Guys,
I gotta tell ya...speaking as a HS Pitching Coach (also played on college level) for the last 10 years and with a Kinesiology background, DO NOT throw anything other than a fastball and change until you're 15 or 16.
to be successful at the HS level all you need is command of those 2 pitches. Using those two and good mechanics and moving the ball in and out, up and down in the zone...and using change of speed will do the trick against 90% of all HS hitters.
I shake my head every time i go watch a little league game or watch our Freshman games and see pitchers trying to emulate their MLB heroes with awkward, wild mecahnics and trying to throw 4,5, 6 different pitches. Walk after walk after walk....or ball after ball then FB down the pipe and ripped for a double.
Lastly, most importantly, you are at a higher risk of rotator cuff or elbow tendinitis injuries if you start to throw "junk" before you're 14 or 15. Your arms just aren't ready yet. Yes, you're probably striking guys out on your "huge curve" you think you have developed. But, you'd be just as succesful if you threw off-speed with changeups instead.
an example: there's a kid in our league in so. Cal a year ago who had 2 pitches and rarely used a slider when he was a senior. he went 12-1 with an ERA under 1.5. struck out around 10 a game. We faced him 2 times and I can cound on one hand how many breaking balls he threw. The rest were fastballs and changeups. We got 2 hits in one game and 3 in another. shut us out once and we scored 1 run in the other. and we went to the CIF semi-finals that year with our best team in years. but that's all he needed...a fastball and changeup. he walked ONE batter! The sign of a true pitcher. Didn't need anything else at this level.
Oh, his name? You may have heard about him... the Yankees drafted him # 1... Phil Hughes from Foothill HS.
rely on mechanics and control...the FB and change... and you'll be ready for the others when you're a senior or in college.
