Overview
Want to improve the mechanics of your pitching staff? Can your pitchers hold runners and field their position? Do you know the finer points of developing pitcher-catcher chemistry? Coaching Pitchers offers complete details on every aspect of the pitching position. This practical guide on pitching will be a valuable reference you'll turn to again and again.
Challenging technical instruction is communicated effectively through plain talk combined with clear illustrations. Practice drills and training aids provide supportive tools to get the job done. From mental attitude to managing a bullpen, Coaching Pitchers is packed with insights you need to help your pitchers shut down even the most formidable opponents.
Coaching Pitchers offers solid, proven advice from one of the college game's best pitching coaches. Currently the head baseball coach at James Madison University, Spanky McFarland has coached 55 players on their way to the big leagues (including Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers). Now McFarland delivers in book form the same instruction that took these players to the top.
Synopsis
Coaching Pitchers is a complete coach's guide to pitching for youth, junior high, high school, and college baseball. Written by a nationally recognized collegiate coach who has coached three teams to NCAA playoffs and who has sent 37 pitchers on to play professionally, this book covers the mechanical, physical, and mental aspects of pitching. Coaching psychology and strategy are also discussed in detail to help you produce successful pitchers and prepare them for successful careers.
In this second edition, Joe "Spanky" McFarland builds upon the principles presented in his first edition. He includes an all-new organization, 240 accurately detailed illustrations, and substantially expanded and updated chapters on
- fitness training;
- proper mechanics--footwork, hip rotation, stride, arm motion;
- appropriate pitches for each age level;
- strategy; and
- defensive responsibilities.