All Articles by John Pinkman

A Great Year to Study Leadership

We must present examples of positive leaders with integrity and the values we want to instill in our children, says a longtime baseball coach, and the athletic field provides players with the opportunity to learn and test those values.
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Pitch Velocity: Just One of Many Injury Risk Factors

While a recent study suggests that the harder a youth baseball pitcher throws, the greater may be the risk of elbow injury,  particularly to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), and that pitching velocity should be factored into pitch counts in order to protect against injuries, pitch velocity is just one of many factors that increase injury risk.
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Advice to Coaches: Involve Players In Planning Practices

If you are a coach, try beginning practice by telling players the entire practice plan. You probably have it written down already.  Just hand it out. It is the responsibility of a good coach to know the skills his players need to develop. In that plan include a time period where the players decide what is best for the team or them personally, based on the last game. If players have a hard time speaking with coaches, they should write down the skills that are important for them to learn.
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Travel Ball: Are More Players, Fewer Teams Needed?

Every year, without fail, independent travel baseball teams start up without the number of players they need to insure a dependable, quality, and competitive team but, just as importantly, a healthy and safe baseball playing experience.
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Preventing Pitching Injuries: Allow Adequate Warm Up

Inadequate warm-up is one often overlooked risk factor for youth baseball pitchers .  Research by the American Sports Medicine Institute shows that a pitcher needs to throw twenty-five fastballs before he achieves command and is fully warmed up. The problem is that a pitcher who comes to the mound from playing another position as a reliever only gets seven tosses before facing live batters.
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John Pinkman
John Pinkman

Memorial Day: Why We Take the Day Off

Submitted by John Pinkman on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 17:56. | comments
Military gravestones with American flagsSomewhere between the hot dogs and ice cream this weekend, while you are partying with your friends and family, please pause to remember why you have the day off. While we are partying there are tens of thousands who are not. They are not hiking on the beach or Appalachian Trail. They are not sailing on the bay. They are walking in the deserts and mountains with 80 pounds of gear. They are out to sea in 25 foot swells. They would tell you they are the lucky ones.
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Athletic Values, Leadership Skills Need to Be Taught in Youth Sports

The vast majority of children who play youth sports don't end up in the pros. So what is the real purpose of amateur sports? Most parents will say for children to learn athletic values and leadership skills.  But exactly how does that happen? As a culture, we expect student-athletes will become leaders by merely participating in sports. But these values need to be taught.
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John Pinkman
John Pinkman

Parents Ultimately Responsible For Protecting Child From Abusive Baseball Coaches

Submitted by John Pinkman on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 18:23. | comments

The youth baseball season has hardly started and the abuse has started again.

Each year, every year, it is as though some people coaching children haven't read a single word about handling pitchers. And if they have recent knowledge and, for whatever reason, fail to implement safe play and continue to coach in a manner harmful to players, it is your responsibility as a parent to stop it. 

Not discuss it.

Stop it.

It's your child.

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Youth Baseball Pitching: Teaching Proper Mechanics Critical

One of the best ways to protect against arm injuries in youth baseball and maximize your child's natural ability is to teach proper pitching mechanics at as early an age as possible. Teaching your child about pitching mechanics doesn't need to be complicated, and it doesn't need to be too technical, but you and your child must be willing to commit enough time to understand the entire process, step by step.

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Batting Practice Pitcher: Most Dangerous Position

What is the most dangerous position in baseball? Is it the catcher? No. Third base? Guess again. A pitcher in the aluminum bat world? Close! Actually, the most severe accidents in indoor/outdoor baseball facilities are to the face and upper torso of adults and players pitching batting practice behind so-called "L" screens.
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