limit pitches & curve balls ??

in the LL world series telecast last night, they said that consideration was being given to include rules that would limit pitchers to a certain pitch count & to limit or eliminate pitchers from throwing curve balls & other breaking pitches. this is for ages 11-12 LL'ers.

thoughts?

 

Great..I hope they do this. All a pitcher needs at that level is a FB & changeup anyway. I'm amazed at some of the things I see each year. Just the other night a kid threw 142 pitches...and his father is the coach.

Nobody needs to throw a CB until they are at least 16 and even then I have my doubts.

Just the other night they showed on TV the rapid increase of TJ surgeries at a much younger age. The kid they profiled that went under surgery was 9 yo.....sheesh!!!! It should be outlawed at the LL level.

 

My younger brother.....rising soph. at East Forsyth....just started playin around with grips of the curve at 14 and never really threw it until this year...I think throwing with fastball and change-up really teaches the kids at the young age to pitch and not just throw.....Up until last year...my brother was a successful pitcher in little league and aau baseball with a fastball and change-up..location was the key to his success

just my 2 cents though

 

Agreed

The way i see it is that anytime you allow a 11-12 year old to throw 142 pitches in a game you dont have his best interest in mind. Heck I question it with 18 year olds... Curves shouldnt be thrown until he is more developed. You can put movement on your pitches without the stress of throwing curves or sliders by adjusting your grips on fastballs and changes. Let young pitchers learn to throw strikes and locate pitches. Change speedds, locate, and vary slightly on a grip and you can be very effective.

 

I wasn't allowed to throw a curve till I was 14 and a half.

 

I agree that there are ways to pitch effectively at 12 w/o throwing the curve. I taught my Little Leaguers to throw a variation of the knuckle-curve. When it is thrown 3/4's arm angle, it automatically broke.

By the way, I am more appalled at Legion coaches who abuse their staff than Little League coaches. I kept the book for Lexington & counted pitches for both starters. I can name a half dozen games in which an opponent topped 150 pitches. That is criminal & should be regulated too. The kid can't walk off the hill...His competitive spirit won't permit it. Coaches should be fired who let a pitcher go past low 100's. Just my opinion.

 

i agree UK... but i threw in the 125 range many times and never had arm problems till i started playing softball in my late 20's ....

todays kids are alot stronger and have the ability to throw many more pitches... i get complaints about thr fork ball.. but i know one kid that does it and has never had arm problems ...

 

when everybody wasn't swinging a $200 lethal weapon, you could win the
LLWS without a curveball

some kids are actually mature enough to throw a (properly taught) curve
at that age, it is the pitch count and number of curves that create sore arms

P.S. i think they put mics on the coaches so the "evil dad" won't come out as much for the TV games

 

Intimidator, I am not a doctor so I confess I'm uncertain about the point of safety. I just know that the guys who play for pay generally have a 100 pitch stop sign.

I'm not looking to create another rule that a team can employ to get a forfeit victory (Heaven knows we've had too many in Legion ball the past couple of years)...But I do think there ought to be sanctions against coaches who display poor discretion. If I had a pitcher son whose $$ college education depended on keeping a healthy arm, I would be very very hesitant to allow him to play for certain teams.

 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice that....but a couple of years ago they had one miked up who forgot about it and let one flyyyyy...they no longer broadcasted him again.