Pitching: At what age do you......

I have not heard of many injuries to FP pitchers... nothing like on the boys side (which I will mention in a minute in more detail). However, in those instances where arm injuries have been suffered it was blamed on screw balls and rise balls. I also seriously doubt than many MD's understand the motion and potential stresses a FP motion puts on a girl's arm. I am going to suggest however that its number of pitches thrown (too many) that is the greatest contributing factor rather than type of pitch.

I will back up my statement by using the Williamsport Little League as my example. As many of you may be aware there is probably not a more law suit phobic organization on the planet than Little League. After an exhaustive two year research project they concluded that they would simply limit the number of pitches thrown and that the age old blaming of throwing too many curve balls was not a contributing factor in youth arm injuries.

I will give another example.. the "smart" parents and coaches are SAVING the arms and limiting pitching opportunities of young boys who can throw it the FP equivelent of 65 +\-. They know there are only so many pitches in an arm.

While there is little doubt there is NOT the stress put on a girl's arm using the FP motion that an overhand motion exerts any sort of highly repetative motion no mater how inocuous can be damaging.... for instance carple tunnel. And on that note I will stop typing!

 

I think girls should start working on these pitches as soon as they begin pitching, however, the only thing I think they should do is spin the ball (not making an arm circle or making a very slow one). I think it makes it much easier when they get a little older and actually start throwing the pitches at full speed. Arm injuries most of the time are just the result of bad mechanics. You could have an arm injury just from throwing a fastball. Also, another thing to consider is the fact that some people are prone to having arm injuries so it doesn't matter if they are throwing at 11 or 16, they just have a high risk for injury.

 

Good Instruction and Common Sense

First...
As Cheeze has stated, focus on the fastball and change first.. but instructors should focus on two things when working with young pitchers, mechanics and timing.
These issues are defined as follows:
if a ball is missing inside or outside, it is mechanical,
if it is missing high or low, then it is a timing problem.
Both of these should be worked on by focusing on ball rotation and spin.

IMO.. the drop ( peel drop )is the first pitch to teach after the player has developed a consistent motion that is safe and strong. Teaching the rotations needed to throw the peel drop is easy because it is very consistent with a 4 seam fastball grip, with the emphasis on ball rotation. It can be thrown to corners, and gives excellent downward movement. The turnover drop, while popular with HS and travel ball pitchers, alters the pitching motion and is easily detectable. Effective college pitchers throw the peel.

The hardest pitches to learn and throw correctly is the rise. It is also the pitch of choice of many. Unfortunately, most kids are not being taught to throw it correctly, and this is causing unneeded stress on the elbow as well as the shoulder.
Biggest error is the emphasis on the wrist snap. The wrist does not spin the ball, the FINGERS do... Correct rotation is what makes it move up or down...and our fingers start and control the rotation.

I am not gonna get into the different types and levels of instruction that is now available, but this pitch can hurt a young arm if not taught correctly. A riseball is not acheived by throwing from below your knee and a negative body posture. That is a quick ticket to shoulder and elbow problems.

Simple rule of thumb... If your instructor can't throw it, how can they teach it.
Would you take a golf lesson form someone who can drive it straight?

As far as how much is too much, We have all heard tales of kids throwing four 7 inning ballgames on a Sunday afternoon, coming through the loser's bracket. We all are quick to emphasis the ole " it's a natural motion" and "there is no shoulder strain".

She may have got through the day, but it is not a healthy practice.
It is done all the time, but we really need to understand the unneeded risks we are putting on these kids.

 

Expert

Spoken from a true teacher and student of the game and pitching. Charlie is a great teacher and no one cares more about his players.

 

Pitching

Interesting topic to say the least... We tend to focus on the pitches and mechanics in these discussions. I believe mechanics (poor mechanics) are a big contributor to arm/shoulder ailments. One area that isn't mentioned often enough is core strength of the athlete involved...

My daughter has recently battled rotator cuff tendonitis. The orthopedic folks tell us that it is largely due to her need to improve her core muscle groups. It would be easy to say a child that at age 14 who is 5'8 and 135 lbs, plays softball nearly year round and plays volleyball, is in above average shape. However, when muscle specific testing was performed, it was clear that she had weak areas. Of course, legs are super important (an area of weakness for DD). Muscular imbalance in the shoulders and back is another potential problem area. Exercise bands are now our new best friend!

We have been to a wide array of pitching instructors since she began pitching at age 9. A few of them have mentioned leg drive, strengthening of the legs as important. However, not a single pitching instructor (including two that are college assistants) has discussed core conditioning with us.

I am of the opinion that any pitcher, regardless of age should be taught to focus on core conditioning as part of their training program. Unfortunately, I do not believe many pitching instructors incorporate this into their teaching.

 

great post and correct insight....

Core conditioning should be a part of every softball player, pitcher or position player. Besides the obvious health benefit, it helps stabilize the spine and joints while the body produces movement. Once the player has developed a stable core, they would work on core condioning to gain core strength. This allows the core muscles to produce a large of amount of push or force at release.
We have our kids (pitchers and position players) work with a 4.4 kilo strength balls in an effort to make them stronger and more flexible. None of them had worked with one before they arrived at Peace.

I agree that this is cutting edge. I doubt many of the local " softball pitching coaches" have a clue about core conditioning and why it is important to the development and as well as health of the athlete.

 

some "local coaches" do.

"get down and get up drill" ....Explosion, Extention and excellation are important and core work is daily with some around these parts........just sayin, Coach!

 

GOLD VS. LOCALS

UHHH, ok, How ironic it is that this post is referring to "locals" as "having" the "know" pitching wise, while Coach Dobbins is the type of pitching coach that is considered gold. I recall somewhere that fastpitch players have to play GOLD and travel everywhere, in order to be the best. BS You are the 2nd user on TBR to shoot down the importance of playing GOLD. See #43. Sorry to lay the lumber my friend. Marlin

 

You are absolutely right..kudo's to recognizing and preaching it on the field..all the new hi-tech training tools don't hold a candle to a good series of up and down crunches.... Please forgive my brain freeze..ROCK ON !