My 13 yr. old son just had his first season practice and the coach wants the boys to start throwing curve balls so that they have three pitces. My son doesn't want to mess up his arm and says he shouldn't be throwing curve balls yet. He has three pitches without it. It is not at all like my son to go against his coach or an adult in authority but he feels strongly about this. Who is right?

Your Son is.
He should not Throw a pitch he does not feel comfortable
with throwing. He could hurt his arm
I'm not a pitching Coach, so would not want to give any advice on what pitches he should throw.
But at 13, Fastball, Change-up, is all he need's.

As a parent just tell your son to tell the coach that my parent's won't let me throw a curve ball yet.
If the coach has any Question's he can come talk to you.

Thank you for your insight. My son is not a pitcher but would like to give it a try. He typically plays short stop, center and catcher. He has speed and a great arm for throwing long distances. I had a feeling he must be right about the CBs because he went to the wall on this one and I cannot remember the last time he did that but he takes BB really seriously. I will tell him to let the coach know his mom and dad wan't allow him to throw curves yet. Thank you!!!

Actually, if your son has reached puberty, 13 *** MIGHT *** not be that bad of an age to start learning a curve (if it's taught properly), according to at least a couple of sources I could quickly find. See the ASME web site at www.asmi.org and click on "USA Baseball Guidelines for Youth Baseball Pitchers". Also, several sports medicine specialists, including Dr. Joe Chandler of the Atlanta Braves, have done studies and research on this. See

http://www.cababaseball.com/CABA05/usabaseballinjury.html

I found it interesting that the average age at which provessional pitchers started throwing the curve was around age 14.8 - that tells me that those guys must have benefitted from spending plenty of time perfecting their fastball and change.

EDIT - I didn't originally pick up on the fact that your son hasn't pitched before. In that case I'd definitely suggest that he just work on his fastball mechanics first, then when he can consistently throw fastball strikes work on the changeup.

The fact that he has not been a pitcher is all the more reason to avoid it for now. He should go on the assumption that he will need to work on his pitching mechanics first and get his FB and CU together before attempting the curve. If his coach isn't a knucklehead he should realise this.

Is it possible he could be wrong ? That would make both of you wrong.

I think you should express your concerns but find out what the coach knows about CBs rather than taking a stand on something that is based in folk lure. A properly thrown CB will not hurt your son's arm any more than a FB.

I agree with Bobblehead on this one. A properly thrown CB will not hurt a boys arm. I coach 12yo's and have taught my pitchers how to throw CB's (not to be confused with sliders) and encourage them to use them very little. Since we call all of the game pitches anyway they rarely throw them, but they do know how.

I have one boy whose dad has taken the stand that his boy should not throw ANY CB's and I respect that and do not hold it against the boy. I understand that there is a lot of confusion about the difference between a CB and a slider and the effects on the elbow of the latter.

When we teach the boys the 12-6 CB, we explain the importance of not turning the wrist (door knob) in a slider motion. We also know that most boys will be throwing the CB off the field anyway and we want to be sure that they at least know how to throw it properly. JMO.

Bobble and Callaway have made good points, but Dad10 makes a better one IMO. Because the boy has not pitched yet, he should learn mechanics, then a fastball. Trying to throw 3 pitches with consistency may prove very difficult for a 13 yr old who has never pitched yet. If he was a pitcher earlier, and you can find out the coaches experience on teaching the curve, then there should be no harm in trying.

Thankyou Callaway ! Someone who understands the properway of throwind a CB at a younger age. The wrist should stay loose and not turn. Excellent explanation.
When you get older you start to turn the wrist and I call it a tomahawk motion. This causes the ball to break later and sharper and is more stressfull on the elbow area.
We were very fortunate to have this approach taught at 10yo to my son. At 19 still pitching injury free and even throws the 12-6 occasionally at D1 NCAA level.

I agree Coachr. That is why they should have a non confrontational talk with the coach and express their concerns and eveluate the coaches understanding of the CB and pitching in general. If the coach is knowlegeable then try to work on his pitching. If the coach is not then you should study and learn as much as you can. Lousy mechanics make all pitches potentially harmfull. There are great books out there to help you and possibly some pitching clinics. If you want to pitch take the steps to learn as much as you can from the (dare I say it) "EXPERTS"

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
Is it possible he could be wrong ? That would make both of you wrong.

I think you should express your concerns but find out what the coach knows about CBs rather than taking a stand on something that is based in folk lure. A properly thrown CB will not hurt your son's arm any more than a FB.

I was there. I just didn't know that my son would be opposed to it or that he was still too young according to some experts, coaches, etc. It never came up before and didn't pitch in his former league. I will look into it further.

quote:

Originally posted by Coachric:
Bobble and Callaway have made good points, but Dad10 makes a better one IMO. Because the boy has not pitched yet, he should learn mechanics, then a fastball. Trying to throw 3 pitches with consistency may prove very difficult for a 13 yr old who has never pitched yet. If he was a pitcher earlier, and you can find out the coaches experience on teaching the curve, then there should be no harm in trying.

