Arm Care

You guys are going to want to hang me for saying this, but honest, parents of players need to administer pitch counts and talk to their coaches about it if you want this to work. I don't mean complain or act out during games, etc. If your pitcher is one of the better kids on their team, they are going to be utilized. It is incumbent upon parents to be parents and coaches to allow them to speak to them, educate them and be part of managing the situation. I understand that we don't want helicopter parenting as coaches, but in some cases it's taken to the extreme. Travel ball and High School coaches take themselves entirely too seriously and act like untouchables in some cases. In this case, coaches need to be open, approachable and work with parents together to manage and protect the kids arms.

Organizations can do it (which we do, MLB Pitch smart by age, but we are a 1 team org so it's easy for us to police it and have both coach and parent accountability). The issue with most organizations, while I think all of them would oblige and do it, is this:
- You will have kids playing on multiple teams in some cases (school team, travel team, eventually showcases they jump into, etc at older ages). Who can police pitches in this situation other than a parent?
- You will have parents who are not educated
- You will have coaches who care, but get lost in the heat of the moment of course (and by the way, body composition does matter, MLB Pitch smart is a guideline it is not gospel...although I do agree it should be closely followed as a guideline...nobody should freak out if their kid pitches once a week and goes 5 or 10 pitches over it)

Speaking of arm care and pitch counts there is another issue that everyone wants to ignore. Pitch smart says that kids need 3-4 months of cool down periods. When does this happen? Fall Ball prohibits it unless you push your winter workouts and bullpens back into Feb. Most orgs I know offer fall baseball as well as winter workouts starting just after the holidays. And how about pitchers that then catch and play SS for 5 more games in a weekend?

I am not advocating for fall ball or against fall ball. Or multi-position players being shut down or not shut down. I am just saying that it takes the effort of quality coaches working together with parents and some common sense to get this right. You cannot just set a hard pitch limit in a tournament and think it is going to solve the problem. Sure, it will help. But there are a plethora of other ways in which it won't matter, cited above, unless parents get educated and get involved. And as coaches we need to allow them to be (to the degree appropriate) and not act like we are untouchable.

Dhicks I agree that is what I said "Body composition does matter". Totally agree w/your note above.

I hear ya 6 games in 3 days...NEED CAFFEINE.

I witnessed a 9 year old throw over 220 pitches this weekend. He started 3 consecutive days and went over 70 pitches each start. It was really sad to see

Who ever posted this is an idiot.....
The tournament was 4 days long.
Pitch count is archaic!
If a kid pitches 10-12 pitches and then the team hits for 10 minutes and the pitchers has a rest period of 10 minutes then he can pitch all day. What is the difference between just throwing 50-100 times in warm ups and pitching in a game 10-12 pitches every 15 minutes.
Stupidity on the part of the person here! Just wow!
This person doesn’t know anything about baseball and is simply going off what they think they have heard from someone else.
Pitch count is the most archaic way to track proper growth in a pitcher and if anyone thinks that this person is intelligent........... then just wow!

Educate yourself to the 21st century.
We have real analytics and real data.
You don’t have to guess or Regurgitate 30. Year old thinking

Tournaments and fall ball make it tough, but if you stick to this the best you can, you will minimize issues. Unless you are like the donkey above with all his data... what do silly medical professionals know anyway. The asmi site has 9 references at the bottom of their statement.

www.asmi.org/research.php?page=research§ion=positionStatement

ASMI position statement

With the rise in elbow and shoulder injuries in adolescent baseball pitchers, the adult community needs to take steps to prevent these injuries. Research points to overuse as the principle risk factor. Poor pitching mechanics also contribute to injury risk. Another suggested risk factor is poor physical fitness.

Throwing curveballs has been suggested as a risk factor, but the existing research does not support this concern. However, an adolescent pitcher may not have enough physical development, neuromuscular control, and proper coaching instruction to throw a curveball with good mechanics. Throwing curveballs too early may be counter-productive, leading to arm fatigue as well as limiting the youth's ability to master fastball mechanics.

Thus, the recommendations for preventing injuries in adolescent baseball pitchers are:

1. Watch and respond to signs of fatigue (such as decreased ball velocity, decreased accuracy, upright trunk during pitching, dropped elbow during pitching, or increased time between pitches). If an adolescent pitcher complains of fatigue or looks fatigued, let him rest from pitching and other throwing.
2. No overhead throwing of any kind for at least 2-3 months per year (4 months is preferred). No competitive baseball pitching for at least 4 months per year.
3. Do not pitch more than 100 innings in games in any calendar year.
4. Follow limits for pitch counts and days rest.
5. Avoid pitching on multiple teams with overlapping seasons.
6. Learn good throwing mechanics as soon as possible. The first steps should be to learn, in order: 1) basic throwing, 2) fastball pitching, 3) change-up pitching.
7. Avoid using radar guns.
8. A pitcher should not also be a catcher for his team. The pitcher-catcher combination results in many throws and may increase the risk of injury.
9. If a pitcher complains of pain in his elbow or shoulder, discontinue pitching until evaluated by a sports medicine physician. Inspire adolescent pitchers to have fun playing baseball and other sports. Participation and enjoyment of various physical activities will increase the player's athleticism and interest in sports.