For the pitching coaches: setting some guidelines for innings pitched during week

[GOINGDEEP]

All of you have made good posts and opinions. I have been on both sides of this fence personally this year so i thought I'd put my 2 cents in. My DD is her TB team's pitching mule. Would pitch all the 'gotta win' and championship games. A weekend would range from 15-25 innings depending on tournament circumstances. TB pitching since 8 with NO injuries ever, she is now 16.

She is like most on here, play travel ball every weekend and practice during the week. Last summer after winning a state USSSA championship she started saying the arm felt funny. Nothing ever popped, and she never knew 'when' it happened. Well she kept pushing forward, playing with the discomfort. But she was getting slower and slower and giving up some bombs that was unusual for her. I shut her down last fall and went to an orthopedic surgeon. After a dye test MRI, it showed a torn cartilage in the cuff. Even after she shut down she had tremendous pain for months. We went to doctors in 2 different states that specialize in sports medicine, I guess hoping one would have a miracle cure. One doc from Nashville and a second in Memphis both said there is a study going on in Florida about the repetitive damage from years and overuse of FB pitchers. ( I think I posted this a few months ago on here somewhere )

Over the 8 years of pitching i would let her go as much as she said she could, within the innings listed above. Now I'm looking at it very different. Did the coaches overuse her? Did I push too hard? Was it a freak accident? I'm not sure but it cost her 6 months of physical therapy, half her HS ball season, and a spot on a Gold Team this summer. ( I finally just told that coach that DD was not going to be strong enough to play and they'd have to find a replacement )

As a father I will be more cautious once we return to 100%. Just my 2 cents on this thread.

GD

 

[MandM]

GD, thank you for sharing your daughter's experience. I have learned many valuable things that have helped my own daughter's pitching improve. I think this thread has been the most valuable.

 

[MandM]

That is, from the member posts and discussions on this site

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

You play any sport where you are doing repetitive motions (with maximum effort) and your body will eventually start breaking down. It might not happen immediately but slowly builds over time. I'm sure if you polled all the D1 pitchers in college and ask them if they have or ever had arm or shoulder injuries from pitching, most would say "yes". Unfortunately, its one of the side effects of playing sports and you have to be willing to accept that, otherwise you should find another hobby.

Pitching limits in games might help somewhat but remember, the majority of pitching takes place in practice, pre-game warm-ups and between innings not in the games and its impossible to regulate how much practice a pitcher wants to perform. Pitchers and parents needs to understand the risks associated with pitching (same could be said with other softball skills such as hitting, throwing overhand, etc.) and place self-regulated limits on these activities. Since most girls will not play softball past high school, let's help preserve their bodies for the rest of their lives.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Our local AD just told me that MS pitchers are restricted to 4 innings per game. I don't really agree with that either. I want a girl to be able to finish her game.

 

[knightsb]

You play any sport where you are doing repetitive motions (with maximum effort) and your body will eventually start breaking down. ...Unfortunately, its one of the side effects of playing sports and you have to be willing to accept that, otherwise you should find another hobby.

I agree, but speaking as a father, I would rather my DD pitch fewer games and fewer innings, if overuse (abuse) leads to injury (repetitive motion injury or other). What I am looking for are some reasonable guidelines to follow for daily and weekly pitch counts (including practice, warmups, etc). I am new to TB, and I don't have any experience to draw from to determine if having DD pitch 6 games over three days is too much or not. I would rather error on the low side of pitch count vs the high side.

If you estimate 20 pitches per inning * 5 innings you are looking at 100 pitches per game. Two games in a day, 200 pitches plus warmups... 300? 300 for a tournament day? Sounds like a lot of pitches over a weekend.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Our local AD just told me that MS pitchers are restricted to 4 innings per game. I don't really agree with that either. I want a girl to be able to finish her game.

That is a little low. In MS we played 5 inning games, no time limit. Just guessing but it may be a rule to protect the teams that only have 1 good pitcher. Keeping the coach from throwing her in jv and varsity, because that would be 10 innings over say 2-2.5 hours.

I agree with Amy, in our school system I'd at least go with a 5 inning rule to let her finish, if we had such a rule.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I agree, but speaking as a father, I would rather my DD pitch fewer games and fewer innings, if overuse (abuse) leads to injury (repetitive motion injury or other). What I am looking for are some reasonable guidelines to follow for daily and weekly pitch counts (including practice, warmups, etc). I am new to TB, and I don't have any experience to draw from to determine if having DD pitch 6 games over three days is too much or not. I would rather error on the low side of pitch count vs the high side.

If you estimate 20 pitches per inning * 5 innings you are looking at 100 pitches per game. Two games in a day, 200 pitches plus warmups... 300? 300 for a tournament day? Sounds like a lot of pitches over a weekend.

IMO, yes way too many pitches (900 over 3 days!). Does the team not have a #2 or #3 that get some work in? Unfortunately, most coaches think more about the win than about the short-term and long-tern health of the athlete. Your DD and your family are the ones that have to deal with the repercussions of injuries long after the TB coach is no longer in your life. I would have a nice, yet frank discussion with the coach about your concerns about overuse and her mechanics breaking down by the end of the tournament as her body fatiques (seen it with my own DD). Having her fresh for games could be a win/win situation for her and the coach as she has more rest between games and will be a more effective pitcher in the long run.

 

[knightsb]

DD strained her shoulder Saturday. Mom just took her to the Sports Medicine Doctor (Orthopedic Surgeon). No pitching for 4 weeks, and PT. He said he is seeing more and more over use injuries in Girls Fastpitch Pitchers. He said to follow the guidelines here.

 

[quincy]

Those guidelines seem really conservative.