Battling the Cold Air of Winter

Sunny...75 degrees...Not a cloud in the sky...The smell of fresh cut Kentucky Bluegrass...We would all love to pitch or practice in those conditions every day. Unfortunately, most of us aren't fortunate enough to play in those conditions due to our geographic location. Growing up in the Northeast United States, I've had to make an adjustment during the winter months to my throwing program, in order to be ready for the spring season. Anyone reading this, who is from a colder climate, understands what I'm talking about. When battling the cold air of winter, keep a few things in mind...

The goal of throwing long toss is to prepare our arms for solid strength and good health for the upcoming season. If you're going to brave the cold, make sure you go through a thorough warm up. This should include an extended period of distance running/sprints and a Dynamic Warm Up, before you get into throwing the baseball. When the temperature drops below 30 degrees, as it will many times in our winter season, think twice about getting outside to throw. At Hatboro Horsham, we won't go outside for our long toss if it drops below 30 degrees. In the cold weather, it's easy for the body, even when properly warmed up, to ice over, and create stiff ligaments and muscle fibers. Repetitive throwing in these types of conditions will wear out not only the shoulder and elbow, but all other ligaments and muscles in the body, creating an instability among them heading into the spring time. The goal of the off season is to get to the regular season in one piece, healthy and strong, ready to compete. Some believe that it will increase the kids' toughness if they get out in this type of weather. My argument to that is this isn't football. Baseball demands more mental toughness and consistency than football. If you are trying to stick to a strict throwing program, and the temperature drops below 30 degrees, wait until the next day of long toss. You won't win any Championships or Scholarship offers because you threw in 19 degree weather...

Pitching's Order of Importance

Tonight, I want to talk about the order of importance between command, movement, and velocity, and what they mean to a young kid in terms of recruiting.

Most kids want to get up on the bump, and throw the ball as hard as they can. We've all done it, we've all been there. In the order of importance, throwing the ball hard comes in third place, out of three possible spots. The most important part of pitching is commanding both sides of the plate with the fastball, and then mixing in some sort of off speed pitch that we can throw with command to both sides of the plate as well. The second of the three is movement. We want our fastball, breaking ball, and change up to all have some sort of movement. If we can become efficient with three pitches, we'll be able to make the ball move three different directions. When we combine command, with movement, we become an extremely dangerous adversary. Velocity, the third of three, is the least important. Obviously, we all would like to throw 102 mph, but it's not in the cards for ninety nine percent of us. Your velocity will come as a combination of proper mechanics, weight training, and physical maturity.

1) Command, 2) Movement, 3) Velocity. Focus your efforts in getting better at these three essentials to pitching, starting with number 1. Number 1, alone, can land you a college scholarship. If you focus on velocity, and end up at 80 mph, with no command or movement, you're chances of playing college baseball are slim to none. Allow your body to grow into itself, focus your efforts in places you can control right now.

Big Mac, Big Liar

Usually, the topic of my blog revolves around pitching. Unfortunately, the baseball world was rocked, yet again, with another one of it's "Golden Boys" admitting to steroid use. If any of you were near a television yesterday, you most likely saw the breaking news that Mark McGwire has admitted to taking steroids for nearly his entire career. For most people in baseball, this really comes as no surprise. As a former player, and now as a coach, I felt it was important to talk about this topic.

For all of you up and coming players, let me first start off by saying steroids are illegal. If YOU get caught with steroids, legal action will be brought against you. I stress YOU, because you are not a Major League Baseball player with the revenue stream and corporation (MLB) behind you to keep you out of jail. Secondly, keep an eye on all of the players that have been named on the list of players that failed the steroid test, over the next 10 years. You will all see the fallout of what steroids will do to these players bodies. Search recent pictures of Sammy Sosa on the internet, and you will see a once dark skinned man, who now looks like Casper the Ghost. His new skin pigmentation, I'm convinced, is due to a side effect caused by steroid use called Vitiligo. The "Steroid Era" has been a hot topic since the beginning of the decade, and right now, we are in the eye of the storm. More players will come forward and admit to steroid use, tainting the image of Major League Baseball further.

Although it seems as if everyone who has ever thrown a baseball professionally, has used steroids, this is not the case. I know plenty of guys who I played with personally, that did not take steroids. Unfortunately, the climate being what it is in baseball, many players in baseball are assumed to have taken steroids. As a former player, and now a coach, I have to warn all of you who play. You WILL have the decision of whether or not to take steroids, come across your desk at some point in your playing career. I CANNOT STRESS THE FACT THAT YOU DON'T DO IT, ENOUGH! It came to me when I was coming off surgery my senior year in college. I had worked my whole life to play professional baseball, and coming off surgery, I needed to come out and have a great 5th year in college. I decided not to juice up. It was more important to me, to be able to look back at my career, when I'm talking with my children and grandchildren later in life, and say that I did it right. I earned my playing career through hours and hours of hard work. I knew that, if I had taken steroids, I would wonder forever, whether or not my ability to pitch was due to steroids, or if it was actually my doing. Those were the determining factors. It gives me great pride to say that I earned every single accomplishment of my career because of hard work, not some synthetic drug. If you decide to go down the road less traveled and work your rear end off, it will be one of the most satisfying accomplishments of your lifetime.

I Want To Pitch Like.............Me!

I've been around baseball my entire life, and one of the biggest problems I have seen, is coaches trying to get their pitchers to throw a certain style, i.e., "Throw over the top." Many coaches want their kids to throw over the top, and feel if anyone on their staff doesn't, then that kid is throwing wrong and needs to change. This could not be further from the truth. It is important, as a coach or father, to let your sons arm do what it wants to do naturally. If you want to see your sons arm slot, have him throw long toss. Warm up, and then get him out to around 100-120 feet, and his arm will do what it naturally wants to do. If I throw with a kid, and he throws the baseball from a low 3/4 arm angle when we are at 120 feet, that is where his arm slot belongs. When a pitcher is forced to throw a certain way, and that way does not agree with what his arm wants to do biomechanically, he is most certainly on his way to arm injury. Keep this in mind...I cannot be Bob Gibson, Roy Halladay, or Cy Young...But I can be the best Chris Kurtz I can possibley be. Allow your pitcher (or son) to be the best he can be, and allow his body to do what it wants to do, naturally. If you allow him to be him, he will reach HIS maximum potential, and that is all you can ask for.

2 Months Until SHOWTIME!!!

With the high school season only 2 months away, most of you should be breaking into team workouts, or at least individual workouts, by this point. It's important, with the little time we have left to get ready for the season, to focus on what you need to work on individually until tryouts arrive. For the next two months, keep a clear focus on the mechanical flaws you need to iron out, because once the season comes around, the focus will switch from mechanical flaws, to going out to the mound and competing. Stay focused and motivated, the season will be here before you know it!