IHSA Baseball Pitch Counts 2017 vs Softball

IHSA settled on 105 pitches

Additionally, pitchers are mandated to rest days on a sliding scale:

31-45 pitches 1 rest day.
46-60 pitches 2 days rest.
61-75 pitches 3 days rest.
76-105 pitches 4 days rest.

The rule is in place to protect young arms

Coaches must enter pitches online logging system provided by the IHSA

What about our Girls?
I have heard the story different pitching motion.
But have also heard the Orthopedics state that baseball has a longer History and Stats vs Girls Softball....

My DD is 12. Team C level.
How much is too much pitching in a weekend? Tournaments - 2-3 games Saturdays - 1-3 games Sunday if you win.

10U
12U
14U
HS
College

Note:MLB starting pitchers throw 100 pitches now a days.

(Sorry if this has already been answered, tried a quick search.)

Yet another misguided solution in search of a problem to solve. This is false security and will only result in injuries.

EcoT said:

IHSA settled on 105 pitches

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The problem I have with pitch counts is the number (105) is pulled out of the air. In reality this number varies from pitcher to pitcher.

If there were scientific reasoning (research) behind the number I would be OK with it.

Is it 105, 205 or 50? Who knows!

It also assumes that staying at or below will save pitchers from injury. I have seen many pitchers where 1 pitch is too many.

EcoT said:

IHSA settled on 105 pitches

Additionally, pitchers are mandated to rest days on a sliding scale:

31-45 pitches 1 rest day.
46-60 pitches 2 days rest.
61-75 pitches 3 days rest.
76-105 pitches 4 days rest.

The rule is in place to protect young arms

Coaches must enter pitches online logging system provided by the IHSA

What about our Girls?
I have heard the story different pitching motion.
But have also heard the Orthopedics state that baseball has a longer History and Stats vs Girls Softball....

My DD is 12. Team C level.
How much is too much pitching in a weekend? Tournaments - 2-3 games Saturdays - 1-3 games Sunday if you win.

10U
12U
14U
HS
College

Note:MLB starting pitchers throw 100 pitches now a days.

(Sorry if this has already been answered, tried a quick search.)

Click to expand...

To your question, it is impossible to provide you with a meaningful number and would be irresponsible to even guess. Understand that just because someone is an orthopedic surgeon, does not in any way qualify them to dream up pitch counts. The data they rely on is suspect at best and truly meaningful data simply does not exist.

Each pitcher is different. Pitching mechanics is the biggest factor with respect to injury. You need to make sure she has sound mechanics and then monitor her pitch count. Over time you will know exactly based on certain scenarios what is too much. Arbitrary numbers should never be given any credibility.

Thanks Riseball.

The little I have been part of this forum I appreciate all your answers.

And with all your experience vs my only 12U I am trying to protect for many years of softball if she chooses.
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I can see with a limit on the pitches, you are going to bring more pitchers into game play.

Now our last game - C level (most girls first year travel, great bunch) 3rd game of day,rained out after 2 innings.
My DD stats Her Team winning after 2 innings 0-6
TS-#P 20-28
GO-FO 1-1
FPS-BF 5-7

Yes I'm happy/proud for her and her team for these couple of innings.

It was previous weekend, which I couldn't attend where her pitch count was 280 for the weekend.

I feel bad about this number which seems way too high but they were having fun?

Icing right away and rest/rain for a few days and by thursday she was back at it training for this last weekend where she seem to come on out strong.

The other thing about pitch count is practice time which is unmonitored. Johnny/Johanna throws 100 pitches in practice on Monday, and the coach gives two days rest, but Tuesday is the day for private lessons, and Wednesday since our pitcher is a hard worker and wants to practice what they learned from the PC they throw again. Now it's game day and our pitcher is able to throw 100 pitches.

Is our pitcher being over used?

What about the kid who only throws on game day? They haven't built up any stamina or muscle endurance and hurt their arm on pitch 30 because they are under worked.

Assuming IHSA is a state high school association, they are governing something that isn't the problem in baseball. The same kid who is limited in the high school is throwing unlimited amounts in travel. School ball isn't the cause of increasing numbers of elbow surgeries...

SoGASoftball said:

Assuming IHSA is a state high school association, they are governing something that isn't the problem in baseball. The same kid who is limited in the high school is throwing unlimited amounts in travel. School ball isn't the cause of increasing numbers of elbow surgeries...

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Schools have deep pockets when it comes time to sue if Johnny/Johanna hurts their arm. That is the entire reason for a mandated pitch count from any governing body, though it'll be couched in "player safety" terms when drafted by the attorney. (Yes, call me a cynic.) Your average Travel Ball team has no money in their pockets, so when Johnny/Johanna hurt their arm, there is no one to sue. Therefore there is no risk in overusing a pitcher's arm from an organizational point of view. (Other than to the kid, but they only count in Mom and Dad's math.)

I'm willing to bet that this is the reason that Little League (big Org and a viable litigation target) has such robust pitch count rules for their youth players.

SoGASoftball said:

Assuming IHSA is a state high school association, they are governing something that isn't the problem in baseball. The same kid who is limited in the high school is throwing unlimited amounts in travel. School ball isn't the cause of increasing numbers of elbow surgeries...

Click to expand...

The reason for increasing elbow injuries is the same as the reason for increasing ACL tears. Human athletes are continuously getting bigger, stronger, and faster. This naturally places more stress on the body. The number of reps isn't the problem, human conditioning outpacing human evolution is.

Imagine a football wide receiver being put on a similar sliding scale limiting the amount of hard cuts they can do while running routes. Is this going to prevent ACL injuries? Sure, in the same way that never going into a bathroom will prevent bathroom falls.

It is a ridiculous solution.