Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School [Paperback]

Jim Rosenthal (Author), Leo Mazzone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1999

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 by such well known pitchers as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smotz, and Denny Neagle, along with black-and-white instructional photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Is pitching an art or a science? Judging by all of the technical manuals on the subject, pitching seems to be an exact science. Lee Mazzone, pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves, disagrees: "Why turn something as basic as throwing a baseball into a science project?" Successful pitching isn't easy, but it is simple. The secret? Pitch every day--but regulate your intensity.

In this slender but informative volume, Mazzone describes throwing programs, pitching strategies, and conditioning for pitchers from Little Leaguers up through high school. Over 60 photographs of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and other Braves illustrate pitching motion and various grips, while a special section on fielding for pitchers describes drills to keep hurlers in top form for bunts, covering first base, and setting up double plays. Though some of the conditioning and pitching drills seem impractical for the youngest players, coaches and older hurlers will find much useful information here. --M. Stein

About the Author

Leo Mazzone is the pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves. He works with Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and the current crop of Atlanta's young pitching stars.

Jim Rosenthal is a well-known health and fitness writer who has authored several books including Kiana's Body Sculpting, Lee Haney's Ultimate Bodybuilding, and Tony Gwynn's Total Baseball Player.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312199465
• ISBN-13: 978-0312199463
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Pitching Balk! - Not a Book!, May 29, 2000

By 

Lawrence Wood "Larry Wood" (Bowmanville, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School (Paperback)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all coaches and pitchers., July 28, 1999

By 

James Demetrious "DC, FACO" (Wilmington, N.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School (Paperback)

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.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to pitching skills and throwing programs, June 22, 2000

By 

Frank Burnette (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School (Paperback)

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.