I was going to post this in the pitching thread but think it has more relevance in the pre-HS section so I am posting it here.

My son had a huge breakthrough this week that I thought I would share for the benefit of others with young, tall, developing pitchers – or for that matter all young pitchers. For background he is now 15, and a hair over 6’3”, 170lbs and has always had a long slender frame. Because of this he has never really been able to get out over his front leg properly as his legs could never support him correctly in landing. He has had good pitching instruction and I have had two different coaches tell me not to worry about it saying that when his body filled in with his frame he would get the necessary muscle mass for landing support. That said - it has been bugging me for several years as he has always been a little stiff on landing has never really come through the ball properly.

We shut him down in late July and he started on a 12 week strength training program, with focus on his core and leg strength. He threw his first bullpen this week and the results were amazing. He is striding out, landing properly, and finishing through the ball like he never has before. His velocity is up significantly (visual - we will gun him later) and he had a nice downward plane on the ball. His coach just stood there looked at him not saying a word for about 8 fastballs and then just said “wow that was nice”

I guess the moral of the story is to have patience and realize that it takes time for kid’s to develop and not get too overzealous and push them beyond what their body can handle. We waited on the weight training until puberty, we have managed his pitch counts, and we did not push him to soon into travel ball. Set your sights out beyond a game, season, or a year and be patient (trust me this is really hard) if you keep at it your son will be rewarded.

From what you have said it sounds like he is getting good advice and coaching. Nice to see he is striving to get out over the front leg. That why you do the leg work.

It is all about learning how to adjust to the body as it grows and how to use it---just watch as the body matures

Thanks BOF for posting this here. My son just turned 13 and has grown 2 inches in the last 8 weeks. He is now 5'8 1/2" tall and weighs 125lbs. They expect him to be 6'4". He's struggling with his pitching mechanics where he never has before - his daddy calls him "Condor" because of the flailing arms and legs. The Condor is frustrated because his pitching is wild, but all of his coaches are very patient and understand that his body is changing faster than he can keep up. Everyone's just waiting for the growing to slow down, but so far it hasn't. While patience is difficult, your post is encouraging that someday with a lot of work and training things will come together. We constantly remind our son that "this is a marathon, not a sprint." :-) Thanks again for the encouraging messasge!

Good luck to your son!

My son has this same body type. Good advice thus far. Patience is the key. Mother nature is in control. He grew seven inches in a year and not only was a flailing Condor, but his body hurt!
Core training is the best advice, also if you have access to lap swimming, it is a good way to lengthen those muscles with low impact.

I called my son the Big Linguini. He also grew 6 inches in 1 year to 6' at 13 and very skinny. He has just put weight on in his last couple years relative to his 6'$ height. Now 191
Patience is the key and still looks super skinny.He never had any pain but felt off a bit when he had a growth spurt.
A teammate of his was 6'4 at 13 but heavier and he was always in pain and could hardly walk for almost a year. He also had a lot of arm pain. Eventually everything got better and the pain went away. You should be a bit careful not to force things and injur yourself before your body develops enough to with stand the rigors of throwing a BB.

My daughter grew fourteen inches in eighteen months from 4'6" to 5'8". She weighed 115 when she hit 5'8".She finished at 5'10". Watching her come out of the batter's box was hysterical. It was like watching a new born calf trying to find it's feet. I sent her to speed and agility camp in the summer. She loved the speed part so much she quit basketball for track.

My son grew seven inches in eight months this past year from 5'4" to 5'11". The pediatrician predicts at least 6'2". He weighed 135 when he hit 5'11". He had a challenging time last fall with baseball. His mechanics were off. The fast growth screwed up his footwork. Then there were those long arms that appeared. He has the wingspan of a normal 6'1" person. I tell him to keep his knuckles off the ground. He got the coordination back through playing two other sports and the high school baseball program's preseason agility training.

Ah... My 14 yo is in the middle of this now. Ran great in spring track, grew a few inches and now can hardly run because of pain in his upper legs. He's 5'11 140lbs and a wingspan of 6'4 1/2", He's always been skinny but suddenly looks very awkward and runs with a painful gait. It hurts to watch him. I'm wondering if he'll be ok for spring baseball...

I am reading this thread with a smile (much needed), this is so normal.
Mine had his big growing end of his freshman year, by his sophmore season he was so gawky and uncooridinated he couldn't run. The fastest on the team was now the slowest. When he ran down to first he ran with arms and legs out of control, it WAS sad. It was then that he realized why they decided to make him a pitcher only. By his senior year, he was back to normal and they let him hit and run again.
My son is just shy of 6'4" and still growing at 23 (he grew a half inch this year), it hasn't stopped yet.

We are on the front end of this as well. Son is 13, 5'9", 125 pounds with size 14 shoes!

He is starting to grow into those feet, complaining of soreness in his knees and arms.

It is so awkward to run with those big ol' feet...

But, I am not complaining... those online calculator things have him pegged at about 6'5" - 6'6"...

My baby brother is about 6'8"... Now if he were only left handed...

quote:

Originally posted by BaseballMom10:
My baby brother is about 6'8"...

That is too funny 6'8" "baby brother"

Sometimes so much is expected from kids who have size, but they just have too many moving parts to control. It has been hard to figure out when to push him up and when to keep him back and let him develop into his body. What we found worked was to let him play up during the summer and then in the regular season play near his age level. The balance is critical because they need to develop confidence but at the same time be challenged.

In his incoming Freshmen year in summer ball they played him up with the Varsity team and he was disapointed when they did not move him up during his Freshman year, but it turned out to be the best thing for him. It has given him time to fill in and he had great success, built his confidence and he has become friends with all of the kids in the program.

I can't say much as far as a pitcher goes, but my son has been a catcher and 1st baseman so far. Now as a freshman at 14 almost 15 he is 6'5 240 and is playing football for the first time ever. He may be growing his way out of baseball.

Wow..I am thankful to hear all of this. My poor son is 13 and 165lb. with size 13 shoe. 12u was great, made a travel team at 13U and grew 8 inches. It was so hard to watch and he was so upset with his hitting, pitching, and fielding. He, as well as others expected so much from him that the stress of not being the player he was crippled his head game. He is now on a new 14u team and everything is coming back slowly working very hard 6 days a week.His pitching/throwing still needs help. He is throwing pies. Being a big kid everyone is looking at you and there is SO much expectations. They may look like men, but they are still children.