This has turned into one of more extensive, and perhaps most controversial Nose 2 Nose debates to date. Lots of opinions, lots of conflicting results, lost of interesting comments. We also asked one of our pitching consultants to weigh in on this, Pete Wilkinson. What's interesting about Pete's choices is how often they differ from most (check the 'W's on the Teach/Non-Teach chart below). Does this makes the 'guru' right and everyone else wrong. Not necessarily. He himself says there are ways in which he and others, notably Tom House, disagree. We also suspect some of our other pitching consultants would also disagree. In fact we know it. But we will leave that for another day. In the meantime, your votes and your comments...

What's more important command or velocity? Which breaking pitch is harder to hit? What's the fastest fastball? What adds more actual velocity? What adds more perceived velocity? What creates the most movement?

<-- choose topics

The major question in this survey... what are the teaches and non-teaches? In other words, what should be left to the pitcher to work out on his own, and what needs absolute instruction. Because of the importance of this question, we have kept it as a separate image...

The best pitching coaches will work with what the student brings to the practice mound. . .however, all aspects of the pitching motion/form are not coachable, and there must exist a certain amount of althetic ability coupled with the desire to take the mound without fear of failure. -- Stan Graham

Young pitchers must be taught the proper fundamental pitching mechanics to ensure that they will not endanger their future by an injury to their pitching arm while also developing command of their fastball. After they can demonstrate command of their fastball they can advance to other off speed & breaking pitches. -- CHUCK

You are correct, many areas do fall within 'gray' area for teaching. For instance, a kid may naturally land correctly with the lead foot and this would then be a nonteach. Each pitcher is an individual with some variation of getting to the correct position, etc., as a coach it is my job to watch him throw before deciding what or how to determine what areas to work on. I believe if a pitcher is correct in any aspect of the delivery that I should positively note this for him and move on. The last thing I want to do is have my pitcher start thinking while in the act of delivery. Similar to what Yogi said, you can't think and hit at the same time. I do believe in visualizing prior to stepping onto the rubber. -- Rich Monahan

Nothing above asks about 'release point' mechanics; in particular, with each specific type of pitch (fast ball, change up, etc.) -- David Griffin

I love Tom House but he's made such radical changes in his thought processes in the last year that it's hard to keep up with him. How many of these teach/non-teach questions had different answers just 12 months ago? -- Jonathan Davis

There are so many 'schools of thought' whose opinions and instructions contradict each other that it is tough for me, as a High School Coach and Former Pitcher (things came naturally so I never had to analyze myself) to be able to know what to look for in my pitchers. We need simplification!!! -- John DeTringo

At all age levels pitching is a fundamental aspect of the game that needs to be practiced and taught over and over again. As a coach and parent of a very talented 14yr old left handed pitcher, I have realized that practicing drills and strengthening of the arm are more important than pitching itself if you want to get better. I have spent most of my time teaching mechanics and control, especially with the younger players. It is amazing how each mechanic can drastically affect the pitch both from a control and a velocity aspect. -- Keith Ehlers

With our 10, 11 and 12 year olds, the key was to have them throw strikes! Movement would be a plus if it was movement which was in the strike zone or was perceived to have been at some point, by the batter. The second consideration was to teach enough players to pitch so that no pitchers' arms were put at risk. In the three years we have coached these boys, there have been zero sore arms caused by overwork and we have been 148-15-2. So when I see info stating 'no one should pitch until they are 'X'..."" , I wonder where the thought process comes from. -- Dave Deeley

Most pitchers I've coached - even highschoolers - are inherently lazy and if you're not always stressing fundamentals they backslide into 'comfortable' pitching motions. I won't mess with any kid that has control and velocity; but lacking either, I will recommend the fundamentals listed above. -- Mark Ehret

Sometimes the biggest thing a pitcher can do to hurt his mechanics is to think about his mechanics when practicing or playing. Its better to let the throw develop naturally. I have two pieces of evidence for this: 1. You will throw with your greatest velocity when you think about nothing except throwing your hardest.(just test it) and 2. I also play outfield, and my most accurate throws come under pressure in the middle of a game when I can't possibly think about mechanics. -- Aaron

One area I think you could expand on is how to pick which kids should be pitchers. These past two seasons, the pitchers I ended up with were not the pitchers I started with. So these kids missed out on all the spring training for pitching. -- James

i think that if you're in an advanced baseball program at 13 and 14 it is easier to have teaching success. (In a way, it's sort of what you are paying for.) Left to your own devices, after a year or 2 on the mound and growing at the same time, results matter to HS coaches even if you aren't 'text-book' in terms of delivery. However, the 'teaches' - I think - give the player a higher chance for success for repeating a motion - and less chance of injury too. 1 of my son's coaches now (at 29) had success thru to his 2nd yr. in college. because of his size - 6'5" and velocity, coupled with his successes (starting pitcher in HS, league all-star, high 80's speed, his coaches changed nothing.) As a result, his shoulder started to really hurt in college, which led to 2 surgeries and now a teaching position for an AAU baseball program in the northeast. He confides to me know, he wishes he knew what he does now - he might still be playing. -- (name withheld due to nature of content)

