The main goal/focus of Everitt Athletics is to provide the groundwork and prepare each athlete to become a pitching prospect. We aren’t looking to make our athletes average baseball players to compete at the high school level and have it end there. Just as we worked throughout our careers to become Division-1 and professional athletes, we too are going to do all that we can to make each of our athletes ready to complete at the next level.
In order to achieve this, we must look at what college coaches and scouts look for: Velocity (Arm Strength), Pitch ability (ability to locate, movement, ability to throw a 2nd and 3rd pitch for a strike), andMoundPresence (focus, control of running game, etc). Although most will tell you velocity doesn’t matter….it does. It doesn’t matter once you get to the big leagues, until then, it will be what everything is based around. If you can throw 90 mph, you will get looks from scouts/D-1 schools, plain and simple. Velocity is not a guarantee and don’t believe anyone that says they can improve your velocity by 10 mph. Velocity is about 50% natural ability and 50% hard work/mechanical improvements. We will do everything we can to put our athletes in the proper throwing position to generate the most power/arm speed and develop strength where velocity can be gained. Since velocity is the most important part of the “prospect” puzzle, that is what our main focus will be in everything we do.
The second piece is Pitch ability. This includes Command, Repeatability of Mechanics, Movement, and Off-Speed Pitches. Unlike velocity, pitch ability is almost entirely in the control of the athlete and is directly related to the amount of work put in. Command is the ability to control both sides of the plate, work up and down in the strike zone, work ahead in counts, and locate off-speed. Command is directly related to repeatability. The more we are able to repeat our mechanics, the greater command we will develop. Repeatability is more a function of repetition and experience. Movement is in a similar category as velocity, but has a greater dependency on the athlete. The uncontrollable, natural parts of movement are arm angle, release point, finger length, finger/wrist flexibility, just to name a few. We address movement and the development of late movement through grip changes, finger pressure, andworking farther down the mound. Off-speed pitches are individually graded by scouts/coaches andthe development of quality, well located off-speed pitches will not only lead to success on the mound, but also add high marks in the eyes of scouts/coaches.
Unlike velocity, pitch ability is where success comes from. All the velocity in the world will not make you a great pitcher, it will help and make it easier, but it is not the answer. Pitch ability, pitch ability, pitch ability. Since we are able to control most parts of pitch ability, we keep this the focus in all of our mechanical and side work.
The final piece of the pitching prospect is Mound Presence. How do you react to success and failure? Can you field your position? Can you hold runners? Do you keep your cool? This is more of the mental toughness/approach of a pitcher. We will cover many of these topics throughout our workbook lectures and try to put in place key practice techniques to improve these areas.
We will address each area a scout/coach will look at to help each of our athletes not only make their varsity team, but put them in a place to advance to the next level.
