BASEBALL  PITCHERS   

College Letter of Intent

               Dates

*Letter of Intent is administered by the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) not the NCAA.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

NCAA:

     Division I          11.7

     Division II           9

     Division III          0

*Not all schools offer the scholarship limit

NAIA:

     All                    12

NJCAA:

     Division I            Full

     Division II           Tuition, Fees & Books-No Room &

                              Board

     Division III          0

NOTE:  An NCAA athletic scholarship is good for one school year.  There is no such thing as a "full" 4 Year Athletic Scholarship.  A "full ride" would include academic scholarship money as well as athletic, and may be renewed each year at the discretion of the school.

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              GOALS

Behavior goals provide the pitcher with purpose and direction.  Be self-instructive and positive on the mound instead of being self-critical and negative.

Setting goals allows you to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses.

Concentration loss can impact pitch consistency.  You must focus on the job at hand..............The NEXT pitch.

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Development

One of the most important steps in a successful pitcher is to develop a delivery that works for him.  Once that is done, the next step is to do it over and over again, the same each time without thinking about it during the actual throwing of the pitch.

The delivery is a sequence of body movements.  Good pitch mechanics are a smooth and effective way of putting these body movements together so that you have control of and velocity of your pitches.

When you see major league pitchers, you see that they are all different in their deliveries and style.  Pitchers need to find delivery mechanics that will allow them to succeed.

There are certain actions and sequences that all successful pitchers do the same in their delivery that need to be learned to be successful as a pitcher.

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Pitching Success......

Get the batter off balance and mess up the timing of his swing.

Success/Winning.....

Doing the little things right!

Words

of

Wisdom.......

"Never let the failure of your last pitch affect the the success of your next pitch" - Nolan Ryan, Hall of Fame Pitcher

"Once you stop learning, you're going to be in the second row looking at somebody else playing" - Ferguson Jenkins, Hall of Fame Pitcher

"I was taught that movement is more important than velocity. . . . I still believe tat today" - Greg Maddux, Cy Young Award Winner

"You can't pitch inside unless you own the down-and-away strike" - Leo Mazzone, Major League Pitching Coach

"I went from experimenting with it to being confident to throw it with the bases loaded and a full count in the World Series" - Tom Glavine on his change up.

"I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it" - Sandy Koufax 

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Shoulder Injury......

For the back of the shoulder, this is usually from the extreme throwing of the pitching arm away from the body.  This causes the elbow to pull the arm across the body.  The pain also tells you that you are not having your body go in a straight line to your target.

For the top of the shoulder pain or "clicking", this is from a "bouncing" of the elbow that does not allow the arm to load in the "slingshot" position in a smooth manner.

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Elbow Injuries........

"Tommy John" surgery is where the ulnar collateral ligament on the medial or "inside" of the pitching arm elbow is replaced.

For the back of the Elbow, this pain is near the attachment of the Tricep muscle to the bone and may be caused by the pitching arm being "thrown away" from the body.  Also may be caused by leading with the elbow.

For the top of the Elbow, this may be caused by the forearm being thrown away from the body as the Bicep muscle contracts during extension of the pitching arm.

Source:

    American Baseball Institute