Ok, here's the situation: I've coached my 12 year old son's teams for the last 7 years but decided not to be head coach this year. But I do enjoy working with him on his non-practice days, as well as help his team out as the hitting coach. To say I love to learn stuff about coaching baseball is an understatement, but this one has me stumped. Last week, we were out playing catch as a warm up when he missed the ball and had to run out into right field to retrieve it. Instead of running back to the baseline before tossing it back, he heaved it from deep right to third base where I was. I don't know exactly how far it was, but the fence at our field is 196 ft (from home plate) at center field so I'd guess it had to be near 150 ft anyway. I had him try it again, and he did it again and again. I was amazed since that's farther than I can throw a ball. While I admit I have never been blessed with a great arm, how can an average-sized 12 year old throw that much farther than I can? Also, while he's my son and I love him very much, he's an average player at best, and has to work twice as hard as other kids on his teams just to achieve average status, so I have no parental illusions of athletic greatness. I just want to know the how and why of such amazing distance from him. I know someone here must know, so lets hear your thoughts! Oh, and all my buddies at work already questioned my manhood, so no need to bring that up again...

 

Throwing a ball isn't about strength. It's about arm mechanics and the timing involved to get the proper speed and trajectory. He also has, I'm assuming, a smaller arm--which means he has less overall mass to accelerate before he releases the ball than you do.

I had a friend in HS who was about 5'10" and maybe a buck-thirty-five, yet he was throwing near Major League speed as a pitcher. I warmed him up once before a game, and all he had for me was a worn-out catcher's mitt and no gear. I wasn't so much catching as I was defending myself, and boy did my hand hurt afterward. By the time he was loose, he was probably throwing 80+ MPH, and I think he had been clocked near 90 at the time. But, he threw too hard too soon, so his shoulder was toast before he went to college, so that was the end of anything he might have done. His right forearm looked like Popeye's arm in comparison to his left.

Jason

 

I never thought about the arm mass, but it makes sense. He spent most of last season pitching, and his fastball is fast, but I've had some kids throw harder. But I've never seen many of the kids his age get the distance he's getting. By the way, I'm always aware of the health issues of young kids throwing hard at a young age and suggest any other parents and coaches do some research on Tom House. He's a pitching coach and has really got some interesting methods to maintain shoulder health. I still can't help but feel awe at having to ice my hand after playing catch with a kid that I used to change his diapers not all that long ago.

 

I once asked my physics teacher in HS (AP Calculus-based Physics, taught by a PhD in nuclear chemistry) about the optimum trajectory for a projectile to get distance. Common sense would tell you that it's 45º at launch, and that's close, but he replied that when you factor in wind resistance and all the other factors, it ends up being about 42º. I suspect that you probably try to throw a flatter trajectory, which is faster (less flight time to a given distance), but you won't get near the distance of someone who throws a little slower, but throws closer to 42º.

The pros usually throw to a cutoff man so that they can throw a flat, fast trajectory, and to allow for a change in destination (cutoff decides where to go with it). It's also a quicker release than to wind up for an ultimate throw to home from the outfield.

Jason

 

Since he is "average at best" in baseball put a football in his arm and see how well he throws it. Maybe he is in the wrong sport?

 

His Mom won't let him play football. He plays basketball and baseball, and does archery and skeet shooting, but football is out of the question. We have played catch with a football and it's the same thing, fast and long. Hope his arm continues to develop like that because he really loves baseball and wants to play as long as he can, and he loves working on improving his skills every day, so as long as he enjoys it, I'm all for it.