I started coaching baseball (8-11 year olds) and was at a definite disadvantage to teach my strong throwers the mechanics of pitching. This book fit the bill - it is simple, elegant, informed and provides useful diagrams and illustrations. I have read a number of books on coaching in the past few months...and this one was perhaps the most useful. I encourage coaches to acquire it, and it is also just what it says - a great guide for parents of youth who aspire to pitch.

This is not an all encompassing work on every aspect of pitching a baseball up to World Series level. It isn't intended to be, and the foreward expressly states that. This is a book for the parent of an 8, 9, or 10 year old who shows interest and potential to be a pitcher, and in that context it's gonna be real hard to do better than this. There is information that can help you, and your child, up toward age 14 or maybe more, but the primary focus is on safe, correct, basic pitching technique and exercise. If you don't know anything about pitching you need this book, but if you THINK you know something about pitching you should buy 2, one for the player so you won't cripple his arm before he's old enough to shave. That could have read "shave her legs". Girls pitch, too. It says so right in the book.

As most Little League coaches, I started because my kids wanted to play. I also realized that pitching is one of those things in baseball if done incorrectly can hurt a kid. I didn't want any of that on my watch.

I bought this book and "The Pitching Edge" by Tom House. This book describes the pitching process in a way that's easy to understand and implement. House is a lot more detailed in technique, angles, etc. and targeted at a much more technical audience. This book provides an explanation of the process that is appropriate for kids and parents teaching kids.

The author thoroughly explains the entire pitching process, but in the end he comes back with "the most important things to remember for kids.". He describes how to throw various pitches and should you or shouldn't you teach your kids to throw the curve. (It's up to you. Buy the book to find out why.)

I have recommended and loaned my copy of this book to the parents on my kids Little League team. I highly recommend this book for any parent trying to teach their kids how to pitch.

i read this whole book, and don't regret having done so. caudle really got into the head of his main character, and told a unique and honest story, one better than so many of the hip, modern young adult books out now. it's vein of honesty and lack of pretension were really its strongest points.

that said...WHAT THIS BOOK NEEDED AND LACKED MOST WAS A GOOD EDITOR!!! some of the characters desperately needed to be tightened up (the black friend Tina Triplett), and the story line needed to be condensed just as desperately. at times i just got plain sick of reading about tangents into essentially irrelevant and not even very interesting areas. i only continued reading because of the story's strong and clear essence. the main character, her father, her brother, and her mother - and all of their relationships were on the money.

last gripe: the cruelty of the child protective services workers, Ramona, was over the top, as was the character of the friend Tina, and these two characters...so unlike the others in the book...came across as caricatures of potential characters.