06/23/09 - 06:44 PM
Baseball summer camps are always popular in the Panhandle, especially camps held at Chipola College, a school with a reputation of success on the diamond.
This week, Chipola head coach Jeff Johnson and his coaching staff is holding pitching and hitting camps.
Today, kids ages 8-18 are hitting the mound learning the basic fundamentals from the ground up on pitching.
“We start and try to teach them how on getting to the correct position with their upper body, their lower body, where they are supposed to land, where their arm is supposed to be. We try to teach them how to be consistent and throw strikes consistent and in the good part of the zone,” said Johnson.
With a wide age group, Coach Johnson says each kid learns at his own pace.
“Every kid is going to get a certain amount out of it. Some kids get more than others. Hopefully kids come in with a good attitude, wanting to learn,” said Johnson.
Every kid enters the two-day camp wanting to learn something different about the pitching aspect of the game.
“I’m trying to get my stance better, so I can push off more and learn to take more stress off my arm,” said Ty Sheffield.
“How to pitch and throw curve balls and change-ups,” said Garrett Carman.
“How to pitch and get more accuracy on my pitch,” said Chasen Roulhac.
Even with the camp only being two days, Coach Johnson says he can see improvement in what the kids are trying to do.
“I think you see a big improvement as far as what they are doing mechanically and understanding mechanically. You don’t really get a good outcome right now because it’s a change for a lot of them but as far as where their body is supposed to be where their mechanics are supposed to be, I think they understand that,” Johnson stated.