Five Weeks Until HS Tryouts

#1

I’ve been working on becoming a better pitcher since the middle of June just before the ending of my summer ball season. Well my goal is to make the high school team (freshmen team). I have been posting in the personal pitching logs section of this forum since early-september (but my workout has been the same since about the first of August).

In general I try to throw three or four times a week - (lately mainly long-toss and a pitching lesson from the mound), do some conditioning (running) and general strength workout (push-ups, medicine ball work, deadlifts, etc). I would appreciate any feedback or ideas about what I need to be doing in this last five weeks to better my chances in making the team. Any thoughts?

I would like to show the coach my log - but something in me tells me that this is almost brown-nosing - but it isn’t like I haven’t invested a bunch of my own time in trying to get better. What do you think?

#2

I think you are doing the necessary things, keep throwing, have yourself in shape. He won’t want to see your log until later if at all. What he wants is hustle, great attitude…obviously skill. Be obviously coachable. If he has pre-try-out work sessions, be there and be working every minute. Put in extra work where you can. If you have questions about what he wants, ask him, be respectful, get your answer and leave him alone (Keeps you from looking like a brown nose)…Pay ATTENTION both to what he wants and the upperclassmen, they are leaders, don’t try to upstage, remain who you are.

#3

I agree JD. It should be apparent to the coach that Mullen has been working in the off-season when he shows up. After the workouts he described, he should be as prepared as anyone, and probably more prepared than the majority of the other freshmen.

Good luck, kid.

Hose

#4

let us know how it goes too

#5

+1 to being coachable. That is very important. We had a lot of 8th graders trying out last year, I was a freshman, and of course for JV you have to pass a physical test for our area but we had so many the sports director asked after 2 days of a half an hour practice for our coach to pick out the ones he wnated to take the test. The coach was talking with me as they were going and we were sort of talking over the player, I know this is kind of immature of a coach but he also was in a situation where he didn’t really know how the players were and had 1 hour to decide which really sucks. He knew I played with some of them and he asked about one kid, he said he has a gun but not too much control, he told me that he was trying to get him to throw over the top and wasn’t listening. Our coach is smart and caught right onto what was going on. He knew the kid wasn’t coachable. Of course the kid wasn’t the least bit coachable. He was on my summer team and the coach would ask me to try and help him with his pitching mechanics just me and him and he wouldn’t listen or change a thing. I told the coach right away, from what I saw this summer he isn’t coachable. The coach said ok and the kid ended up getting cut. Being young and not coachable do not go well. And being cocky won’t get you anywhere either. You need to be coachable and willing to listen to your coaches, even if at times you know more than them.

#6

yep. good luck.