Professional baseball players take up to three months off from throwing to protect their arms, why aren’t kids? Why would a grown adult need to rest but a child not need to? The answer: the kids need to too. Just because it is not happening does not mean it is not necessary, quite the contrary.
The MLB has a specific page dedicated to Tommy John surgery. Click Here to learn all the facts posted on the MLB citing a study from the American Sports Medicine Institute. There are some alarming facts, the scariest of which is “More than 50% of all Tommy John surgeries in that study were 15-19 year olds”. The majority are high school aged kids.
From fall ball to spring season with the high school to summer travel ball, high school kids are playing too much and resting too little. This is too much for any demographic, including professionals, trust me I have received calls from organizations checking on my programming for their guys and making it abundantly clear their pitchers are not to throw anything. One team told me “If they want to throw their protein bottle away, have them underhand it” he said it sarcastically of course but the fact remained the same, they did not want their guys throwing until the team cleared them.
Elevating the risk of high school kids is the fact that they are still growing. When you grow you lose stability in your joints because your muscles are in a constant stretched (weakened) state. The more you grow the longer the levers become adding more stress. (Take two 15-pound weights and hold one with your arm straight out and another with your elbow bent at 90-degrees, the straight arm will get tired first). The same holds true with a baseball, as the pitcher grows he gets taller, his shoulders get wider, his upper arm longer, lower arm longer, fingers longer; all of this changes the release point. MORE THAN HALF of all Tommy John surgeries. This is unacceptable.
Evaluate your activities and strategically remove one. Fall ball in South Florida is pointless, it is just live practice until the season starts. Put down the ball and glove and pick up some weights. Use that time (or the equivalent if you are on a different schedule) to build your body instead of further breaking it down. There is an argument for the regular high school season and summer tournaments, with the possible exposure to scouts and colleges but not fall ball. Take the time, build your body and rest your arm.
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