Do you ever stop working on basic mechanics??

[HDawg]

Sluggers nailed it, mechanics come first. Pitchers have a hard time breaking old habits, so important to start them on the right path early in the process. To answer the op, pitchers never stop working on their craft, it takes desire and dedication to become successful.

 

[CoachJD]

As a coach I fear a pitcher who has 2 great pitches. My preference would mainly be fastball and changeup. If she can consistently locate those 2 pitches and mechanics look the same, she will be successful and can build from that base. Make those 2 pitches great and then increase. But not until. Enjoy the journey. If she isn't buying into only having 2 pitches, there are plenty of videos out there of batters looking silly when expecting a fastball and they see a perfectly placed changeup.

I'm not an expert on pitching mechanics by any means, but I 100% agree with this. The only thing I'd add is "fastball" ideally does not mean "straight ball." Get a little movement on that fastball (any direction if you can control it) and you're gonna do just fine.

 

[MadBandit22]

DD had a late start with pitching. Started at 13. She is going to be 15 this fall. So she has two years under her belt. We are realists, and have no ambitions on going D1, etc. Don’t get me wrong, she has potential to be a good pitcher later in high school, and is doing a decent job right now. Still lacks really good accuracy, however. Her mechanics are pretty good. But, I just want to know how long does one continue to work on basic mechanics? The thing that is biting us in the rear, is her back leg being an anchor. She just isn’t getting it through. And she flattens that push foot where her heel touches the ground when she throws curves, screws, or change ups. I don’t know what to do to fix it.

I watch these 11,12,13 year olds and they have horrible mechanics, but can manage to keep the ball over the plate well enough for strikes. No movement, not fast, but just get it over. I mean, have I done my kid wrong by focusing so much on mechanics that she is getting behind younger pitchers whose mechanics suck, but can throw strikes?

Short answer is no. Always need to reinforce basics. I would focus on 3 pitches.
1) Fastball- You should be able to locate fastball. Once you can throw fastball consistently I would go with a change-up next. 3rd Pitch I would go curve.
I disagree with the person that said you only need two pitches. M. Rivera was a closer and only needed to get a few outs per appearance. Also Oklahoma pitcher G. Juarez in WCWS threw a lot of curve balls. Probably too many.
But yeah pitching is hard and takes a lot of time and effort. Don’t get frustrated it will come.
After she gets a handle on those 3 pitches I would introduce rise, and drop at some point.
But you can get very good results with fastball and change-up.
The idea is to keep hitters off balance and keep them guessing.
Always looking for strikeouts and soft contact.

 

[Fury_Mike]

Location is king period.
Master it with each pitch before moving on. You can go a LONG way with mastery of a fastball and change. When I say change, I mean one that you sell. I agree with coachJD, Add movement to the FB whether downward off the middle finger, or as their dexterity matures, with pressure point adjustment. Same with the change. Learn to sell it and work the black. Then add movement by varying your palm angle it thumb tilt (I’m not a flip change guy at all)

drop next, but I wouldn't teach it until they are 13 is due to injury risk, and because most kids are not far enough along with the other 2

my opinion for what it's worth, learn pitches that change planes. Curves and skrews are To closely aligned with bat angles