After three years of research, there are some answers as to why youth baseball injuries continue to increase in pitching. This trend continues despite the implementation of nationally recommended pitching limits. serious pitching injuries requiring surgery have skyrocketed with one estimate reporting baseball injuries are occurring 16 times more often today than just 30 years ago.
Reasons for baseball injuries, pitching :
The most prevalent reasons for arm pain and tiredness can be boiled down to five major issues. “The following behaviors can lead to arm pain and tiredness which can then lead to the most significant shoulder and elbow injuries.”
- Pitching for more than one team during the same season
- Pitching more than one game during the same day
- Pitching on back-to-back days
- Pitching in a league without pitch counts or playing year-round
- Throwing curve balls before high school
What can be helpful :
It means one game a day, one day of pitching then rest, one position at a time during a pitched game, one team at a time, only one pitch before high school, and at least one season of some other organized sport. And parents, if your young pitcher mentions that his arm is ‘sore’ or ‘tired’ — let him take some time off. One complaint of arm soreness or tiredness equals one week off.
