any have any advice on staying focused and other aspects of pitching in highschool baseball?

Answer 1

Talk to your catcher. Make sure you are both on the same page and he knows your pitches as well as you do. I see this too often in high school (and later) that the catcher is only calling signs to get a clue as to where the pitcher is planning to throw the ball.
Lay a little resposibility on him and let him call the game, then you can think about mechanics and the situation instead of what pitch to throw next. Understand that your job is not to get everyone out but to throw the ball in a position that allows the batter to get himself out. Talk to your catcher every inning about how to pitch the upcoming lineup and have a plan. Throughout the game you should get an idea of what each hitter is trying to do, pull the ball, up the middle etc and don't put it in the zone that allows him to get comfortable. Change speeds but only for the purpose of fooling the hitter, if someone is sitting on a fastball don't give it to him. Make him hit your pitch with 2 strikes.
Scout your next opponent if you can, your coach should do this but sometimes it's not possible. If you play a team more than once in the season refer back to the score book to see where they hit and plan how to pitch them.

And this always sucks but - when you are not pitching, keep the score book and chart pitches for the other pitchers. This will give you an insight on what is working and what is not. Be a student of pitching when you are not pitching.

Answer 2

Being a former pitcher in high school, the number one focus is not being too cute and just throw strikes. Also put the curveball on the back burner as you don't want to ruin your arm at such a young age and with a lot of baseball ahead of you. If you can master a change up you will have great success. Also you have to have the mind frame that the hitter can't hit you. Confindence is key.

Answer 3

I tell you what works great at that level,timing plays like pickoffs,pitch-outs,squeeze plays and the such.Work on defense fielding bunts,throwing to all bases,covering first& third,backing up your proper bases.Really theres a lot of hard work involved with playing the game of baseball but it seems to be fun doing all those things.Remember amatures do it until they get it right,Pros do it until they can't get it wrong

Answer 4

the most important pitch is strike one !!!! -- the purpose of
pitching is to disrupt the hitter's timing -- it is not trying to
throw the ball by the hitter -- it is location .... changing
speeds .... moving your pitches up / down / in / out -- never
keep your pitches to hitter at same eye level or at the same
speed -- learn this .... home plate is 17 inches wide .... the
pitch to be a strike needs to break the plane of the strike
zone -- lay a tape on the floor & note 17 inches ....
place a ball at both sides of 17 inches with the ball just
touching the lines .... you will please note that doing this
increases the strike zone to approx. 24 inches !!!! --
your strike zone to be a consistent winner is 6 inches on
the inside & the outside of the plate .... the center 12
inches belongs to the hitter !!!!

Answer 5

Just focus on one batter at a time, and one pitch at a time. Having these tiny "compartments" mentally, will make it easier to focus on things, and not worry too much about things you cannot control.

For instance, don't worry about the guy on deck, or a bad defensive play behind you, just focus on throwing strikes, and setting each guy down.

Answer 6

*Focus on baseball not girls....
*attend your practices
*maybe go to a few baseball camps
*keep your grades up