Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School
May 8th, 2010 | 
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Leo Mazzone is pro baseball’s premier pitching coach. In his years with the Atlanta Braves, he has trained several Cy Young Award winners and helped lead his team to the World Series. In Pitch like a Pro, Mazzone and coauthor Jim Rosenthal offer step-by-step instructions for players and coaches in Little League through high school. They teach all of the pitching basics and give athletes advice on how they can use the right training techniques to grow stronger and stay healthier. Contents include: Mazzone’s between-starts throwing program How to grip different pitches Proper mechanics and delivery technique Pitching strategies and tactics Field the position Pitch like a Pro offers contributions … More >>
Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School
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The book, Pitch Like A Pro, is the result of the experience of sage Coach Leo Mazzone with valuable contributions by veteran pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Denny Neagle. The book provides the reader a common sense, inside look at the coaching philosophy that has produced one of the best pitching staffs of this century.
Respectfully, I am concerned with a portion of the weight training section of the book. The strength coach specifically recommends machine and straight bar (Smith machine) lifts. This practice can lead to Bencher’s shoulder (acromio-clavicular damage) and subsequent rotator cuff impingement. A safer alternative would replace straight bar training with light dumbbells and cable work to afford movement within physiologic arcs of shoulder movement. In addition, light dumbbell and cable work provides work to secondary agonist stabilizers that may provide better overall results.
I am greatly appreciative of the information and insight provided by Coach Leo Mazzone and his All-Star staff.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this book with a leap faith, believing that since it had been authored by one of the most capable, recognizable pitching coaches for the most pre-emininent pitching staffs in all of baseball, it couldn’t help but be great. t’s full of “Glavine does this, “What Maddux as he…” and “Smoltz is great when he…”. The book is of little use for coaches of little league teams who wish to impart valuable information to their players or correct pitching flaws. Maybe coaching the Braves pitchers is the easiest job in baseball because you don’t have to tell those players anything at all. Personally, as a coach, I’ve read quite a few books on the subject and view a number of videos. For step by step, clear instruction, I’ve found, essentially without exception the best to be ones produced by coaches of little league, high school or college instructors. This book is not for you if you’re looking to be helpful to kids with pitching problems and questions. By buying on a leap of faith, I violated one of literature’s oldest axioms; you can’t tell a book by looking at the cover.
Rating: 1 / 5
Reasons to buy this book include: a) its emphasis on THROWING b) the simple presentation of proper technique c) throwing schedules and pitcher checkpoints d) the emphasis on supervision of the pitchers while they throw
This book is not so much about techniques as it is about a developing a philosophy concerning the training and conditioning of pitchers. As Mazzone points out, all the technique in the world is of no use if the pitcher can’t go to the post when he is scheduled to. This book is not all inclusive concerning pitching, but how many books are? There is valuable information in this book, and coaches everywhere who are interested in getting the most from the arms on their staff should take the time to read it.
Rating: 5 / 5
Teaches you the different grips, the proper way to the the different pitches, different exercizes, when and how to rest, and much much more all in only 112 pages with pictures on most of them
Rating: 5 / 5
Pitching Like a Pro offers a comprehensive outline of what it takes to be a successful pitcher with longevity, whether at a professional level or starting out as a child (or anywhere in-between). Leo Mazzone was a pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves during their many successive years of making the playoffs as a result of one of the best pitching staffs in major league history; thus the information provided comes from a very qualified source.
The book covers Throwing Programs, which outlines the workout and training regimens enacted by the Braves pitching staff. It also covers how to grip the ball for all the basic pitches, a full chapter on mechanics, another on tactics, full descriptions on how to field at the pitching position, and finally physical conditioning.
Overall this book is as fine a foundation as one will find on becoming an effective pitcher and having a long lasting career without injury. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to improve their pitching performance and avoid injury.
Rating: 4 / 5