IHSA Baseball Pitch Counts 2017 vs Softball

[sluggers]

The reason for injuries is simply overuse. The more a kid throws a ball, the more chance there is for an injury. Proper mechanics don't protect a kid. The ligaments and muscles in an arm were not designed to accelerate the hand in an underhand motion to 60+ MPH.

Some kids are not as prone to injury as others. That doesn't mean the risk isn't there.

There is no question that the more a person pitches, the more likely the person will injury his/her arm. To say otherwise is stupid. Here is the study, if you want to read it: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.461.5913&rep=rep1&type=pdf

What you guys say, basically, is that the fundamental laws of anatomy don't apply to softball pitchers...which is ludicrous.

Proper form is a good idea. Reasonable limits on pitchers is a good idea.

The real issue is what *should* the limits be on softball pitchers.

Here is a more recent story about this issue:

https://www.lohud.com/story/sports/high-school/softball/2015/05/31/softball-pitchers-face-injury-due-arm-overuse/28289289/

https://www.readbyqxmd.com/read/28298058/effect-of-pitching-consecutive-days-in-youth-fast-pitch-softball-tournaments-on-objective-shoulder-strength-and-subjective-shoulder-symptoms

Human athletes are continuously getting bigger, stronger, and faster.

As to pitching, you are wrong. If you were correct, than the fastest pitchers in 2017 would be throwing much faster than the fastest 100 years ago, right? But, they aren't.

How fast do the fastest major league pitcher throw today? 100MPH (Arodlis Chapman). How fast were the fastest pitchers throwing 50 years ago? 100 MPH (Bob Feller) How fast were the fastest pitchers throwing a hundred years ago? 100 MPH (Walter Johnson).

 

[Gambler Bob]

I guess i am in the minority but I like the limit on pitch counts for high school baseball.

 

[DNeeld]

As to pitching, you are wrong.

I disagree, simply because you are taking the extreme end and comparing them. Yes, Feller was a notorious flame thrower in his time. Was he 100mph? Debatable. Many claim he was mid to upper 90s at best, not to mention the inconsistency and methods used to clock speed. But that is the extreme end of the bell curve. Look at the average. It has steadily been increasing. In fact, it climbed almost 2mph between 2008 and 2014 alone.

Average height and weight of MLB pitchers has also been increasing.

Simply put, Feller was a freak of nature and nowhere representative of the "average" MLB pitcher of his or any other time.

You do hit on a great point, however:

The real issue is what *should* the limits be on softball pitchers.

Everyone is different. Some will throw 20k pitches and not have a problem, others will throw 5 and tear their rotator cuff. Adopting a one-size-fits-all policy isn't the answer. Rather, education to both athletes and coaches about what warning signs to look for and getting appropriate rest is a better solution.

 

[SoGASoftball]

Some believe that brush interference plays a significant role in the difference between underhand vs overhand shoulder injuries. Nothing is stopping the arm other than the shoulder parts in an overhand throw.

 

[EcoT]

Have talked with Male underhand pitcher in his day, who flat out says the brush interference caused him pain with his brush and would not teach my daughter the whipping motion, and his Daughter wasn't going to teach it either,.....so we moved on last year and here we are.
;-)

 

[MoparFin]

My DD2 is a pitcher. She pitches almost everyday. She has school practice, where she will pitch about 30-50 pitches. She will come home and ask me to catch for her after practice sometimes. She pitches during the week for her games for JH, averaging about 70-90 pitches in 7 innings. I ask her all the time if she is sore or anything and she always says no. She knows when she needs to take a break and let it rest.

She has also worked up to this point for years. When she first started, she would pitch a couple times a week and get sore. She would rest until it wasn't sore then be back at it.

To me, like has been said each player is different. The other pitcher on the team was sore after one game and took multiple days to recover. Coach has asked my DD after one game if she is sore and she laughed.