As the amateur baseball world becomes more and more obsessed with velocity and almost all off-season youth baseball programs focuses on playing as many games as possible, we are seeing an epidemic of arm injuries at all levels of the game. The data is staggering.
36% of all MLB pitchers have had at least one Tommy John Surgery and the now the majority of players who need that procedure (56%) are between the ages of 15 and 19.
These trends are incredibly alarming and the causes of these arm injuries are being discussed and studied across the medical community, most notably by Dr. James Andrew, the foremost expert on Tommy John surgeries. All parents should be concerned because what our kids are doing right now can lead to serious arm injuries just a few years down the road. The good news is there are some very simple things that we can do to vastly reduce the likelihood of injury.
The 5 things that drastically INCREASE a kid’s chances of having a serious arm injury.
- Throw too many pitches in a single day.
- Little League does a really good job on instituting and enforcing strict pitch counts. Most club tournaments do not.
- Not getting enough rest and recovery time after lots of throwing.
- Little League does a really good job on instituting and enforcing strict rest requirements, both for Pitchers and Catchers. Most club tournaments do not.
- Play too many games in a single day and/or weekend.
- Competitive Divisions in Little League teams play 2 games a week. Some club tournaments have as many 3 games in a SINGLE DAY.
- Play Baseball 12 months a year.
- Most Little Leagues run programs during the Spring, Summer, and Fall with no organized baseball taking place in November and December. Many club teams run year-round and even ones that don’t overlap directly with the Spring Little League season (and sadly there are more and more of these lately that compete directly with Little League) will run July through December making it impossible for kid’s arms to get the doctor recommended 8+ weeks rest they need.
- Focusing too much on velocity at a young age.
- Players will throw harder naturally as they simply grow from little kids, into boys, into young men, and into adults. There is no need to rush that process. Many tournament operators and scouting services not only track velocity but CELEBRATE the hardest throwers, some of them as young as 8 or 9 years old. Many youth club programs have instituted (often unsupervised) arm “strengthening” programs that use dangerous heavy balls, etc. in order to gain velocity.
I’m not going to mince words here: the highest risk environment in youth baseball is playing on club teams and in club tournaments. PERIOD. And there is no good faith science-backed argument to the contrary.
Here’s the good news; protecting your kid’s arm is really easy because you don’t have to play club baseball! Not only to do you not have to play club, almost all of the available research suggests that not playing a sport year-round in intense environments is healthier for kids, both physically and mentally, and will likely prolong your child’s playing days.
How to protect your childs’ arm:
- Do not participate in tournaments or on teams without pitch counts.
- Many clubs care so much about winning (in order to get that photo on their IG for marketing) that they will overuse their player’s arms in order to accomplish that goal.
- Do not participate in tournaments that don’t allow for proper recovery.
- This unfortunately, is almost every club tournament in America. Unless a team is going to carry a college-size roster, it’s simple not possible to safely play 4-5 games in a 48 hour period, which is why high school, college, and pro teams rarely even play doubleheaders.
- Do not play on teams that do not allow for at least 8 consecutive weeks of rest.
- And by “rest” Dr. James Andrews means literally zero throwing. This is impossible if a club team starts in July and then is still plays in the Turkey Day Tournament, The Christmas Classic, and the New Year’s Day World Series. Little League evaluations in our community are in early January, so even on teams that don’t run during the Little League season, those kid’s arms don’t get the rest they need.
- Do not pay attention to velocity AT ALL until your child is done with puberty.
- And even then, be cautious. Their growing bodies are just not strong enough to handle repetitive max effort throws over an extended period of time. In Fact, Dr. Andrews says UCLs aren’t fully developed until a player reaches his 20s so it’s no wonder that in a world now that sees some 17 year olds throwing 100mph while playing club ball since they were 7, that young arms are getting absolutely destroyed at younger and younger ages.
Follow these simple steps and your child will have a healthy arm as he reaches his teenage years.
The risk of injury is greatest for kids who Pitch and Catch, but for every kid playing year-round baseball regardless of position, the risk of emotional burnout increases when compared to kids who take time off, unfortunately leading to many Little Leaguers who once loved baseball quitting at age 12 or 13, which is right when they should be getting the most excited about accelerating their development in hopes of playing in High School.
For anyone curious, I am following this advice with my own 10 year-old baseball obsessed son. He has never played club baseball, never played a double (or triple) header, and after Summer Camp ends in August, he doesn’t touch a baseball until January. He’s never thrown more than 50 pitches in a game in his life, has never pitched more than twice in a week, and takes 4 months completely off from baseball every year (for arm safety, but also so he can play all the other sports he loves).
I have no clue how long he’ll continue to play baseball after Little League, but if he does decide to stick with it, I am doing everything I can to make sure his arm is as healthy as possible for as long as he wants to play the game.
I understand the allure of club teams, and some (although they are few and far between) adhere to the science-backed guidelines above, but the best thing you can do for you child in the off-season is sign them up for other sports and if they do want to play Fall baseball, find a program that has built-in guardrails to protect their arms while allowing time for non-baseball activities.
Play Hard, Have Fun!