Growing into Your Throwing
...if anyone can tell you how to throw a baseball, it’s 12- year major leaguer Jay Powell
Jay Powell
• Meridian Native
• Head baseball coach, Jackson Academy
• College ball: Mississippi State
• pros: Orioles, Marlins, Astros, Blue Jays, Rockies, Rangers, Braves.
• Winning Pitcher, Game 7, 1997 World Series, for Florida Marlins
The Sporting spirit interview
SS. When did your throwing-arm problems start?
JAY: My first arm problem was in 1992 at Mississippi State when I had a
bone spur removed.
Then I pitched pain-free for the next eight years.
I had my right shoulder scoped in 2000. And then I had to have Tommy
John surgery in 2004. That’s when ESPN featured me and my rehabbing. I
was with Atlanta and my rehab went well.
One game I went in to pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates. During a
pitch, I felt my arm go out and I hit the ground.
When I got back in the training room, the doctor looked at me and said I
had broken my arm. I remember just saying, “That’s it. I’m not going to
go through another rehab.” In my last surgery, they put 16 titanium
screws in my arm. They’re still there.
I don’t feel I was cheated at all. I had a great career. I spoke to our
school’s kid at FCA recently and told them that the Lord had a plan to
lead me here to coach baseball at JA.
SS. Did you commit all-out to baseball as a kid?
JAY: I never thought about doing that. We played every sport. I enjoyed
playing them all.
SS. What do you think about the level of skill of some of these youth
teams now?
JAY: It’s amazing what they can do. Last year was my first summer to be
around select baseball. The kids’ skill levels are impressive. But some
of the dads … You start asking, Is this for the kids or for the dads?
SS. Do you have any concerns with youth baseball these days?
JAY: The potential problem I see with playing so much so young is with
boys’ arms. They get into high school and I see the injuries pop up when
they hit 9th or 10th grade. Until I got into college, I had never heard
of someone having an arm problem. We’re seeing kids now having Tommy
John surgery in the 10th grade. Most are overuse injuries.
SS. So is the key not overdoing it?
JAY: Right. You can play a good bit and the kids can get better. But
remember, there are some teams now that have 10-, 11-, or 12-year-old
boys who play more games than I played as a pro in an entire season, and
these kids may make more pitches, too. It can show up later when they
get to us at the high-school level.
SS. You have an 11-year-old boy playing baseball?
JAY: We’re enjoying it. Last year we played rec. league ball, then we put
together our first tournament team that played up through the middle of
July, then we were done. And they went on to football, and that’s the
way it should be. I really think that every sport can benefit off of the
others.
SS. What is your advice for fathers and youth coaches regarding watching
their boys’ arms?
JAY: Use common sense. I don’t let any of my guys throw curveballs until
they are in the 9th grade. Last summer with my own son’s team, I saw
kids we played against throwing curve balls. The ball is not curving.
Gravity is pulling it down because he’s throwing it slow.
A change-up is fine. But if you start playing around with pitches like a
cut fastball, that’s going to lead down the wrong trail. A cut fastball
is the beginning step to a slider.
Teach the young kids to throw for location. That is what I told the kids
on my boy’s team last year. We worked on locating our fastball—number
one. And then on throwing a change up—number two.
What you want to do at an early age is build arm strength just by playing.
SS. So how do you decide what’s enough pitches for a youth pitcher to throw?
JAY: Pitch count is almost an impossible question to answer. I have one
high-school player who can throw a seven-inning shutout, get up around
116 pitches, and he’s okay.
But I watch for what I call “hump innings.” Does the pitcher seem to be
going to the barrel too much to try to get an out? How many times does
he have to reach back for a little extra?
You have to be smart.
Think about it this way: a Major League pitcher has been trained and
conditioned for months and years to throw at a peak level. He usually
only pitches every four or five days; or if he pitches in relief, he
usually throws no more than 30 to 40 pitches at a time, at the most.
If that is the case, then it stands to reason that these young boys need
to be handled a lot more carefully. They are growing. They are no where
close to conditioned like a Major Leaguer.
Again, it’s just common sense. You have to be smart. And be sure you
talk with a doctor about what he thinks is the right level for your son
based on his age. I’ve seen a number of boys break their growth plate
throwing wrong or throwing too much.
SS. What are some exercises you recommend for building arm strength not
only for pitchers, but for every player?
JAY: Long-toss is one
of the best things young kids can do. It develops proper throwing
mechanics and develops arm strength. That’s the part of the game that
has been forgotten.
Basically, you get two boys about twenty or thirty feet apart and have
them start throwing to each other. But you are not throwing for speed.
You are working on two things: on repetition of good form as the boys
take the ball back and follow through with their release; and on
building arm strength through repetition.
After about ten throws, have the boys back up 10 to 15 feet. Repeat the
process. Then have them back up again.
The boys are never throwing full line drives—the ball should have a
slight-to-medium arc as it flies.
Doing this repetitiously builds arm strength like nothing else
can—slowly and surely. And it refines good form.
SS. You mentioned that the basics of making long throws have been
forgotten. What do you mean?
JAY: These kids all go get hitting lessons. They all go get pitching
lessons. But nobody really practices on throwing the ball over 60 feet.
They can’t throw the ball through a plate glass window from the outfield.
My players long-toss every day. Every player can benefit from it.
Game situations come up for every player where a long, accurate,
well-executed throw is necessary. For instance, a 2nd baseman often has
a short-arm throwing motion. But sometimes even 2nd basemen have to
field a ground ball in shallow center field and make that 100-foot throw
to 1st base.
SS. Talk more about outfielders.
JAY: I see less skill today in making an outfield throw. You also see
outfielders in the big leagues that are not as skilled throwing now.
There is a right way to do it and there are many wrongs ways.
SS. What is the right way?
JAY: The boys need to be taught from a young age how to do a crow-hop.
How to field an outfield ball on the run, then use their legs and a
running start to make a “crow” hop throw that gets the most velocity on
the ball. An outfield throw is not a glorified pop fly. It is what we
used to call a “hump-back line drive,” a ball with just a little loft
and good velocity.
SS. So how do you work at making such long throws without actually
overdoing it and throwing out your arm?
JAY: Get an outfielder at a reasonable distance from his target, then
have him make seven or eight throws at about 80 percent. Then back him
up about ten feet and have him throw it on a hop to the target about
five times. Do that regularly and results with come. That same process
will work for catchers, too.
SS. Why don’t we work on these fundamentals as we should with our youth?
JAY: Few want to work on it because it doesn’t seem as fun. Kids now want
immediate gratification. And it’s the same thing with fielding ground
balls. But we need to teach our boys here in Mississippi these key
fundamentals.
SS. In closing, what are your childhood memories of playing baseball?
JAY: I started playing at the age of six outside of Meridian; it was
country as it could be. The day of the game they shut the gate to keep
the cows off of the field!
Back then, you played your 12 or 14 games, then maybe a little
tournament, and then that was the season. We played a lot of Wiffle Ball
in the yard. I had a driveway that was 88 yards long—I measured it for
football—and I would take that long, yellow Wiffle Ball bat and hit
rocks—no telling how many millions I hit.
It was nothing to get together in somebody’s yard for some ball.
Things are a lot different now. SS