Tommy John Surgery/UCL Damage
Posted: May 29th, 2014, 12:18 pm
I've seen a lot of articles the last few days on the epidemic that is facing baseball right now with Pitchers damaging their UCL and ultimately needing Tommy John Surgery. It is so unfortunate to see young stars or blooming stars have a large portion of their careers marred with injury. According to ESPN's recent article MLB has seen 20 pitchers go under the knife since the start of the season with elbow injuries. Many more pitchers are nursing elbow problems (Lee and Ventura lead this list). What do are bleachercoaches think is the contributing factor(s) to this epidemic?
Here are my first thoughts:
-arms are way overworked from 8-20 years old. It's time for each league to have pitch counts. 8-10 year olds should be limited to 40 pitches a game or 4 innings max per week, 11-12 year olds limited to 60 pitches a game or 6 innings max per week, 13-16 year olds (junior high) 80 pitches max per game or 8 innings per week, and 17-18 year olds 90 pitches max per game or 9 innings max per week. Once they are over 18 it's tough to limit pitching but be sensible. Little Leaguers shouldn't be throwing complete games, varsity pitchers shouldn't be starting Monday and Thursday every week. The worst for this is summer ball. When I coached a 7th & 8th grade league a few years ago I stuck firmly by a pitch count and probably lost a few games because of it. This one team we faced threw the same pitcher against both times (and from what I understand he started all but 2 of their games). He pitched a ton the first game and I decided to chart his pitches the next time around. 147 pitches later, they beat us 8-7. After the game I had several choice words with his coach (dad).
-baseball too much of the year. School ball, summer ball, fall ball, winter workouts, and so on. These arms don't get a break. The elbow doesn't care if it's the state playoffs or a February "bullpen session" it's getting worked either way. Good pitchers in our area are logging 8-10 starts in each of these seasons. It's insane!!!
-breaking pitches. My rule of thumb is no curve ball until junior high. Even then, maybe 2 per inning. Sliders are the devil and they should only be developed after 17 years old by a paid and experience pitching instructor. If the kid wants a mix of pitches, teach them a good 2-seamer or cutter, change up, or knuckleball. If it takes a curveball to be effective in little league, newsflash but your son isn't going to the big leagues. So just save his arm.
-Lack of strength training. Pitchers don't want go work on the forearm or shoulders but still want to throw fast. The result is all the strain goes to the elbow.
-Radar gun. A high school pitching prospect gets to college one way, by juicing up the gun baby. These scouts have gotten lazy and don't search for pitchers with mix of speeds and location. They just gun them up and offer them up. I know someone that was a great high school pitcher but was told by a good baseball school he had to hit 92 to get a scholarship offer. That wasn't his style but he spent his whole senior year trying to add 4 mph to his avg fastball velocity. The command went a away and soon after the arm. It's a shame.
Here are my first thoughts:
-arms are way overworked from 8-20 years old. It's time for each league to have pitch counts. 8-10 year olds should be limited to 40 pitches a game or 4 innings max per week, 11-12 year olds limited to 60 pitches a game or 6 innings max per week, 13-16 year olds (junior high) 80 pitches max per game or 8 innings per week, and 17-18 year olds 90 pitches max per game or 9 innings max per week. Once they are over 18 it's tough to limit pitching but be sensible. Little Leaguers shouldn't be throwing complete games, varsity pitchers shouldn't be starting Monday and Thursday every week. The worst for this is summer ball. When I coached a 7th & 8th grade league a few years ago I stuck firmly by a pitch count and probably lost a few games because of it. This one team we faced threw the same pitcher against both times (and from what I understand he started all but 2 of their games). He pitched a ton the first game and I decided to chart his pitches the next time around. 147 pitches later, they beat us 8-7. After the game I had several choice words with his coach (dad).
-baseball too much of the year. School ball, summer ball, fall ball, winter workouts, and so on. These arms don't get a break. The elbow doesn't care if it's the state playoffs or a February "bullpen session" it's getting worked either way. Good pitchers in our area are logging 8-10 starts in each of these seasons. It's insane!!!
-breaking pitches. My rule of thumb is no curve ball until junior high. Even then, maybe 2 per inning. Sliders are the devil and they should only be developed after 17 years old by a paid and experience pitching instructor. If the kid wants a mix of pitches, teach them a good 2-seamer or cutter, change up, or knuckleball. If it takes a curveball to be effective in little league, newsflash but your son isn't going to the big leagues. So just save his arm.
-Lack of strength training. Pitchers don't want go work on the forearm or shoulders but still want to throw fast. The result is all the strain goes to the elbow.
-Radar gun. A high school pitching prospect gets to college one way, by juicing up the gun baby. These scouts have gotten lazy and don't search for pitchers with mix of speeds and location. They just gun them up and offer them up. I know someone that was a great high school pitcher but was told by a good baseball school he had to hit 92 to get a scholarship offer. That wasn't his style but he spent his whole senior year trying to add 4 mph to his avg fastball velocity. The command went a away and soon after the arm. It's a shame.