Keeping Young Pitchers Healthy

niknat- that may be my favorite post of all time. Thank you for sharing.

 

Sometimes things just happen! Don't blame yourself, your son or any coach.

My son recently had TJ surgery and I was thinking all along that maybe this was my fault. We watched his pitch count, iced the arm, shut him down during the off seasons and did all the things that you think you should do to prevent injury. It still had to be done.

I talked to surgeons and PT's and asked the question ...why?

The bottom line is that this type of injury comes from just playing and throwing too much at an early age. Doesn't have to be baseball, just throwing. My son threw the football when he wasn't throwing the baseball. I know that the motion is different than throwing a baseball but you are still using that area to throw.

I did ask the question ...why has there been a least 9 major league players this year alone (with all the best care and doctors that they have) that have had TJ surgery. I was told that most have probably had problems for years but have masked the problem with rehab and shots. Eventually the problem can't be repaired any more and surgery is required.

It is what it is!

I'm just glad that the surgery today is almost 100% effective.

 

The worst thing a parent can do is let their kid pitch for a coach that does not have a clue or care. They are out there at all levels. This has messed up more arms than one can imagine. Moms and Dads do not be afraid to say something. Everyone loves to see their kid on the hill. Placing the ball in for the K. Just keep in mind. Life as a pitcher is based on that arm. Use it wisely and there will be more K's in the future. If not, a lot of what if's will be in the future. Get advise for those who really know.

 

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Pitchers

I have often been accused of being over-protective of my son. However, he is MY son. I have always had a very frank discussion with his coaches regarding "pitch counts". We establish them - together - and win, lose, or draw, he is not to exceed them. He has been pulled from the mound in several games due to pitch counts. A game is not worth the risk of injury.

I treat the college pitchers as if they are my flesh and blood. We establish the pitch counts and adhere to them. I have had well-meaning folks ask me why "so and so" was pulled from the game - "he was pitching so well". I'll not have the overuse of a pitcher on my conscious. I do not allow my own son to be abused so why would I abuse someone else's? I wouldn't!

I discourage our pitchers from throwing from mid - November to mid-January. Just the other day, my son was pitching in a game at USA Baseball. He has an 80 pitch limit this summer. He was removed after 75 pitches with his team was leading 8 - 2. They lost. A parent accused me of not caring about the team. My response? I love my son more.

Rightly or wrongly - I can live with the decision. He will have a longer life than a baseball career. Besides - what does it say about the other pitchers when a coach overuses ONE?

Enough of my ranting.......

Parents of pitchers? Always remember that he is YOUR son - NOT the coach's.

 

From someone with experience...

Great advice!

 

Haha

I'm not sure that we are on the right track.... I'm no doctor, but I have opinions of my own on this subject. When I have more time I will post my opinion.

Preparation is the key word when talking about pitching, imo, even as a youth. I disagree with doctors.

Each pitcher is different... How can we put the same total number on each pitcher? Are we really going to say that we have the answer on the number of pitches that young guys can throw....

Let me play devil's advocate here. What if we prepared a kid to throw 150 pitches from the time he was 8 years old. Do you think he would be able to throw 150 when he was 20? What if we played baseball with a seven ounce ball? Do you think our pitchers would adapt? Or do you feel like we would have to stop playing because it is too dangerous?

I'm going to say that 95% of doctors have not thrown a baseball past 18 years old.

 

here it is....how many of you guys played as many games as these kids do these days?

I firmly believe that you only have so many pitches in your arm and playing from january-january is way too many games for a kid to play. This travel ball stuff was fun during the summer when i was growing up, but it has gotten out of hand now. These kids need some time off for their elbows and shoulders to recuperate from the damage that it suffers from throwing breaking balls WAY before they need to. I get annoyed at these AAU and USSSA coaches that want to win so bad they see fit to ruin a kids arm to do so. Nice national AAU championship win, you have destroyed a kids future to get you lapel pin!

 

Great post Andro

What have you prepared yourself to do? If you threw from 50' all the time and then you were asked to throw from 60' what would happen? I used to be able to throw bp from a longer distance. But having to throw so much of it I moved in at a closer distance. Now I can not throw any bp from the longer distance. If players condition themselves to throw they can throw. If they prepare properly then they can go harder longer.

The problem is most kids do not throw enough and then try to throw too much. If kids throw properly and condition their arm and body to throwing then they can build a healthy strong arm. But if they dont throw enough and condition to throw then they go out and try to air it out that is when they get in trouble most of the time.

Every year when tryouts come along this is what I see. The kids that throw on a regular basis and condition on a regular basis never have sore arms. The players that have been "resting" their arms are hanging.

