Article in NY Times about Arm Trouble & Pitching

Saw this in my Sunday a.m. read; it has a NC angle as well . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09littleleague-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

 

outstanding article

 

I have had the same conversation with 11yr old dads of pitchers that Dr. Andrews talked about in terms of the pitch count and the overlap of playing with different teams. My son is not old enough to be involved yet, but I do not understand the mentality of "got to win" at 12 years old to the point of pushing your child beyond what is expected of a major leaguer????

 

The Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) or "Tommy John" ligament can withstand 32 Newton-meters (Nm) of force for a certain amount of time before it ruptures. A fastball can generate up to 64Nm at the elbow. Why, then, doesn't the UCL tear with the first pitch? It has to do with the angle at which the elbow is placed when the 32Nm does the damage.

When a pitcher's arm (more specifically the shoulder) becomes weak or fatigued, the elbow drops down into the "danger zone" for a longer period of time. The injury usually occurs towards the latter part of the game or following multiple innings from multiple teams.

We can discuss/debate playing on multiple teams at the same time, specializing in one sport, and/or implementing a certain pitch count. But the one thing that needs to be discussed is something that can be controlled by the pitcher and the pitcher's parents - the physical conditioning of the pitcher before and during the season(s).

Here is an analogy in attempts to put this into perspective...


When a car's front end is out of alignment a number of symptoms occur.

• The tires wear unevenly
• The steering wheel shakes
• The front end may even bounce up and down somewhat

All of these symptoms are telling the car owner that something is wrong with the car. If gone unattended, the tire can blow out causing a wreck.

What do some car owners do? Some put new tires on the front of the car. This results in the car driving better for awhile but the problem is still there - the front end is still out of alignment.

In the article referenced at the beginning of this post, the young man had some symptoms also. Unfortunately, he only had some new tires put on...

• He tried new positions on the field
• He tried resting so much time for each inning he pitched
• He used ointments and lintiments

But his problem was still there. Something was still causing his "front end to be out of alignment". I venture to guess it was related to his shoulder.

We buy our pitchers the best equipment (including the necklaces and bracelets), we purchase individual instruction, and we search out the best travel teams. Don't we owe it to our young pitchers to make sure that their shoulders and arms (and the rest of their bodies) are in the best physical condition as possible?

Wishing each of you health and success,

 

Outstanding post..thank you for sharing!!! I hope you plan to contribute now and in the future

 

Fantastic Post ATC... Great article

ATC... Couldn't have said it better myself. It's not always about the number of pitches. It's about the preparation to throw the number of pitches that you are asked. I have posted a lot of things on the website about this in the past. Taken some heat for it as well.

The 80/20 rule applies here. 80 percent preparation ie practice. 20 percent competition ie games played.

I wish the article would have gone into a little more depth about what exactly Dr. Andrews wants to do exactly at the youth levels besides limiting pitch count and maximizing rest between. I'd like to see what he does with the youth at his facility.

That might have been some of the best info ever posted on this board.

 

My youngest son was having some elbow pain recently so I took him to Dr. Gramig in Greensboro. He trained with Andrews and then trained Andrews #2 guy in Ala. I did not let him pitch between ages 11 and 13. I saw no use in him throwing too much and risking injury just to win some stupid USSSA game. My son never throws many pitches, usually just goes 3-4 innings. One time this year he went 7 innings with 85 pitches. Usually he stays under 60 and he was 14 at the time (now he is 15). As it turned out it was nothing but we rested him anyway.

Here is what we learned. My son grew 7 inches in a little less than a year. He is now 6'2 1/2" and a freshman. He does not have the core body strength to support all the growth. So for 6 months he has been doing much more core body strength work along with some band work. He uses some of the drills the old L-R and Belmont Abbey coach teach. I plan to keep him in strength training most of the year.

The doctor also was an advocate that kids need to shut it down for periods of time. I lean on this website (TBR) for opinions from knowledgeable sources. Some people here believe arm strength comes from lots of long toss, even in the off season. But this doctor said you definitely need to take some time off. FWIW, this doctor was also not a fan of young kids throwing curve balls. I do not have an educated opinion on that. Just sharing his comments. Any opinions someone may have are always appreciated.

 

Applaud you One Putt

One Putt and others,

The core is a HUGE area of concern with adolosecent athletes. So I applaud you for getting your son some attention at his core.

I am glad to hear that your son's elbow pain turned out to be "nothing".

Just keep in mind that there are over 20 muscles that affect the shoulder (which in turns affects the elbow). The shoulder blade is a "core" unto itself as it serves as a transition between the energy generated from the ground up through the legs into the trunk before the energy is transmitted to the arm (elbow) and ultimately the ball.

If your son experiences any other elbow issues, his shoulder may be the culprit.

Wishing you health and success,

 

Thanks for the advice, ATC. We are focusing on core strength and pitching fundamentals. I hope it's teh right thing to do. As a parent I have to rely on the advice of others on this subject.

 

Rehab

My son went through rehab last fall and he asked the specialist how long he would have to do his "Y's" and "T's" (in order to strengthen the back muscles) in order to pitch again. Told him up until the time he decided to stop pitching. He said that so many people don't realize how important the back muscles really were in keeping the arm and shoulder in good condition and out of harms way. He does those and his band on a daily basis. It's really that important.