It’s hard to believe that the high school season is two-thirds of the way complete. Some players will move on to the postseason with hopes of winning a high school championship, while others are shooting for just a shot at making the playoffs. Either scenario is a huge accomplishment and the epitome of a player’s “why” when playing the game.
However, in a month’s time, the high school player’s season will be done. For the senior class of ball players, a decision needs to be made on whether they move on to the next level of playing. For many of the players that will move on to a 2- to 4-year college, the end of the regular season is a time to improve strength in both their total body as well as their arm.
For juniors, sophomores, and freshmen—as well as incoming freshmen—it’s an important time to improve their arm health and strength through our summer program and also in the gym. The summertime is not the time to rest after a long season. It’s a time to improve in areas that you can’t really work on during the season.
For a number of those pitchers, coaches have completely worn down their arms. Other coaches have not had their pitcher pitch much at all. Either case means that taking care of your arm during the summertime will put you further along than others when practice starts again at the beginning of the school year. Gaining the ability to throw harder, as well as to get healthy, happens in the offseason.
I get asked a lot about summer baseball, going to showcases and such so that players can get seen by college coaches. My advice is that if you don’t have the skill set to throw in the mid 80s or have an amazing secondary pitch, then going to a showcase is a big waste of time—AND MONEY. Coaches may see you, but they will put the radar gun away if they see 70s and low 80s flashing. Another scenario is if a coach is watching your game and they don’t have a radar gun in their grip, then they’re not interested in that player as a prospect. If there’s no one there to watch your game, then you’re not going to gain the interest of colleges. Ninety miles per hour and above is the new norm for D1 colleges, 88 mph for D2, D3, and NAIA. This is a fact I’ve learned after 25+ years of talking to coaches.
In fact, I reached out to a D1 coach this week about what he wants to see, specifically for left-handed pitchers, and his text back was, “Clean arm action….change up……and repeatability. Also….91+ miles per hour for right-handers and 88 mph for a lefty.” Now, this is a top 20 ranked D1 program. For almost all high school prospects, these are areas that need to be worked on.
And the good news is that we at Throwzone Academy can help assist you in your journey.
Our Summer Velocity Program will enter into its 16th year beginning in June and will continue in its quest to improve overall body strength, arm velocity through our continued arm care, health and recovery modalities, and also improve throwing mechanics with a multitude of drills and repetitions. There is no one running the type of summer training program that Throwzone does. Others may claim they do, but I guarantee they don’t. Don’t be fooled by other people who claim to create velocity; Throwzone Academy is the one leader in velocity enhancement and arm health training programs as evidenced by the average of 100+ players per week coming through our doors.
You should be seeing an email around April 15 or so about our summer program. Space is going to be limited, so your early sign-up is essential in order to take full advantage of a very important summer for you son!
Along with taking care of the body, the mental side of the game is just as important, if not more. If your body is a car, then your mindset acts like the computer telling the car what to do. However, building up your mental strength is something that gets put off time after time. Imagine if you only hit or threw a baseball one time per week. You’d be very challenged to improve your overall game skill set, yet a player’s ability to work on their mental strength is an area we take for granted.
I’m going to be hosting a gentleman who has over 15+ years of experience in working with young athletes as well as college and pro players. He’s an expert in working with athletes and teaching them skills to harness their mental outlook on baseball and in life. The details will be sent out in an email introducing Jason and what the seminar will contain. It will be a FREE seminar on a Sunday midday in May 2022. Again, we will announce this probably around the beginning of May, but it will be a difference maker in your son’s ability to take his game to an even higher level.
There’s a lot of exciting news coming up in the next week and beyond. I hope that your son will be a part of all of this excitement!
Until next time…
Jim
Jim Wagner's ThrowZone Academy 