9 yr old pitching too much?

[02Crush]

Crush, I don't see any problem at all with a young pitcher going 3 games in a day if the total number of pitches is under 200. You bring up a good point, because when games are only 3-4 innings and you've got solid pitching, you can keep the numbers reasonable. "Pitched 3 games on a Sunday" might sound like a huge load, but if you're only talking 175-180 pitches total, that is a lot easier to swallow than 300-350 pitches total.

I still agree that we've got to be proactive in avoiding overuse, but I don't think those numbers you posted are outrageous.

Thx. I work hard on keeping count. Game Changer has made life so much easier to track this. Bottom line...You would be surprised what a player could do if allowed to go to the limit (not saying this is healthy). You have to watch it closely and allow for lots of REST after every long working day. You cannot pitch until they are exhausted. It will cause problems. I have seen parents carry their pitcher to the car at the end of a day due to exhaustion. It angers me b/c I wonder what the parents are thinking. I am proud the OP is even considering this and not just going along blindly. I just think they should track pitch counts to be certain before saying anything as 3.5 games could have only been 200-220 pitches depending on the situation. I am looking for the 3rd pitcher so we can play longer into the day. As a 10U coach you know when they are falling off and when it is time. I do not know how anyone could not know when it was "time" to pull a young lady who has pitched her limit. (And this is different per player depending on development not just a blanket age qualifier). I have seen our ladies struggle at 100 pitches, then develop stamina to 150 and now to 200+.

 

[Coletrain]

We played in a 7 game tourny this past weekend. My DD pitched one game on Sat and 2 on Sunday. We try to give our pitchers plenty of rest. However, there were plenty of 10U teams using the same pitcher every game.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

However, there were plenty of 10U teams using the same pitcher every game.

I know we sometimes complain about Little League, but at least they attempt to regulate how many innings the girls throw.

 

[JAD]

How many pitches a girl can throw in a day depends on several factors. While I will agree that 3.5 games in a day is probably too much, if her mechanics are good and she does not throw hard (she is 9), then she can probably do it on occasion. When she gets older and starts throwing harder I would recommend limiting the number of pitches/day.

 

[NVfishing]

I am personally going to write to some of these orgs, if I see this sort of thing. Let's self regulate coaches.

Develop new pitchers while the girls all want to pitch. So the first game for the 'new' pitcher stinks. She looks frail as a toothpick and walks everyone. But if you teach her correctly by the end of the season she will hold her own. Then you have two pitchers. etc. etc.

I need to discuss with my DD's coach what is appropriate for an 8 year old on the amount of pitches. What's the best way to discuss the situation with a coach? I know they look at my DD as the go to pitcher. Do I say I want my daughter limited to six innings a day? It's hard figuring out exactly how many innings or pitches is too much? I think it would be fantastic if the leagues and governing bodies would establish a guideline for girls by age. I definitely don't want any damage to my daughters shoulder.

 

[JNew0872]

I believe Little League is a developmental program. It is a great place for kids to get their feet wet. My daughter has the ability to play TB but she wanted to pitch so we stuck with rec ball another year while she got comfortable on the mound. She didn't get to pitch during a game last year because she had just begun pitching lessons and was really inconsistent. There would have been A LOT of hit batters. Last year my daughter played in the minor division for Little League (8-9-10-11 year olds). Pitch count rules allowed the girls to pitch 6 innings in a day and a total of 6 innings in a week (Sun thru Sat). Also if they threw even one pitch in a game, they had to have one day of rest (so pitch Mon then couldn't pitch Tues but could pitch again Wed as long as didn't pitch 6 innings on Mon). I thought this was great because it forced everyone to develop more than one pitcher even though only played two games a week. This year my daughter is in the major division for Little League (10-11-12 year olds). Pitch count rules allow girls to pitch 9 innings in a day and a total of 18 innings in a week. Same day of rest required. We still only play two games a week, sometimes three but never two days in a row so the pitch count rules are never reached. As a result, there is one team in our league that pitches only one pitcher every game for the whole game because she is never pitched out with these rules. I think this is really unfortunate because only one pitcher is being developed on this team. I coach my daughter's team. After a year of lessons, my daughter is pretty good. She is 11 years old, first year pitching and is throwing 43 mph with 60% of pitches strikes in games. A typical inning with her pitching is 3 to 5 batters. She has pitched only 11 innings in 4 games because we have two other girls who are developing pitchers. One throws faster than my daughter but is a little wild and the catchers have trouble catching her so a lot of passed balls. She is also seeing a pitching coach. The other is quite a bit slower so she is batting practice when she pitches. I coach my daughter's team and I pitch all 3 girls splitting games between them. I could throw my daughter every game and never use another pitcher and probably not have lost 2 of our 4 games and given how few games we play, not have to be overly concerned with over use; however, I feel at this age we should be trying to develop the girls for later years. So even though winning is nice, it shouldn't be all about the win. My point? IMHO, at the younger ages, there should be pitching rules to force coaches to develop other players as pitchers. Then maybe when they reach high school, there will be more than one pitcher resulting in less overuse injuries.

 

[PEPPERS]

Studies by medical science and increased injuries are pointing toward the stress of a fast-pitch pitching motion being similar to a baseball pitchers motion. Softball uses a heavier and larger ball which IMO also increases the stress on the arm.

I don’t think a baseball pitcher of that age would be allowed to pitch 200 pitches in a day, why would you allow a young lady to, when studies and injuries show similar stress. You have pitch counts in the game, but warm ups before games, warm up between innings and etc increases the number of pitches in a day. I know many disagree me on this, but as far as a kid’s wellbeing, I will always error on the side of caution.

Why would an adult male major league pitcher be limited to around a 100 pitches and a 9 YO girl allowed to throw 150 – 200 plus?

 

[SOFTBALLCRAZY]

Wow..As my DD is just returning to softball after rehab for 10 mos because of shoulder injury. "Loose shoulder" Overuse. 200 pitches in a day is not good and for 300-400 you are ruining your DD. The Ortho Doctor just told my DD when he first seen her that her odds of beating this injury was 1 out of 4 because young athletes can not shut down their activities and be patient. DD has started pitching program that starts out with 15 pitches at 50% then rest a day and it moves up to phase 2 by allowing 30 pitches at 50% and so on... just saying very long road and not to mention almost cost her the game she dearly loves...get educated on this overuse issue you will be very surprised!!!!!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I don't know if this helps come up with a number or not, but when my son was 12, he was allowed 75 pitches, per game, with 2 days of rest before the next game.

That would equate to almost nothing for most softball pitchers. So, what to do about 8 yo little girls?

 

[MandM]

the biggest issue is misinformation- that fastpitch motion is inherently safer & that therefore no limits should be applied. As the game has changed, with girls starting to pitch earlier and having aggressive TB schedules on weekends, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this is simply not true. As a parent of a pitcher, you are not likely to find a more well-informed group with regard to the potential for injury than the posters on this forum, many of whom collectively coach 100's maybe 1000's of girls in the past 10 years and who indicate the numbers of season-/career-ending injuries that they are seeing is on the rise. Also, as a parent, you are not likely to find a TB or HS coach who is as informed. Therefore, it is up to parents to intercede in the best interests of their DD. Thank you all for the discussion.