My youngest DD just turned 5 and had her yearly checkup with the doctor. Doctor says she will never be able to pitch because she’s double jointed. Just curious if anybody had heard this before? Her older sister is a pitcher so she wants to pitch like her. What’s the dfp consensus say?
Pitching and double jointed
- Thread starter catmaster
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
No experience, but I have read several articles and while the double jointed hyper-mobile pitcher may have a slightly different journey than a non hyper-mobile athlete, it does not seem to be a "can't happen" situation. That seems like a pretty broad statement for a GP to make. I'd find or talk to an instrcutor or health professional who has experience working with hyper-mobile athletes.
"double-jointed" is a mis-nomer. a medical dr. really used this term?
She may have very loose ligaments, "generous" labrum, etc.
and these conditions will allow a greater range of motion (too great, in some instances which can cause injury)
that make it harder to control the arm-circle.
Strengthening of the muscles around the pitching joints is key to staving off physical injury,
and maintaining body awareness and control.
My DD battled this as a pitcher for a long time before ultimately giving it up.
(her issue was really a shoulder impingement, but the other issues were still always there...)
Her PC often referred to her as "gumby".
If the DD in question is only 5 years old, it is WAY too early to make such an assessment.
Her body will change a TON as she ages between now and say even 12 years old.
She may have very loose ligaments, "generous" labrum, etc.
and these conditions will allow a greater range of motion (too great, in some instances which can cause injury)
that make it harder to control the arm-circle.
Strengthening of the muscles around the pitching joints is key to staving off physical injury,
and maintaining body awareness and control.
My DD battled this as a pitcher for a long time before ultimately giving it up.
(her issue was really a shoulder impingement, but the other issues were still always there...)
Her PC often referred to her as "gumby".
If the DD in question is only 5 years old, it is WAY too early to make such an assessment.
Her body will change a TON as she ages between now and say even 12 years old.
Last edited:
I’m with @corlay on this one.
Double jointed is not a medical term. Joints having the ability to move further than normal is possible. I would suggest this. The best way to control the range of motion is the strengthen the joints doing prehab exercises for the shoulder and cuff as well as strengthening of the other joints.
As long as her ability to control her mobility/hypermobility is there I believe she will be fine. It could be used as a benefit as well. Greater whip potential at the trigger.
At this point she is 5. Let’s see if pitching is even an interest down the road.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Double jointed is not a medical term. Joints having the ability to move further than normal is possible. I would suggest this. The best way to control the range of motion is the strengthen the joints doing prehab exercises for the shoulder and cuff as well as strengthening of the other joints.
As long as her ability to control her mobility/hypermobility is there I believe she will be fine. It could be used as a benefit as well. Greater whip potential at the trigger.
At this point she is 5. Let’s see if pitching is even an interest down the road.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Jul 1, 2019
- 171
- 43
My DD has loose ligaments. When she was very little (3-6) she had a bad problem depending on how she sat on the floor. Her knee caps would actually move out of place and cause extreme pain, the knee caps had to be coaxed back into place. After a few times of this happening the loose ligament issue is what our pediatrician described it to be. It still happens everyone once in a while, though it's gotten better as she's grown physically. She's also got a much bigger than normal range of movement in her shoulders (apparently this comes from me, because I do too).
I never had any major problems with it growing up playing baseball as a catcher, though I wasn't pitching softball. I did however run into shoulder problems when I started playing golf a lot. Over time, working in rather labor intensive jobs, I have started to have tendinitis in both shoulders. Not sure if its actually related or not, but this did become even more prevalent as I became a bucket dad catching two pitchers-in-training. DD is now 12, and it hasn't affected her pitching in any negative way. I guess it could actually help, she has more spin than almost any girl her age that I've personally seen.
I wouldn't let a doc tell you (at her age of 5) what she will or won't be able to do because of this. I would agree with the idea that strength training and focus on proper form to prevent injury would be at the top of my list (but they should be anyway even without ligament concerns).
I never had any major problems with it growing up playing baseball as a catcher, though I wasn't pitching softball. I did however run into shoulder problems when I started playing golf a lot. Over time, working in rather labor intensive jobs, I have started to have tendinitis in both shoulders. Not sure if its actually related or not, but this did become even more prevalent as I became a bucket dad catching two pitchers-in-training. DD is now 12, and it hasn't affected her pitching in any negative way. I guess it could actually help, she has more spin than almost any girl her age that I've personally seen.
I wouldn't let a doc tell you (at her age of 5) what she will or won't be able to do because of this. I would agree with the idea that strength training and focus on proper form to prevent injury would be at the top of my list (but they should be anyway even without ligament concerns).
Pediatricians are notoriously terrible at predicting what a child will or will not physically be able to do later in life, and make it even worse when they say things like "she will NEVER..."
A well trained doc would say something like, "she MIGHT have difficulty (even considerable difficulty), doing X, but here's a possible path to mitigate some of that difficulty"...
I was born with a thumb deformity, and the doc (apparently) told my parents I would NEVER hold a pencil or throw a ball.
A well trained doc would say something like, "she MIGHT have difficulty (even considerable difficulty), doing X, but here's a possible path to mitigate some of that difficulty"...
I was born with a thumb deformity, and the doc (apparently) told my parents I would NEVER hold a pencil or throw a ball.
- Sep 29, 2014
- 2,421
- 113
Yeah this is something I would defiantly not lose one second of sleep over wait until she is at least 8 or 9 and if she is remotely interested you could see an actual sport medicine specialist its what they do for a living.
Weird thing when my Dad was in his 70s he couldn't lift his arm up over his head without extreme pain for almost two years kept on seeing doctors got mostly Motrin and PT recommendation, cortisone and even did some acupuncture. Final got to see an actual sports orthopedic specialist guy examined him for 30 seconds and said "you tore your rotator cuff and will need surgery." A few months later after the surgery full range of motion and zero pain after living with it for two years.
bottom line leave it to a specialist...
Weird thing when my Dad was in his 70s he couldn't lift his arm up over his head without extreme pain for almost two years kept on seeing doctors got mostly Motrin and PT recommendation, cortisone and even did some acupuncture. Final got to see an actual sports orthopedic specialist guy examined him for 30 seconds and said "you tore your rotator cuff and will need surgery." A few months later after the surgery full range of motion and zero pain after living with it for two years.
bottom line leave it to a specialist...
If she has anything out of the ordinary it is probably hyperlaxity. Javasource has posted some info on this at times in the past, including some tests for it. I'll let you look into it rather than steer you wrong with my understanding. But at her age I wonder if the criteria even apply yet. Assuming this applies to her, it can lead to some problems for a pitcher, particularly with the shoulder. That certainly doesn't mean she shouldn't pursue it though.
Thanks for the replies. I new some of you had to have DD’s with similar body types. The Dr new my oldest DD was a pitcher and just made that comment. Not even sure my youngest will even take to softball yet but if she chooses to wanted to know what I was getting into. Thanks
