During my son’s windup, as he brings the arms above and behind the head, and pivots on the rubber, he looks down. Always has.
I see most pitchers either do that, or tuck the chin into the glove side shoulder and momentarily look away from the target, or go “semi-Fernando” and look up a little bit (this seems to have diminished in popularity though).
However, his coach is relentless in trying to convert him to locking his eyes on the glove and keeping them there. My son’s control is very good. Personally, I see no need for him to change what he’s doing. I see a lot of good pitchers do the same thing and he’s quite comfortable with it. When I hit a golf tee shot, I don’t keep my eyes locked on the target. Doesn’t mean I’m unaware of how I want to hit the shot or where I “wish” it would go.
He has told me that the brief time he looks down is a time of refocus and allows him to really load up. There’s an instructor in our area that he really likes. The guy’s credentials are A+. He had a long MLB career. Bonus is that he’s good with kids. He though really preaches what his coaches are preaching and for that reason my son won’t go to him.
Why do some (actually he’s not had a coach that didn’t, but then again LL coaches are better plumbers and real estate agents than coaches) insist that a kid do this?