Your Son Only Has One Arm (To Pitch With)

Medial Apophysitis (Little Leaguer's Elbow)

This injury occurs when repetitive throwing creates an excessively strong pull on the tendons and ligaments of the elbow. The young player feels pain at the knobby bump on the inside of the elbow.

"Little Leaguer's elbow" can be serious if it becomes aggravated. Repeated pulling can tear ligaments and tendons away from the bone. The tearing may pull tiny bone fragments with it in the same way a plant takes soil with it when it is uprooted. This can disrupt normal bone growth, resulting in deformity.

Osteochondritis Dissecans

A less common condition called osteochondritis dissecans is also caused by excessive throwing, and may be the source of the pain on the outside of the elbow. Muscles work in pairs. In the elbow, if there is pulling on one side, there is pushing on the other side. As the elbow is compressed, the joint smashes immature bones together. This can loosen or fragment the bone and cartilage. The resulting condition is called osteochondritis dissecans.

Howdy All!

I attended a scheduling meeting for my 8U / 9U youth baseball team a few weeks ago.  These meetings are spectacles in their own right...A mix of testosterone ridden blow-harding about this team or that, about who will dominate...usually amusing but not typically fodder for a blog.  Unitl this happened.

We are in the middle of an intriguing discussion about how many rainout weekends we will have available for rescheduling and one coach stops the conversation dead in its track:

Coach:  "Wait a minute guys, I have a question about the pitching rules"

Coordinator: "OK"

Coach: "If my son pitches three innings in a 9U game and then has a 10U game right after it, can he pitch another 3 innings"

--Insert Awkward Delay--

Me:  "Do you really have a boy that can throw 6 innings in a day?"

Coach: (Slightly annoyed) "Yes"

Me:  "Really???"

Coach:  (More annoyed) "Yes"

Me:  "Ok...whatever."

This highlights one of the HUGE problems plaguing "Daddy-ball" in youth baseball.  While this man's son may be an excellent pitcher, WHY would you ever want to put one 9 year old on the mound for 3-6 innings in a game?

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the two most common injury's in youth baseball are Medial Apophysitis and Osteochonsritis Dissecans.

Both of these injuries are chronic in youth baseball.  A groundbreaking retrospective study by James Andrews, MD and Glen Fleisig, PhD of the American Sports Medicine Institute, "Prevention of Elbow Injuries in Youth Baseball Pitchers" found:

"The majority of baseball elbow injuries are noncontact injuries to the dominant arm resulting from repetitive pitching. Five percent of youth pitchers suffer a serious elbow or shoulder injury (requiring surgery or retirement from baseball) within 10 years. The risk factor with the strongest correlation to injury is amount of pitching. Specifically, increased pitches per game, innings pitched per season, and months pitched per year are all associated with increased risk of elbow injury. Pitching while fatigued and pitching for concurrent teams are also associated with increased risk. Pitchers who also play catcher have an increased injury risk, perhaps due to the quantity of throws playing catcher adds to the athlete’s arm. Another risk factor is poor pitching biomechanics. Improper biomechanics may increase the torque and force produced about the elbow during each pitch. Although throwing breaking pitches at a young age has been suggested as a risk factor, existing clinical, epidemiologic, and biomechanical data do not support this claim."

The study points out that it was estimated that 5.7 million children play baseball annually annually (kindergarten through 8th grade).  The math is a little fuzzy as not every boy pitches, but we are still talking about THOUSANDS of surgeries over a 10 year period.

HOW CAN WE STOP THESE UNNECESSARY INJURIES????

SOLUTION:  If we coach to develop players and not to win trophies at early ages then this likely never occurs on your team.  

REALITY:  Most coaches, teams, clubs, associations, and frankly a lot of parents do not have the bravery to institute common sense pitching regulations that will protect the arms of our youth players and inevitably allow more boys to learn and experience the art and fun of pitching. 

Everyone is turning a blind eye to the problem!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

At the end of this communication, I will post the pitch counts recommended by Dr. Andrews and his colleagues...What you can do is this:

KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT!

If you see a coach working a 8 year old for 40+ pitches in a game, pitching 5 innings in a tournament game, pitching for the 3rd straight day....

GO UP TO THEM AND ASK THEM "WHY?"  

GO TO THE PARENTS AND ASK THEM IF THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THEIR 9 YEAR OLD PITCHING  THAT MUCH.

ASK YOUR OWN COACH IF HE HAS A PITCHING PLAN IN PLACE.

ASK YOUR ASSOCIATION OR CLUB TO CONSIDER MANDATORY PITCH COUNTS AND DAYS OF REST!

Here are ASMI's Pitch Count Rules:

Pitch Counts

Age	Max. Pitches Per Game	Max. Games Per Week
8-10	52	2
11-12	68	2
13-14	76	2
15-16	91	2
17-18	106	2

Recovery Times

Age	1 Day Rest	2 Day Rest	3 Day Rest	4 Day Rest
8-10	21	34	43	51
11-12	27	35	55	58
13-14	30	36	56	70
15-16	25	38	62	77
17-18	27	45	62	89

LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Fleisig GS, Andrews JR. Prevention of Elbow Injuries in Youth Baseball Pitchers. Sports Health 2012;4(5):419-424. doi:10.1177/1941738112454828.

Bravado, Swagger, and Intimidation Shouldn't Be Part of Your Coaching Style....

Hello All!

I had the awesome opportunity to attend Mike Matheny's book release of "The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Managers Old School Views on Success in Sports and Life".  The book was an extension of the "Matheny Manifesto", a document that Coach Matheny wrote to the parents of a team that desired him to coach their boys.  The document really hit some nerves and almost immediately went viral.  I suggest that if you have not read the original letter you do so at:  www.mikematheny.com.  

Very simply the point it this...The only job that a baseball coach has is:

1.  Teach boys how to play baseball the right way.
2.  Make a positive impact on them as young men.
3.  Do it with class.

This is not a complicated blueprint, but its one that most coaches will not agree with, as evidenced by every time I step foot in a youth baseball park I see coaches yelling at umpires, I hear parents yelling at kids, and I see 45 year old men intimidating children.  Its embarrassing to witness.

The steps outlined above are inseparable; teaching boys how to play baseball the right way cant be accomplished without positively impacting a young man, and you sure as heck cant do #1 and #2 without class.  The very second that the game becomes about the coaches feeling better about themselves, collecting trophies for their resume, and parents thinking somehow that the stat line is a reflection of them, then that's the very second I want nothing to do with it...and neither should you.

A coach's  (and in proxy the parent) job is simple;  prepare this young man to go out on the field and play the game the very best that he can.  Prepare him to control the variables that can be controlled: attitude, hustle, and attention.  When you really put everything you have into preparing this young man to play baseball, then he has already won.  By giving the child the tools for success you have armed this young person with powerful ammunition and I believe the wins, hits, stolen bases, no-hitters, and championships will come.

Work these boys to the breaking point at practice, let them fail, and put them up against competition that is much better.  These are great life lessons....but also give them the gift of confidence, lay a foundation that no matter the outcome or the box score you are proud of them for playing right, playing classy, and controlling what they can control.  Let THEM play; YOU be seen and not heard. Stop thumping your chest and strutting the field like a rooster!  Coach...don't control.

Some who will read this will want to point out that I haven't followed this blueprint close enough in the past.  I will be the first to agree with them.  But every practice and game I will ask myself if I completed #1, #2, and #3.  And to me that's a win everytime!

A little less chaos from the dugout!

Coach Rich