When will you allow my son to pitch in a game?

I am in the early part of the regular season with my Little league team and am already facing the challenging questions by parents.  One challenging area, in particular, surrounds pitching and parent's expectations to see their child pitch in a game. 

I realize that every kid that loves baseball has fantasized about being a great pro pitcher and throwing a perfect game. It’s one of those universal American dreams of little boys everywhere. While dreams like these should never be quashed, its important for responsible parents and coaches to teach kids how to pitch a baseball with the correct form and control. Without such guidance, overly enthusiastic children run a real risk of doing damage to their arms, elbows, and shoulder joints when throwing baseballs. They will also end up frustrated and not developing an interest for the game.

I like to give every ball player on the team a chance to develop their pitching skills and test them during games and practices including scrimmages against opponents. The first thing every player needs to learn before he takes the mound to pitch in a baseball game is the correct form. Not only will this give his pitches more power and control, it will also put less strain on the important and vulnerable parts of the body.

There are two big keys for baseball pitchers. First, it must be taught to youngsters that effective and safe pitching is powered mainly by the legs, not the arm. Secondly, the proper form is to train the elbow to lead the hand. The elbow should stay ahead of hand until just before release of the baseball. This takes some practice, but once a child learns to do it without forcing it, he is on the path to better control, more power, and (most importantly) a safe baseball throwing motion.

A good idea is to impress upon the young pitcher that speed is not the top priority in good baseball pitching.  Control is priority. This serves two purposes. First, it will help you slow him down in order to ingrain the proper and safe movements outlined above. Second, its generally easier to build up speed after control is learned when throwing a baseball than it is to learn control after speed.

Lastly, once form and control are learned, repetitions must occur regularly.  Practice makes perfect.  Get out and work with the children on a daily basis. Time spent prior to and after practices and games is just as important as during them.  Coaches can work on their form and control and offer them live experience but we, as parents, need to also work with them on their off time.