What's the best way to teach 'a teach'? By using videotape? Show and tell? Stop and show player? What's the best way to 'non-teach'? By trial and error, i.e. the results justifying the means? Or by 'a teach' executed correctly leading to the 'non-teach' that's right for the player? -- B. Wong (Ed. note: This is the kind of questioning that shows the problem with teach, non-tech. To be very clear, a non-teach means you as a coach don't care about it, don't correct it, don;t worry about it; the player does whatever the player does.)

Teaching a young player to pitch is both difficult and rewarding. I instruct players from ages 8 thru 21 but mainly 10 thru 14 on pitching correctly with proper mechanics. Teaching proper mechanics is the bedrock of developing both velocity and control. Too many coaches out there, primarily at the youth level, are unaware of what problems can develop from not using proper mechanics. I have coached against a lot of these coaches in the area. They wonder why their pitching staff has dead arms, stiff arms even arm/shoulder pain caused by over use injuries as well as bad mechanics. My more advanced students, those with me year round, are placed on strength and conditioning programs of resistance tubing, rotator cuff, strenthing/conditioning, stretching routine and Plyometrics. The Plyo's are for lower body and medicine ball for the upper body. No heavy weight training. I have seen the results over the last five seasons my teams have combined for 125-49-2 .715. -- Art Craffey

This was an intersting excercise that left me questioning why I do things the way I do them. I thought I was a very organized when it comes to coaching pitching. You considered things I didn't but I wondered why some other questions weren't asked. I have seen and study most of Tom House's videos. He teaches the way I was taught so I go towards his methods. -- Kurt Olson (Ed note: If something wasn't asked it's because arbitrarily we didn't want an answer.)

i think the coach in high school has to teach proper mechanics, because the kids aren't learning it in little league. -- Rick Hofeditz

If a pitcher's mechanics are basically sound, he has good command of his pitches, has acceptable velocity and is having success on the field then I don't believe you should insist on making changes based upon a desire to achieve so called mechanical perfection. A little tweaking here and there over time maybe if you feel he isn't close to maximizing his physical potential is OK but otherwise I would just concentrate on building and maintaining proper physical and mental conditioning. I do believe that if you recognize a flaw that has proven to lead to physical injury that you must attempt to correct it for the pitchers own good even if he has less success for awhile as he adjusts. -- Danny D. Whitley

Releasing the ball closer to the plate adds the most percieved velocity. As long as the elbow is even or slightly above the shoulder level. -- Mark Balzer

Every aspect of the mechanics of pitching must be taught. I have a 6'3"" 16 year old lefty that I have coached to this last year. He is presently with [team name / location]. I concentrated on every detail of his delivery. I emphasized mechanics over power until he war a Major Peewee. He has thrown curve balls since he was nine years old against all the contrary opinions. Proper mechanics and lack of trauma on the joints kept him trouble free. He has never had an injury. This year he has been introduced to aerobics, weight and skill training programs to develop his fastball and build his 155 lb frame. Last year at 15 he was hitting 83-84 mph which is respectable for his age. He can throw everything from knuckle balls to you name it with accuracy. I believe that slow development in his case and emphasis on doing it right have made all the difference. The towel drill is to get extension and to finish off the natural arm progression forward. My sons arm looks like a rubber band when he finishes his pitch and is way down past his calf. The trailing leg comes up almost squared to the plate and I like him to stay low, staring at the plate to be ready to field the ball and protect himself. -- Tom Green

There's no such thing as a natural born pitcher. However, a coach has to build off of some natural talent. Therefore, proper mechanics must be taught. -- Joe McNealy

Trick questions, a good coach will concentrate on all aspects of pitching. They may not be the root of the problem (the coach has to be a motivator, teacher and a psychologist, but every bit helps. Very first question, most pitchers at the high school level want velocity. As a coach you have to make them understand that location and off speed (change the look of the exact same pitch in some cases) are what keeps batters off guard. -- Keith Dyer

While there are many that can and do get it done on their own, there is much that can be offered in the art of pitching. Tom House is a great example of this truth. -- Russ Burns [Ed note: I agree, except so often the 'truths' conflict.]

At the 11-12 yr old level pitching is all about balance and control. Most pitchers this age tend to just the throw the ball based on a preception of what they see from other sucessful youth pitchers. I try to get pitchers to find and maintain their balance using a motion that they can control. So all the stuff about lifting pulling, turning, twisting, shouldn't be added in until the pitcher has found balance and contol. -- Joe McNealy