CSF Blog

In Part 1 of this series we noted that The American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) suggested the top 3 primary risk factors that contribute to overuse injuries in youth baseball pitchers were:

Overbearing dad's who want their kid to get a scholarship and play pro ball???

1. Total number of pitches during a game, season, and a year.

• Injuries are the result of the cumulative stress (microtraumatic trauma) of the repetitive act of throwing.  This stress accumulates over multiple games, seasons and years in young players 

    2.  Poor pitching mechanics

The Pitch Count Rules:

There is a small, yet vast difference in the bylaws for Little League Baseball and USA Baseball as pertaining to pitch limits and mandatory rest periods.

The Little League pitch limits are mandatory and must be strictly followed. Each league now requires a designated scorekeeper or official to track the pitch counts, and to notify umpires when pitchers reach mandatory limits.  Any   violation of the Little League pitch limit and mandatory rest rules may result in a forfeit.

By contrast, the USA Baseball pitch limits are recommendations.  Because they are voluntary, there is no scorekeeper, and a team does not incur a penalty if the guidelines are not followed. 

Age (years)	2006 USA Baseball Recommendations Daily/Weekly Pitch Limit (Approx.)	2010 Little League Baseball Mandatory Daily Pitch Limit
17-18	No recommended limit	105*
15-16	No recommended limit	95*
13-14	75 pitches (125 pitches per week)	95*
11-12	75 pitches (100 pitches per week)	85*
9-10	50 pitches (75 pitches per week)	75*
7-8	No recommended limit	50*

**However, while Little League Baseball, unlike USA Baseball, does not set mandatory limits on the number of pitches per week, it does require mandatory rest between pitching appearances.  That mandatory rest effectively limits the number of pitches which can be thrown over the course of a week. 

Independent Travel Baseball

A note of extreme caution to parents of youth baseball pitchers on independent travel and all-star teams competing in independently-operated tournaments: they may have NO rules at all on pitch limits and rest.

Another thing parents also need to be aware of is that if your child competes for multiple teams, it is up to you and your child to keep track of his pitch count.  This is because when a child is on numerous teams, there often is little to no communication between the different coaches.  With no communication, each coach only has the numbers down for his own team, not what your child did elsewhere, and not how much rest they need.  Failure to keep track of this may put your child at a significant risk of an overuse injury to their elbow or shoulder that may require surgery.

Limit pitches per season and year

When it comes to a pitch count throughout the season, Little League Baseball does not set limits on that. Although USA Baseball does not either, it does have some recommendations*:

Age	Pitches per game	Pitches per week	Pitches per season	Pitches per year
13-14	75	125	1000	3000
11-12	75	100	1000	3000
9 - 10	50	75	1000	2000

 

* Pitch count limits include only pitches thrown during games and don't include:

• Throws from other positions (Note: Little League bans pitchers from going behind the plate as catchers because of the amount of throwing involved in that position).  The American Sports Medicine Institute seems to provide some preliminary support for that ban, finding, based on limited data, that playing catcher appeared to double or triple a pitcher's risk of injury, although the small number of injured players studied prevented a finding that the risk was significantly significant).
• Instructional pitching during practice pitching; and
• Throwing drills, which are important for developing proper mechanics - since poor throwing mechanics have been linked to increased risk of injury - and strength - since poor conditioning also increases the risk of arm injuries.

The Conditioning Of Young Pitchers

We've covered some of the important topics on the conditioning components for youth baseball players in previous posts.  If they neglect the proper conditioning elements in the off-season then their chances for success and avoiding injury is limited.  Proper off-season programming can be referenced here:

Baseball off Season Part 1

Baseball Off Season Part 2

But what happens during the season for many young throwers?  They are often told by un-informed dads and coaches that lifting weights during the season will make them "tight" or hurt their performance.  This can't be further from the truth.  We addressed this in a previous post. The kids are maxed out because they are playing for 2 & 3 different teams so this leaves no time to maintain their strength and mobility.  They are told to go out and "run long distance" to keep their legs strong.  This could possibly be the worst thing a young pitcher can do!  More on these topics coming in our next post.  

