How I Apply Dr. Mike Marshall's
Ideas In The Real World

2/16/2006

I am often asked how I apply Dr. Marshall's ideas to my current situation. Here are the rules that I follow when it comes to my two sons (6 and 10)...

1. No Fall Ball
So as to give my guys plenty of time to rest their arms, I do not let them play fall ball. Instead, they only play baseball from March to July (and only have games from April to July).

2. Few (Or No) Tournaments
The problem with tournaments is that they create the pressure (especially if you only have a few good pitchers) to pitch too few guys too much. At most I wouldn't do more than 1 tournament a year. It's just not worth the risk. I watched the Little League World Series this year and, while I loved the competition, cringed at how often guys were pitching.

3. Careful Supervision
I do let my older son play on two teams. However, I am the pitching coach for both teams. That way I can track pitch counts, innings pitched, and days of rest for all of my guys. Also, not all of my guys play on both teams so I generally have two different sets of pitchers for each team (e.g. my son pitches for one team and plays 1B for the other).

4. Developing Lots Of Pitchers
The reality is that in all of the leagues around here, everyone starts kid pitch in 1st or 2nd grade. My son loves both baseball and pitching. Rather than keeping him out of the system, I have jumped into it and am working to develop as many competent (can throw strikes) pitchers as possible on each team. That way I can use my below-average pitchers in meaningless games or situations and reduce the load on any one of my guys. I am sure that this has cost me games, but I couldn't care less.

5. Emphasis On Location Over Velocity
I do not own a radar gun, and have never borrowed one, so I literally have no idea how hard my son, or any of my pitchers, throws. All I care about is that they are effective. As long as they are effective, I keep in my back pocket problems that I see in their motions that I know are costing them velocity (but I do immediately fix things that cause control problems). I will only fix the problems that I am aware of when they need that little bit extra velocity.

6. Pitch Counts
I do count pitches. I also think that counting pitches (while a very blunt tool) can be effective, and is a far more effective than is counting innings. On a couple of occasions I have let me son pitch 3.5 innings (with lots of subsequent rest) because he is very efficient. He often has 7-pitch innings. In contrast, I have pulled guys after a single 25-pitch inning. In general, I start to get nervous when my guys (11U) throw more than 30 or 35 pitches.

7. Fastballs And Change-Ups Only
I only teach my guys how to throw a fastball and a change-up. I will yell at them if I see them throwing a curveball or a slider and will pull them if they won't stop.

8. Mechanical Tweaks
I have introduced some of the ideas of Dr. Marshall into my boys' motions...

• I do not teach my pitchers to show the ball to center field.
• I do not teach my pitchers to always keep their fingers on top of the ball.
• I do not teach my pitchers to reverse-rotate their shoulders.
• I do not let my pitchers throw curveballs.
• I teach them to take what some people would consider to be a shorter-than-average stride.
• I teach them to pronate (and am constantly on the lookout for signs that they are supinating their forearms).
• I am teaching them to pitch from Dr. Marshall's Wind-Up Set position.

Last year I had a couple of guys who I refused to pitch because of things I didn't like in their mechanics (e.g. short-arming the ball and taking the elbows behind the acromial plane).

9. No Playing Pitcher And Catcher In The Same Game
I will not let my pitchers play a throwing-intensive position in the same game that they are going to pitch. As a result, I absolutely will not let my guys play Pitcher and Catcher in the same game. Otherwise, they will be making a throw on every pitch. Instead, I prefer that, before or after pitching, my guys play 1B, 2B, or RF. If I have to, I will put them at 3B, SS, RF, or CF. But absolutely no playing C in games in which they are going to pitch.