Thank you. I will show my son your post and then have him suggest to his coach that once he gets down the mechanics and a fastball that he is open to learning how to pitch a curve ball.Sounds like a well thought out, reasonable plan. My son really likes his coach and so do I. I know he has the best interest of the kids at heart-that was never in doubt- and apparently there are a lot of different opinions out there regarding curve balls.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
I agree Coachr. That is why they should have a non confrontational talk with the coach and express their concerns and eveluate the coaches understanding of the CB and pitching in general. If the coach is knowlegeable then try to work on his pitching. If the coach is not then you should study and learn as much as you can. Lousy mechanics make all pitches potentially harmfull. There are great books out there to help you and possibly some pitching clinics. If you want to pitch take the steps to learn as much as you can from the (dare I say it) "EXPERTS"

Hee-hee, I had to laugh because I am the least confrontational person out there. I put my son's coaches and teachers on a pretty high pedestal since they are taking the time and effort to teach my son something I can't. I actually won an award last season for being the "Most Coachable Mom." It is the only athletic award I have ever won in my life. I was into the arts growing up. Thanks, Bobble.

Good luck to you and your son. Tell him to enjoy the learning experience and not to get upset if he gets knocked around a bit. The 1st time my son pitched he stunk so bad and swore he would never pitch again. That lasted for about 10 minutes.

quote:

Trying to throw 3 pitches with consistency may prove very difficult for a 13 yr old who has never pitched yet.

Believe me, it's difficult for any 13yo.!

How 'bout this. My 10 and U travel team faced a kid this weekend at a tourney up in atlanta that threw 80+ pitches with around 50 being hard curves. he will probably end up at 2nd base only in the near future.

Wow.... You just had your first practice and this Coach, in two hours, was able to determine how his pitching staff would operate? Did you guys even go to the bullpen and pitch? How in tarnations does he know if he even has a guy that can throw a curve, I mean a real curve not the 13 y/o spinner version. Maybe it's not to late to look for another team. This guy sounds like the kind of guy that will throw him 80-100 pitches per game. RUN....

UPDATE: As I mentioned before my 13 yr. old son didn't feel comfortable throwing true curve balls yet especially since he has not had the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of pitching. The coaches kids have traditionally been the pitchers. My son was excited about the opportunity presenting itself since he usually plays ss or cf. He also pinch runs as he is very fast....went state for track. Anyhow, the coach must have noticed that first practice that he wasn't happy with the idea of throwing curve balls and my son hasn't been given the opportunity to learn to pitch again. Johnnie_LeMster: You're right. Only two boys pitch and the kids are easily throwing 80 - 100 pitches per game. As for quitting, you'll never sell that concept to my son. He doesn't quit anything no matter how difficult or distasteful. I give him a lot of credit for that. THE GOOD NEWS: My son said his arm will be in great shape for football this Fall. He's the QB. Glad hes not sweating it.

The whole CB/age thing seems to be a "Just because you can, doesnt necessarily mean you should" kind of issue. My guy is 10 which is the age up here that kids first learn to pitch. I have every faith that our coach is more-than-qualified to coach pitchers. In spring work-out's he taught change-up's in addition to fastballs. Towards the end, he asked individually if players wanted to learn the curve. My son, who pitched underage last year and is big for his age (5'0" 140 pounds) declined. Most of the Pitchers that optioned to learn the curve, are really struggling to find the plate.

I have learned from a number of folks that "if taught correctly" the curve is a viable option as a pitch. BTW Bobblehead, you answered that last question in my PM quite well here.

In my son's case, I have found that the development of his mechanics has been a very gradual process. We typically take a lesson at a facility... work for a couple of weeks... take another lesson for refinement or modification of things that were learned wrong, etc. When he was first learning to pitch last spring, he slipped in and out of good mechanics three or four times before he had most of it down solid. We went to lots of lessons etc. at that time. Recently, we had an Evaluation/Refinements lesson with a guy who pitched for Greece in the last Olympics. It was time well spent in that we came away with some good refinements and strategies to work on for the next six months. He said that he really didnt have to use a curve ball until late teens.

Right now the objective for the summer of 2006 is to throw fastballs and changeups to different locations within the strike zone - developing a strategy. If he's having a tougher day or falling behind, he can go back to throwing it up the middle. Another objective is to become as good a defensive fielding pitcher as he can be.

Bobblehead: Why did you have your son throw curves at ten? I would assume it took a few months to get comfortable with throwing it. I would also guess that strategy, control, and game-experience would take quite a while too. Would you be an advocate of the earlier the better? Is 13 too late if you want to be playing Elite or doing Showcase ball at 15?

D