Each player is different. Some kids can go 80 90 100 pitches and cruise with very little arm fatigue. Some kids can throw 50 pitches and are hanging. I do not believe there is a magic pitch count out there that fits every kid. I have coached players that could pitch on Tuesday "80" pitches and were not even sore on Weds or Thurs. I have coached kids that could throw "40" "50" pitches in a game and hung the rest of the week. Know your players and listen to them. Players speak up and be honest.

But the bottom line is when I was a kid we threw everyday. We played in the yard every day. If we were not throwing a baseball we were throwing a football or rocks etc. We were active year round doing something. Now you have kids that sit around on their butt all week and then go out and try to throw the P out of the ball on the weekend. The only time they throw is in a game. They take long periods of time off from throwing and then show up and try to air it out.

I am a firm believer that most arm injuries are due to one of three things or a combo of the three.

#1- Not throwing enough and then trying to throw too much.
#2- Improper throwing mechanics.
#3- Over use at younger ages before the player has developed the strength and ability to handle the load. And improper throwing mechanics because proper mechanics have never been taught.

It just stands to reason if you get used to throwing everyday your arm will build strength and get used to the load. If you sit around on your butt everyday and then try to go out and throw you will be sore. The guys I have coached that throw alot and work on their mechanics and condition properly never hang other than the usual soreness if they have pitched the day before. The ones I have coached that only throw when its practice time and in games hang all the time.

One thing that does bother me is seeing kids pitch to a pitch count. How about going out there and just worry about getting guys out and take care of business. When you get tired or you can not longer get guys out then we will come get you. Pitch counts are good if the pitch count matches the pitcher. Pitch counts for the sake of having one are pointless imo.

Get your butt in shape and throw to condition the arm. Then go out there and pitch. A kid could be on a 70 pitch pitch count and need to come out after 50. You can tell by his mechanics breaking down etc. And the same kid might be fine after 70 and learning how to break that barrier. If you pitch to a prescribed pitch count all the time how do you learn how to break that barrier? So your only going to be able to throw 70 pitches in a game the rest of your life?

I understand concerns about throwing too much in a game. I understand the concerns about coaches abusing kids arms. But there is another side to this story too. And there is more to the story that is not always told. I believe that pitch counts should be individual things based on everything I have talked about.

Young kids dont throw enough anymore. Then someone has them throwing too much in a game. When was the last time a parent ran outside and said "Jimmy thats enough throwing with your brother. You have passed your pitch count."

 

There's a lot of anecdotal "evidence" being tossed around here, but personal experience is much too varied to rely on, especially when this issue has been subject to extensive medical study. Those doctors don't need to be pitchers in order to understand the workings of the arm and shoulder any more than an engineer needs to let people walk on him to know how to build a bridge. They have their positions because they understand how the body works, certainly better than someone who just goes by experience.

The point is that medical studies have documented the effects of pitching on young arms. Coach 27 is absolutely correct about the importance of building strength between outings, but for pitchers under the age of 18, that should generally entail long-toss type activities and throwing from other positions rather than bullpen type sessions. Max or near max effort pitching is not training the body so much as breaking it down. Those medical studies I referenced consistently found that pitch totals above a certain level (depending upon the age) resulted in statistically significant instances of arm pain and arm injuries, regardless of training. That's because the musculature is not fully developed until adulthood and is at greater risk of damage than with older athletes.

To me, that's a very important issue that gets swept under the rug by some people who just have a philosophical opposition to pitch counts. These limits were not just arbitrarily designed. They're the result of medical studies that documented the point at which young arms break down. While it is absolutely true that different pitchers will have different limits, none of us can guess which ones they have or where. Mark Prior was heralded as having near perfect mechanics and yet look at his career. We just don't know which pitch it will be that damages a young man's arm, which is why pitch counts based on medical science are so important for protecting all players.

So yes, strength building activities and other forms of conditioning are important both for developing the musculature to handle the high stress loads of a max effort pitch and to avoid the effects of fatigue on mechanics. Yet those strength building activities should not just be "more pitching," but rather other types of throwing, and ultimately there is a threshold at which all young pitchers are put at risk regardless of training or preparation. You can't train an arm to go beyond its physical limits, and with growing bodies that haven't fully developed adult musculature or skeleture, those limits are lower than what a 19 or 20 year old can sustain.


In any case, here are some links that people can read to find out about those medical studies as well as to find age-appropriate pitch counts:
http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/usab/genrel/auto_pdf/youth-injuries.pdf
http://www.asmi.org/asmiweb/research/baseball.htm
http://www.asmi.org/asmiweb/research/usedarticles/elbshopain.htm
http://www.asmi.org/SportsMed/youth/PITCHCNT.PDF