How do I know if I am good enough to play college baseball, primarily as a pitcher. My friends and family say that I can play because I am a lefty and 6’1 as a sophomore, but I think they are just being nice.
I really want to play baseball, most likely D2 or D3, and I have been looking into some good D2/3 schools (ex: Rowan, Kean, Kutztown).
How do I know if I have what it takes to play college baseball?
First off, how hard do you throw?
Really has to do so much with how hard you are willing to work at it, how committed are you on dedicating yourself to baseball and can that work for you against school etc.
go to some showcase events, the area code tryouts are free and all the coaches/recruiters are there. if you’re 6’1" lefty that can do anything they will take you.
I throw about 75mph w/ my fastball. I love to throw my change up and curve ball. I generally do not even use my fast ball when I pitch, but overall it is about 70-75mph hit or miss?
[quote=“chrisman”]How do I know if I am good enough to play college baseball, primarily as a pitcher. My friends and family say that I can play because I am a lefty and 6’1 as a sophomore, but I think they are just being nice.
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How do I know if I have what it takes to play college baseball?[/quote]
Only you can answer the above. It doesn’t matter what you currently throw as a sophomore. It doesn’t matter what your physical height is or what side you throw from. It is about “want” and forward movement. It is about a daily grind to become what you want to become. Here are some questions. There are many more. These you have control of.
How bad do you want it?
How big is “your want”?
How far would you go to fill that want?
If someone else has to increase your want?..you an that person will be bummed out in the end. Won’t happen. Your the bottom part of the pyramid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKDTQCvL18&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Go for a run…you and your thoughts. Ask these questions of yourself.
If the answers are “really bad”, “really big” and “really far”…YOU just might sniff it.
My mom wanted me to become an astronaut… Obviously “I” didn’t want it bad enough.
Plus coaching is better.
Good post. Oh, and Coach, you still get to work with “space shots”! We refer to them as lefties!!! :lol:
I am playing at a D3 college and made the team with my fastball only hitting 74, and me hitting 78 from the outfield. I didn’t make the travel team, but it is a good place to start. You need to have the want to reach new heights and give it your everything. Just know that anywhere you go, you have to work your way to the top. Control and movement will be the key if you don’t throw hard, but if time is on your side and you are younger, you can learn how to improve velocity using your body and growing stronger.
Lefthander, righthander, standing on your head—it doesn’t matter. Velocity is something that can’t be taught, but you can ramp up what you have. Let me tell you about two things I used to do.
to begin with, there’s what I call “THE SECRET”. I learned it a long time ago when I watched the Yankees’ legendary Big Three rotation in action, and I saw what they were doing: they were all driving off the lower half of the body, using the legs, the hips and the torso in one continuous motion, and that was how they were generating the power behind their pitches. This is the real key to a pitcher’s power—using the lower half in a way that enables that continuous action up through the shoulder and the arm (and, in the process, taking a lot of pressure off the shoulder and the arm so that you throw harder with less effort). I picked up on that and started working on it, and I found that although I would never be a rip-roarin’ fireballer I could make the most of what I did have and could do. I threw harder—with less effort—and learned to pitch smarter, acquiring a nice arsenal of stuff. You just may turn out to be another one of those finesse pitchers—not much on speed, but the fact is that if you can’t overpower the hitters you can learn to outthink and outfox them. (Later on I found that I had picked up some speed, coming up with a good four-seam fast ball in the low 80s with a lot of movement on it.)
The other thing is something I used to do as a little snip and continued well into my playing days. I would get a catcher, and we would go to an unused playing field, and I would take the mound while he would set up behind the plate. We would play a little game we called “ball and strike” wherein he would pisition his mitt in various places, high, low, inside, outside—wherever—and I would work on control (nowadays they call it location), concentrating on getting the ball smack-dab into the pocket of the mitt, varying the speed, using all my pitches, and even using the crossfire (I was one of those infuriating sidearmers!). What a sweet, satisfying feeling to hear that resounding “thwack” as the ball hit the pocket of the mitt! We would go at it for an hour at a time.
So, i say to you—work on what you feel capable of, enjoy what you do, and good luck. :baseballpitcher: