than can pitch over 60 miles per hour and those that can throw a decent curveball.

When to Throw a Curve Ball
Even if you dont perfect a curveball when youre young, at least youll have a head start when you head into your teen years. When youre a teenager, you will have more strength in your wrist, hands, and arms, which will make it much easier to throw a curve ball. In addition, youre going to be facing a lot better hitters in high school, so youd better have a breaking pitch.

Be careful not to pitch a curve before youre ready. The proverbial hanging curveball will come to bite you. Itll look like a beach ball to hitters. The whole point of a curve is to fool the hitter. Theyll think its a fastball and swing where a fastball should be. If the curve doesnt drop, the ball is going to be high, far, and gone.