Sore Knees

[T.J.]

My 12yo DD has complained about sore knees the past week; she iced them in-between innings the last two games.

She does not use knee savers.

The demand the last 4 weeks have been brutal with All-Stars; catching every inning in 11 games with practice every day between game days...catching batting practice, etc.

Could it just be overload, or should I watch out for poor mechanics when fatigue sets in? In the last inning of her final AS game a foul tip "caught her"...she went down and cried. She was hurt pretty good, but I think some of the tears were from exhaustion too.

She went to a NECC clinic, and took a 10-lesson set locally to help her understand and learn proper set-up, etc. So for the most part her set-up form is pretty good.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

T

 

[vcackerman]

Sounds like overload - what was her normal workload during the season? I don't care what age they are but if you change the routing and workload suddenly, their bodies won't respond. Learned early in the year with throwing when I had a couple of kids complain about sore shoulders when we did heavy throwing drills back to back days.

 

[T.J.]

Prior to All-Stars she was on 3-teams (Middle School, Travel & Little League). For Middle School she was their primary catcher, but would be relieved late in the games to rotate another catcher in; for Travel Ball she splits between Catcher & Shortstop; For Little League she split evenly between Catcher, Shortstop & Pitcher. But since All-Stars started it's been 100% catching.

I'm hopeful it's just overload.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I vote for overload. I would shut her down for a period of time and see if the pain goes away. My niece had this problem. Her dad, my nephew had her catch a lot and I even told him not to. She had a diagnosis of something about the muscle attachments in the knees getting too large for the knee capsule. (I think.)

Anyway, catching should not hurt. If she is needing to ice in between games, she needs shut down.

By age 15, my niece told her dad "I am done. My knees hurt 100% of the time."

 

[riseball]

That is a ton of catching. The older and stronger catchers on my 18U team don't spend that much time behind the plate. It is unusual for them to catch two games in a row. Even if they have the physical ability, mental acuity fades in the second game. Your DD needs to learn her limitations and tell the coach when she has had enough. There are also things that she can do off the field to minimize impact. When receiving during pitching workouts our catchers always have the option to sit on a milk crate (no buckets). They do not squat in practice unless they are doing it for a reason.

 

[seedamin]

Some good advise here. Not worth long term injury at this age. Once she gets some rest, you might try some compression sleeves on the knees. My DD uses them when she catches multiple games or consecutive days like you describe. She doesn't use the Knee Savers either, so it provide a little extra knee support. I would also mention this to the coach and hopefully he will ease up during the practices a bit to give her some rest.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Catching BP has to go immediately.

 

[guero_gordo]

DD is in PT for tendonitis in both knees now. Result of too many 6 game weekends and crappy Easton leg guards.
Stretching hammies, calves and IT band a lot now. Getting All-Star gear.
Even ortho's tend to forget about blocking and focus on the crouch.

 

[MsDinosaur]

It sure sounds like overload to me. If the team has her catching every game, I'd say they should be having someone else do all the catching in practice and let her rest. Better would be to have another girl doing a third or more of all the catching: games, practices, etc.

As a catcher's parent, I know you always want your kid in there, but it's really for the best in the long run to have her sit out regularly. My DD overdid it a few years ago and ended up having to stop playing in the middle of the season and start physical therapy, because her knees were just beat to heck. It's not wasted time either. There's a LOT that a 12U catcher can learn by sitting in the dugout next to the coach, studying situations and batters with him/her and deciding what pitches to throw.

DD's splitting time pretty evenly now and doing better. But every now and then, she'll make an offhand comment that lets you know she's got aches and pains that a 14 year old shouldn't have. Please get your daughter a break!

 

[T.J.]

Thanks all.

DW and I agree she will need to limit her catching if she plays Rec Fall Ball.

She's not playing summer ball, and she has only two TB tourneys left (one this weekend...one last WE in July). So she has some down time in the very near future. Plus we're headed to the beach after this weekend's tourney.

We'll keep a close eye on things and do what's right.

Thanks again for the replies.

T