9u pitchers pitches?

[glen]

if he wants to pitch later in life - college maybe- my best advice is keep him off the mound until he is 13-14 years old. Its not just the junk balls that are hard on his arm.

[raider19]

What are you - his girlfriend?

You are out of line. Go find another post.

[JRL]

Jesus, after reading this I hope my boys never get into baseball!

[rockyraider]

As stated above, fastball and change up and let them learn to pitch and get comfortable on the mound. Control and executing his pitches is the only important thing at this point by far. Oh and having FUN and developing a love for the game is also really important. Save the curve for 14ish, its not difficult to learn to thrown a curve when the time comes.

As far as arm issues vs. pitch counts, that's a very controversial issue and there are people on both sides of the argument. I would read/listen to what Tom House has to say on the matter if you're worried about it. I'll let you do you're own research but one thing that I found very telling is that Tom House believes in limiting mound time for youth players and believes that they need to lay off for an extended break every so often. At the same time, he believes that young players and kids should "throw, throw, and throw some more". While being an advocate of limiting "pitching time" for arm health, Mr. House believes that youth players should throw all they can. The difference is throwing off a mound vs. flat ground. Mr. House believes that flat ground work is very important and very beneficial to youth players. He also talks a lot how kids are very narrowly focused on certain sports now at young ages and how that has a negative effect on them physically, which is different than it used to be when kids played baseball, football, basketball, threw rocks all day, etc..... Essentially, kids used to be more well rounded and they naturally developed their arm vs. starting to focus exclusively on baseball and more specifically pitching at a young age. Just some food for thought.

[3DW5]

As stated above, fastball and change up and let them learn to pitch and get comfortable on the mound. Control and executing his pitches is the only important thing at this point by far. Oh and having FUN and developing a love for the game is also really important. Save the curve for 14ish, its not difficult to learn to thrown a curve when the time comes.

As far as arm issues vs. pitch counts, that's a very controversial issue and there are people on both sides of the argument. I would read/listen to what Tom House has to say on the matter if you're worried about it. I'll let you do you're own research but one thing that I found very telling is that Tom House believes in limiting mound time for youth players and believes that they need to lay off for an extended break every so often. At the same time, he believes that young players and kids should "throw, throw, and throw some more". While being an advocate of limiting "pitching time" for arm health, Mr. House believes that youth players should throw all they can. The difference is throwing off a mound vs. flat ground. Mr. House believes that flat ground work is very important and very beneficial to youth players. He also talks a lot how kids are very narrowly focused on certain sports now at young ages and how that has a negative effect on them physically, which is different than it used to be when kids played baseball, football, basketball, threw rocks all day, etc..... Essentially, kids used to be more well rounded and they naturally developed their arm vs. starting to focus exclusively on baseball and more specifically pitching at a young age. Just some food for thought.

You are correct about Tom House, he is also a really good friend of Nolan Ryan who shares the same views about throwing.

[Ramball36]

Strikes is what he needs to be throwing, the rest will come later.

[dswaim]

As an athletic trainer, I deal with this all the time. Kids start throwing breaking pitches too young and their arms just can't handle. And by the time they are in HS their arms are shot. Their bodies are still doing too much growing and are not mature enough to handle the mechanics of throwing breaking pitches. And if said athlete is throwing with bad mechanics (which we see a lot of) it just compounds the problem.
The thing with pitch counts is that they don't take into account the other positions that athlete plays or any bull pen session they have thrown or playing on other teams. What do we do with our pitcher after we pull him from pitching? Usually he is one of our better athletes so he plays ss or c, which probably throw the most balls in a game next to the pitcher. This is also why many Drs are against specializing at a young age.

[Doc Peter]

I agree with the others concerning no junk balls. Fastball, change up.

But here is my rub; there is the four seam, the two seam, and the along the seam. And if you want to add a little spice, move the middle finger over to next to the index leaving the ring finger in place on the fastball and see if he can make it cut. This pitch from my son when he was throwing caused the ball to shift over about 6" and down about 3" at the plate. And it was thrown just like any other fastball.

[Ramball36]

I agree with the others concerning no junk balls. Fastball, change up.

But here is my rub; there is the four seam, the two seam, and the along the seam. And if you want to add a little spice, move the middle finger over to next to the index leaving the ring finger in place on the fastball and see if he can make it cut. This pitch from my son when he was throwing caused the ball to shift over about 6" and down about 3" at the plate. And it was thrown just like any other fastball.

Good idea in theory, but when they see what the ball can do just from finger placement, it just leads them into working pronation/supination themselves. Let the kids fastball do what it does, once he can throw STRIKES teach him a changeup. Then if he's still going at it at 14ish go into a slurve or knicklecurve.

