Helping younger sister return to pitching post-broken leg/surgery.

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softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
My now 17-year-old sister tried out for our 18u softball team after our first two pitchers had significant injuries in the fall (pitcher 1 had significant internal injuries after a car accident and pitcher 2 blew out her ACL while at a cross-country meet halfway through her second run of the day) whle still 16. Surprisingly, she made the team at our impromptu tryout in October. She worked out with the team and did really well at our practices.

In early March, personal disaster stuck.

My sister was at a late season ski club trip, her foot caught in a hole at the resort, and she broke her leg. It was thought at first to be a regular break while in the ER but found out at the orthopeadist's office, that she had a spiral fracture of her fibula and tibula requiring surgery. My dad took her for a second opinion at the orthopeadist that did my surgery on my elbow and she confirmed. Where the doctor's differed was in the timeline she could come back. The local doctor thought she should be out for the entire summer where as my doctor thought she should be in all her casts and walking boot for 12 weeks.

I am happy to report, she is out of her casts and walking boot (When I had one when I sprained my ankle, I nicknamed mine Darth. She nicknamed her's Smeagle. Yes, we're both Star Wars fanatics along with Lord Of The Rings fanatics. Don't judge) and is full weigh bearing. She is cleared to do physical therapy and do softball specific workouts as long as she isn't feeling pain. She is working diligently to get the strength back in her leg to go back to pitching again.

Anyhow, she wants to start pitching again as soon as possible as she wants to be able to return to the softball field when we have a team we played at a tournament in Texas coming to our area to play in a tournament we're the host team for. What workouts can we get her to do to help her get back to the field as quickly as possible? What pitcher specific stuff can we do to help her, especially with me as a catcher trying to help her out as much as possible?

Thanks!
 
Jul 9, 2016
240
28
She is cleared to do physical therapy and do softball specific workouts as long as she isn't feeling pain. She is working diligently to get the strength back in her leg to go back to pitching again.

What workouts can we get her to do to help her get back to the field as quickly as possible? What pitcher specific stuff can we do to help her, especially with me as a catcher trying to help her out as much as possible?

Thanks!

Tell your Physical Therapist what she can do for her leg to strengthen her pushing off and landings.

They can give you guidance and check her strength of her arms/shoulders so she can build those up also with specific drills with rubber bands and excercises specific to a pitchers needs.

I would start with PT and then find out what a Tincher Pitcher exercises are and then let me know.....
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
Tell your Physical Therapist what she can do for her leg to strengthen her pushing off and landings.

They can give you guidance and check her strength of her arms/shoulders so she can build those up also with specific drills with rubber bands and excercises specific to a pitchers needs.

I would start with PT and then find out what a Tincher Pitcher exercises are and then let me know.....

She had seen the physical therapist today along with my mom. I couldn't go along since I am picking up more hours waitressing at the restaurant now that school's out and I have graduated from high school and saving as much money as I can since I go to college in mid-August.

She told the physical therapist her goals and we're starting to do the stuff recommended to help her get the strength back in her lower body as well as her upper body. She has been able to throw and catch tennis balls while sitting down but hasn't been able to throw with a whole lot of velocity since she just got to where she became full weight bearing while wearing Smeagle.

She is also starting to get to where she is walking on a treadmill. She wanted to push it to a run but was told not to run right now since she'd just blow herself up right away and not be able to push herself further.

We have some information now, just not much we can do on this end except work with her.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
A spiral fracture is nothing to mess around with. She needs to see a sports ortho. Let them give her some type of time line to return with an authorized rehab program. You need to remember that a pitcher's legs take a massive pounding, much more than position players other than a catcher.

Let me put something in perspective. She'll need that leg to walk on for the next 80 years. Does she want those years to be in pain because she pushed coming back to play and did more damage to the leg, knee, ankle, hip or anything else.? She is not getting millions of dollars to play. While enjoying playing ball can be a driving force it can't outweigh a smart and thorough recovery giving her body a chance to heal correctly.

Tell her good luck with her recovery.
 
Jun 22, 2019
258
43
Make sure she takes her time and doesn’t push to hard. Not to be discouraging, but I had a very similar break in college and trust, you can push to hard and slow progress.

Lots of stabilization exercise is what she will need to start with. They had a board on top of half a ball that I would stand on with one leg and move back and forth & side to side and then moved to calf raises and then to lunges. Running can be difficult until you get stability and calf strength. Tell her to take her time, have goals, but listen to your body. If it hurts stop...if it’s just mildly uncomfortable, she probably in the right spot.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,587
113
Chehalis, Wa
She's a righty. So I think it's her drive leg she broke.

I was going to say that my niece broke her ankle, her plant foot/leg, in the off season. And the next year she created a very bad adjustment.

Either leg could cause issues if she isn't 100% healed.
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
A spiral fracture is nothing to mess around with. She needs to see a sports ortho. Let them give her some type of time line to return with an authorized rehab program. You need to remember that a pitcher's legs take a massive pounding, much more than position players other than a catcher.

Let me put something in perspective. She'll need that leg to walk on for the next 80 years. Does she want those years to be in pain because she pushed coming back to play and did more damage to the leg, knee, ankle, hip or anything else.? She is not getting millions of dollars to play. While enjoying playing ball can be a driving force it can't outweigh a smart and thorough recovery giving her body a chance to heal correctly.

Tell her good luck with her recovery.

Her doctor emphasized that she should take her time coming back from this injury. The doctor that did her surgery as well as my elbow surgery a couple of years back does do some sports orthopedics. The physical therapist she's seeing specializes in sports rehab. As far as a timeline, they think if she does all the work she's supposed to, she can be back on the field in 4-6 weeks as long as there isn't any setbacks.

I know a pitcher's legs take a lot of abuse as I am a former pitcher, myself. I don't know if my legs took more of a pounding as a pitcher or now as a catcher.

I'll give your well wishes to my sis on her recovery.
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
Make sure she takes her time and doesn’t push to hard. Not to be discouraging, but I had a very similar break in college and trust, you can push to hard and slow progress.

Lots of stabilization exercise is what she will need to start with. They had a board on top of half a ball that I would stand on with one leg and move back and forth & side to side and then moved to calf raises and then to lunges. Running can be difficult until you get stability and calf strength. Tell her to take her time, have goals, but listen to your body. If it hurts stop...if it’s just mildly uncomfortable, she probably in the right spot.

She is doing a lot of balance exercizes and she's doing a lot of yoga to try to help her balance and to work on her core. She is also doing a lot of leg work to create strength in her calves and quads. She hasn't started running yet. She is doing a lot of walking on a treadmill though. She is taking her time and taking it slowly. I told her I don't mind it if she didn't make it back to play this summer if it means she'll be healthy and be able to play in college.
 

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