Keeping Young Pitchers Healthy

There it is...wise counsel

 

Great discussion , on both sides...

I "believe" in pitch counts, but I think consistent recovery times may be more important. Therein lies the issue that weekend tournaments present (not to mention playing on 2 teams) ...kid goes 7 on Friday, throws 105 pitches ... and coach asks him if he an inning or 2 on Sunday. Truly scary stuff...but a true story from a recent showcase tournament. Coaches need to err more on the side of caution...certainly "asking" a kid if he can go is nuts, you know the right answer.

Parents really need to be educated and have input re: what is approrpriate... the result of a tournament game just cant drive these decisions.

 

Parents are the real problem.

They think their 10 year old son needs to play year around so that the scouts will see him play, give me a break. Parents feeling that if their son doesn't play year around he won't get any better and then when he gets hurt because his body has had no rest then it "lets blame the coaches."

I remember one poster on here about a month ago worrying because his son doen't want to play summer ball. These are your kids and my god they have a life and it doesn't have to be baseball 24/7. These are your kids and they only can be a child for so long and don't take that away from them for your own pride.

There is no reason why a 10 year old should be playing year around because he has nothing to prove to anyone or any scout and he is still young. IMO, if your worried about your son getting exposure then start him on travel ball teams or legion when he is in high school.


One thing mentioned on here that no one has said are arm bands. Some people know them as tubes or medical tubes or some kind of rubber material to help strengthen their arm. You can get them at wal mart or go to a health material store and they will have surgical tubing which is probably the best because you can get different types of tubing. In order to strengthen their arm, throwing everyday is not the answer. You have to give the kid rest even if he doesn't pick up a ball for two days, doing tubing exercises(IMO everyday) and light weights for younger kids will do them more good than throwing every single day.

Here is an article I found involving tubing exercises...

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=78846

If you want to go to someone professionaly then there is no one better in NC than Alan Tyson. I worked with him a lot and he knows his stuff and will get you on the right track as long as you follow his plan and do the workouts like he instructs you too. Anyone that knows him has nothing but great things to say about him and his staff..here is a link to their website
http://www.epicenterperformance.com/sports/pro-athletes.cfm


One last thing, stop having 12 year olds throwing curveballs and sliders every other pitch, thats part of the reason. I have seen and played with people that threw the best curveball in LL but their senior year in high school they couldn't even throw a ball because their arm was dead. I like to read on here where some coaches do care but the ones that only care about winning shouldn't be coaching at all because there in it for the wrong reason. I dont have a problem with a kid experimenting with a curveball or slider as long as they are doing it the right way. If the coach has a freakin clue and monitoring the kids and making sure the arm slot is good and the kid is not putting to much stress on his arm then trying it in practice or throwing it in a game is ok. If I coached a LL team, I would not allow more than 10 curves or sliders a game even if I did lose every game, it's about development, not winning. The days of teaching good mechanics, hitting spots, throwing changeups or throwing a fastball with movement seem to be going away. If you want to save your kid's arm, have him develop a good changeup, makes the hitters look stupid and hardly any stress on the arm. The ability to trust your changeup and throw it at any time in any count will give you the advantage because it can really throw a hitters timing off.

 

Alan Tyson is no longer affiliated with the Epicenter or with Ortho Carolina

 

Lefty, good points :

* Tubes are a great thing...my youngster uses them daily.
* Curveballs do not assist in the long term development of young pitchers, but learning good mechanics and how to locate the 2 & 4 seam FB (along with a straight change, of course ) will.

 

I didn't realize that, thank you Braves.

 

Curve Balls and Sliders

Great discussion all the way around...

Like most of you my son played travel ball and LL since he was 8.
He can throw fairly hard and always could - even when little.

We had a rule - no curve balls until he turns 16. No exceptions. Ever.

His travel ball coach hated our rule. His LL coach hated our rule. Both tried to show him how to throw the curve ball - it is very effective at 10 -14 years old.

He learned how to locate his FB and learned how to throw the circle change. As a third pitch, he learned how to throw the knuckleball (a lot of fun at the young ages and easy on the arm).

He is 16 now and is learning how to throw some breaking pitches with a qualified pitching coach. He DID NOT NEED THEM BEFORE NOW. PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR 10, 12 OR 14 YEAR OLD GET SUCKED INTO THROWING THESE PITCHES. Their arms are not mature enough for the torque.

Stay healthy and have fun. Maybe you will get a chance at the next level, but not if you don't take care of your arm from the start.

Lots of coaches will tell you "throw it 12-6 and it won't hurt you". BULL. At least 75% of the kids that threw all those breaking balls early have arm problems or don't pitch anymore as a result.

 

Where is the stress exerted on the arm throwing a 12-6 breaking ball? That pitch doesn't seem like it would be as stressful as a true slider(if I know the difference between how the two are thrown). Also, I've seen a pictorial sequence of a Steve Carlton Slider that some claim greatly reduces the stress of throwing such. Carlton's slider probably won't break as hard. Am I off base here?

 

12 - 6

I got on my soapbox a little there...

12-6 if done properly, can probably be okay if used sparingly. BUT, most kids who learn to throw the curve also figure out (in about five minutes) that if they drop it down a little they get more movement.

The next thing they figure out (in the second five minutes) is that if they snap it a little they can strike out a lot of batters with a little sharper movement. Watch the LL world series....watch how they snap them off.

This is why (IMHO) they should have the umpires call a ball anytime a young kid throws a breaking ball. Take it out of the players and coaches hands. Make the playing field level by not allowing any young kids to throw them.

The 12-6 curve is the proverbial "slippery slope" that leads to hurt kids in the long run. Again, this is just my opinion, and I am sure there are a lot of folks that disagree...

 

I didn't think you were on a soapbox at all. I just want to know. A proper 12-6 CB has a fairly big loop, correct? The more extention you get, and the harder you snap at the end, the sharper & later the break, and the more stress?