Repetitive overhead throwing can place signficant stress on the shoulder and elbow joint. Over time this stress can lead to changes in anatomy for the young throwing athlete. The little league pitcher is particularly susceptible to injury as these children often play in multiple leagues, are involved in other youth sports, and often have coaching staff that focus on performance rather than injury prevention.
The key to protecting your child's pitching arm is understanding the mechanics and the tremendous force placed on the shoulder and elbow joint. The throwing motion is actually a kinetic chain of events that channels force from the legs and trunk. The weakest link in this kinetic chain is the growth plate of the shoulder and elbow bones. In boys aged 8 to 15 years, studies have shown over half of these athletes with repetitive overhead throwing show changes in the growth plates of the shoulder. Thus, it is essential to prevent these changes and monitor for injury.
The most essential aspect of preventing shoulder injuries is to limit the number of pitches thrown. Most sports medicine physicians recommend using the USA Baseball Medical and Safety Advisory Committee guidelines for pitch counts. These guidelines have a complicated formula to determine how many pitches your child can throw based on the number of days of complete rest.
The general rule of thumb is this - after one day of rest your child can pitch double the number of pitches equal to his age. For each additional day of rest he can pitch an additional number equal to his age. For example, if your boy is 10 years old and has rested one day, he can pitch 20 pitches. If he has two days of rest he can pitch 30 pitches. Three days of rest 40 pitches. Four days of rest he can pitch 50 pitches. The maximum number of pitches is equal to four days of rest. So in order to protect a 10 year old's arm from injury he should never throw more than 50 pitches.
An additional rule of thumb is that no youth pitcher should pitch more than 2 games per week. |
