The Injured Arm: A Pitcher's Advise for Pitchers (and Dads)
by Dick Mills
Former Pitcher, Boston Red Sox
If you are a dad, nobody will care more about your son's arm than you will. Don't let some dumb over-eager coach ruin it. I don't care whether it's a Little League or high school coach. There are many out there who don't have a clue about the care of a pitcher's arm.
In Little League, it's what - no more than six innings a week.
That six innings doesn't mean squat - it should be based on pitch count and nothing else.
So I am going to recommend that every one of you picks up one of those hand held counters. And take one to each game and use it. If you are a coach who is willing to let it slide because of some "big" game, then you don't deserve being called a youth coach.
Now you may be thinking, "Oh, I can't tell my son's high school coach how to handle him." Oh, really. Well, if he needs to prove it to you by sacrificing pitchers for the big game that he doesn't know or care, then who will speak up for your son?
You know we spend much of our lives living in quiet desperation hoping we won't have to confront anybody. It's uncomfortable. But sometimes we have to take the risk.
Nothing kills pitchers like overuse throwing. Go back and read the article on pitch counts and recovery times for each age group. So the next time you go to a ballgame, pull out your counter and start counting pitches.
Why I am getting so worked up about this? Well, several reasons. One is that: Serious arm injuries can ruin a young career!
I have had what seems like a barrage of calls lately from dads about arm injuries. I mean serious arm injuries. Here is just a sample of the calls I have had. Now this is what the sore arm can eventually lead to:
Most of these are the result of overuse throwing. Some are bad mechanics and some the combination of both, along with lack of strength training.
Don't let your son's dream die because of a coaches ignorance. Youth coaches by the boatload are killing dreams every year. Sacrificing young pitchers for something that means nothing but a "W". And for the poor pitcher, it means no high school baseball and no college baseball. But boy could the kid blow it by them in Little League.
What's wrong? Is it that we are stupid? Insensitive? Non-caring? Or just ignorant?
I think most of it is just ignorance, a lack of education about arm care. I personally wonder where these coaches and parents live. I blame everybody including coaches, parents and youth baseball. The kids are victims most of the time.
But let's not let those kids get off "Scott free". Many of them know what they should be doing in terms of conditioning their bodies and arms.
So what do we do? Get educated!
If we are coaching our own sons or team, we must learn one thing: pitching a baseball is maybe the single most stressful thing you can repeatedly do in sports.
Every time a pitcher throws a baseball, the shoulder and elbow want desperately to fly out of the sockets. After all, what are we trying to do? Generate as much arm and hand speed as possible. Tremendous forces are taking place to throw that 5 ounce ball.
What do we think holds those shoulders and elbows together? It ain't rubber brother. Then what is it? Do you know what orthopedic surgeons call it? Soft tissue. Now when they say soft, they really do mean soft. No "space age" material. Just good ole soft tissue tendon, ligament and muscle fibers.
Now I am going to give everybody the benefit of the doubt here. Why? Because most of you have not had the pleasure of watching live shoulder or elbow surgery, like I have.
My first reaction when I saw what held the small muscles, tendons and ligaments of the shoulder and elbow together was "there's got to be more than that." There isn't. It's scary, folks.
And the coach says to the 12 year old flame thrower, "Can you go one more?"
But wait, you can hear some little voices in the elbow saying:
Tendon to Bone: "Look, I don't know how long I can hold out. I'm trying to hold on. But I've noticed I am pulling very hard on you. And it looks like one more of those curve balls and I'm going to pull a piece of you right off yourself. Do you know the other thing I've noticed? Your shape is changing. You seem to be getting a little longer. Do you think it's because I'm pulling too much?"
Bone to Tendon: "I wouldn't doubt it. You know I've had just about enough of this. How much more can we take? I know it's not your fault but that constant yanking is bothering me. It's almost as bad as a migraine. And I know it's got to be bothering him. I heard him complaining of some soreness. He keeps rubbing on me. But his coach says not to worry about it.
But do you know what? Maybe we ought to this this guy a lesson. If you pull hard enough, I'll let a small piece go and we can just throw it into the joint just like a monkey wrench. You talk about nagging pain. This guy might not get over this for years."
Tendon to Bone: "As they say, sometimes you get what you deserve. It totally amazes me. They think I'm made of rubber. And they think just because you are a bone, that you are as hard as nails. Nobody wants to listen. It's just throw, throw, and throw. When will they ever get it?"
Young arms are not bionic tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones. That's what holds it all together.
Mow when those soft tissues get too much abuse from overuse throwing, they begin to break down. Fibers begin to fray, loose strength and elasticity. The next thing you have is a pulled muscle, torn tendon or worse yet, a growth plate injury.
And it doesn't have to happen. It's all common sense once you look inside those young arms. They are not bionic!
After a young pitcher throws 75 plus pitches, the stresses begin to build. Every pitch after that is like running your car a quart or two low. It won't be long until that engine breaks down. Cars don't run very long when you keep running them two or three quarts low.
And young arms with soft tissues don't hold up well to overuse throwing.
But let me finish by having all of us take some responsibility. If you have been reading this article for very long, you know it's about getting more educated. It's about knowing your subject a little better, But once you do, you have a responsibility to let people know what is right and what is wrong.
If you see a kid dropping his elbow while throwing during pre-game, mention it to somebody. If you notice a kid is throwing too many curve balls, say something to the parents.
And say something if you notice a pitcher is coming straight over the top and is dropping his head off the the side.
It even means you might have to risk saying something to somebody that doesn't want to hear it, because he thinks he might already know it.
I spoke to a dad about ten days ago. He's the dad with the 16 year old who had a partial tear of the UCL. The boy had done it about six weeks ago This dad was concerned and just didn't know what to do. A former college pitcher suggested he shut it down for the winter. Let the arm rest. Good advice, right?
Wrong! Bad advice. Why? Doesn't that arm need rest? No, what the arm needs is to get stronger. That "sit around and rest" theory is old school thinking. What's the worst thing that can happen to a muscle? Atrophy.
It's the same reason when somebody has surgery today, the next day they get you out of bed and walking. That body that takes you around all day is a lot more resilient than most people give it credit for. But it's not resilient to overuse. Keep that in mind.
How long will it take for that ligament to heal? Probably not as long as you think. It took about eight weeks for my son's broken jaw to heal. Soft tissues usually take longer. Once it heals, get on it. Get working it with tubing, light dumbbells. Most orthopedic surgeons will recommend physical therapy. Go to that therapist for recommendations about strengthening exercises and how to them properly.
This dad told me that his orthopedic surgeon told him that his son could probably start throwing after about six weeks of rehab. He wanted to know what I thought. I told him it sounded like he had a good doctor. The doctor wasn't concerned with him coming back and being 100%. If he told me the doctor told him to rest it for the winter, I would have told him to get another opinion. The doctor told him to rest it for three weeks, then begin light tubing exercises.
So if you have a pitcher who is experiencing any arm pain at all, the best advice is to stop throwing immediately, and see a specialist in sports medicine.