Trust that the longer he goes WITHOUT having to throw breaking balls will only make him a better pitcher than everyone else who does.

[Big Mike M]

At his age it should be fastballs and changeups only. I was taught to throw fastballs with what grip feels most comfortable. Could care less if it was 4 seam or 2 seam with or across the laces. Whatever grip felt the best is what I used. A 3 fingered changeup is a great pitch to teach them to throw. Look at Trevor Hoffman, he made a great career out of throwing fastballs and changeups.

I feel long toss is the best way to build up your arm strength. Start throwing close and work your way out until you can reach the person you are throwing to. Teach the young kids how to do it properly and it will save their arm. I threw everyday growing up because it was what I loved to do.

[knapper]

To the OP,
My suggestion would be pay attention to his workload as a pitcher.. Give him ample time to rest after his outings. Focus on his mechanics as a pitcher, this is the most important thing now. Keep track of his total pitches..sounds like he loves the game.

Do not use a major league work load for a 9 yr old.
You would not expect him to do things a man can do.

Best of luck, enjoy the time. They grow up too fast........

[Lefty5]

Just ask yourself how long do you want to see your son play ball at any position. The arm goes that's it the body is not like vehicle if I wears out it's gone for good been there myself and it's no fun not being able to just play catch with the grandchildren Also forget year round ball who ever thought of this needs his head examined especially before high school just imagine all your sons friends playing high school baseball and him watching from the stands because he can't raise his arm up over his head think about that

[BDR]

Just ask yourself how long do you want to see your son play ball at any position. The arm goes that's it the body is not like vehicle if I wears out it's gone for good been there myself and it's no fun not being able to just play catch with the grandchildren Also forget year round ball who ever thought of this needs his head examined especially before high school just imagine all your sons friends playing high school baseball and him watching from the stands because he can't raise his arm up over his head think about that

I was hoping you would chime in.

Guys this is guy here truly knows. He's thrown his fair share of balls in the majors and that's no BS. Would prob have done it a lot longer but his arm got over worked at to young of an age. Oh and never mind the 8 knuckles he's had replaced cause of all the gripping. He's my FIL and my daughters Pawpaw and it takes everything he has just to play catch with her. I know you guys are proud of your kids ,and you should be,but they are just that. KIDS. Preserve and slowly develop and maybe you can watch them in the bigs someday.

[Triple 7]

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing. Baseball is a great way to spend time with your son and it sounds like you are doing a good job. To your question on curve balls I took the approach that when he asked me how to throw it, I showed him (the right way). I didn't leave it to him to learn from a friend. BUT he can't throw it until I say. There is nothing wrong with showing the grip and talking about arm motion. I'm not one who thinks that curve balls cause arm problems by themselves. I see bad mechanics as the leading cause and over use as the next reason. If a kid has arm pain and throws curve balls, is it due to the pitch selection or the mechanics? I say mechanics. Make sure that his elbow stays below his shoulder and don't load with the scapula. When his front foot hits the ground his pitching arm should be in the "L" position and ready to come forward. But my best advice is to not get caught up in trying to win every game at the cost of your sons arm. My oldest went last year to a tournament in Dallas to fill in on a team that had a catcher missing. He caught every game on Sat and the first on Sunday. Then they asked him to pitch the final game and he threw close to 100 pitches. I wasnt there to stop it and the dad that I sent him with never thought about all of the stress that he was putting on my sons arm. I don't see any reason for a child to pitch more than 60 pitches and your catcher shouldn't be a pitcher as will. Its just to much. Look at some of the Chris O'Leary stuff on pitching mechanics and Nolan Ryan has some good stuff on youtube to watch.

[BigWes]

When I coached and when I played, the pitchers that were the most dominant, won most consistently, had the most endurance were the ones who threw primarily fastballs with a change up mixed in just often enough to keep hitters honest. Those that relied on junk balls don't seem to be as good of pitchers. The reason, I believe, is because those who focus on the basics of form and pitch placement also develop the mental aspect of pitching better. Also, hitters typically adapt to junk ball pitchers fairly quickly, typically during their 2nd plate appearance. Furthermore, those with better velocity, typically have curve balls and sliders that bite harder and break sharper. To get the better velocity, they need to focus on their mechanics and not how to throw breaking balls. Drill their mechanics and pitch placement until he's done growing and he'll have better control, velocity, mental game and will then be able to add more things in to compliment the basics rather than rely on them.

Good luck to your son. Baseball can be tons of fun.