By Jim Fanara, CSCS
If you had a fifty-fifty chance of experiencing joint pain at some point by participating in your favorite recreational activity, would you continue? What if I told you that continuing the activity on a regular basis for more than eight months per year would make you five times as likely to need surgery to repair that painful joint?
Maybe you’d still take the risk; but would you let your son face the same odds? These are the odds facing youth baseball league pitchers. Studies published by the American Sports Medicine Institute and the American Journal of Sports Medicine linked pitching related injuries to both volume and fatigue. One study found that youth or high school pitchers who pitch competitively for more than eight months per year are five times as likely to have Tommy John surgery. Also, youth or high-school pitchers who threw more than 100 innings in a calendar year were over three times as likely to require elbow surgery as those who threw fewer than 100 innings.
A study comparing two groups of adolescent pitchers found that players who regularly pitched with a tired arm were 36 times more likely to have had elbow or shoulder surgery. The study states that “The factors with the strongest associations with injury were overuse and fatigue.” The study also indicated that players in the injured group “…pitched in more showcases, pitched with higher velocity, and pitched more often with arm pain and fatigue.”
Parents and coaches need to not only monitor the volume of pitches thrown by their young athletes but also look for signs of fatigue. Players should also be regularly questioned about the existence of any shoulder or elbow pain. Players need to take joint pain seriously and refrain from lying about symptoms just to stay on the field.
Teaching proper throwing mechanics is essential to maintaining healthy shoulders and elbows. Sound pitching mechanics, adequate rest and an appropriate conditioning program can reduce the likelihood of shoulder and elbow problems. At a minimum, conditioning programs for pitchers should address scapula and thoracic spine function along with the shoulder and elbow.
Part Two: Youth Pitching Injuries on the Rise