For our in-season guys (and softball girls) the total volume of work is reduced by 30-50% depending on a number of variables such as the athlete's training experience, physical maturity, are they a pitcher, or strictly a position player.   Medicine ball work is cut in half and more emphasis is spent on countering the repetitive rotational forces that have to do with throwing and hitting.  Extra attention is spent on soft tissue work, hip mobility and posterior cuff strength.  

Check out one of the in-season shoulder stabilization exercises 

Last week was a big week here at Conca Performance as we anticipated the start of the high school softball and baseball season all winter.  We were fortunate to have 9 of the regions top pitchers training with us, putting in the extra time with the strength program, getting stronger and more powerful and preparing to dominate their opponents.  If the first week is any indication of what the season holds for these athletes, it will be exciting to watch!

In their opening deputes these 9 pitchers combined for a 9-0 record 6 shut-outs and 112 strikeouts!  

Congratulations to:

Annie Pitkin - Suffield Academy

Jack Patterson - Suffield Academy

Kenny Potts - The Masters School - West Simsbury, CT

Matt O'Neil - East Longmeadow

Steve Moyers - East Longmeadow

Madison Grande - East Longmeadow

Megan Logan - Holyoke Catholic 

Lee Albertson - Westfield

Sara McNerney - Westfield 

What makes the difference with these athletes?  Is it their physical ability, their work ethic? Is it their commitment to come in and workout after practice, is it a strong desire to become the best they can be, or all of the above?

It doesn't matter where you are in your athletic / scholastic career, the thought process should remain the same:  "You have to be willing to work for it, it's going to be a long tough road, but you need to take action, not just talk about it."

It would be very easy to do what the other 97% do.  Make excuses.  With so many social pressures from friends, overbearing parents and coaches, to poor personal assessments of where they need to improve, or simply being lazy, many athletes lose focus, desire and get derailed well short of their original goals.

So what's the big difference in these 9 pitchers who came out the first week of the season, arms blazing and a mind full of confidence.  I think it's simple.  They hold themselves accountable!  They show up! They have character which stems from setting goals and working towards improvements to make it a reality. They know what it takes to be successful.  They have supportive families with realistic exceptations. They continue to bust their butts even as the season gets under way.  When the 97% leave practice and call it a night, they make one more stop to put in that little extra training that makes a big difference.    

This is a quote from Strength Coach, Eric Cressey (which I will be putting up in our training center) that sums up todays theme.  The difference in those 9 players can be found in Eric's quote below: 

"It isn't about showing up, it's about genuinely caring about what you do, honestly evaluating where your abilities are, having a passion to become a better person and make the world a better place, and act accordingly - while being punctual, diligent, and respectful."    

In The News:  A complete game shut out with 15 K's to start the season!  Read about it Here! 

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As a high school and collegiate baseball player who dedicated every waking minute to trying to improve my baseball abilities, I can relate to the passion and work ethic required to succeed.  Fast forward 20 plus years and the dynamics on how today's players approach their baseball development is drastically different.  The rising pressure from parents, coaches and travel teams has contributed to increased physical stress on young arms leading to an array of overuse injuries.  

                   

Let's take a closer look at the alarming injury statistics that our youth baseball players are up against:    

In 2001 the Journal of Medicine, Science, Sports & Exercise reported that athletes who pitched with a tired arm were 6 times more likely to suffer from elbow pain and 4 more times likely to have shoulder pain than those who did not have a tired arm.  

A similar study, in 2002, in the American Journal of Sports Medicine reveled the following: 

• Throwing more than 600 pitches per season yielded a 3.5 times greater chance for elbow pain
• Throwing more than 75 pitches in a game yielded a 2.5 times greater chance for shoulder pain
• Pitchers who reported they were tired while pitching had a 6 times greater chance for elbow pain and shoulder pain increased by four-fold. 
• Nearly 50% of the 476 youth pitchers studied, reported elbow or shoulder pain during the season

Pitchers experiencing shoulder pain had these characteristics in common:

• increased # of pitches thrown in games
• increased cumulative pitch counts over the season
• throwing with a fatigued arm
  
• decreased perceived self-performance

  THE BIG 3

Researchers at ASMI and other national institutions conclude that there are 3 primary risk factors that contribute to injuries in youth baseball pitchers:

1. Total number of pitches during a game, season, and a year.

• Injuries are the result of the cumulative stress (microtraumatic trauma) of the repetitive act of throwing.  This stress accumulates over multiple games, seasons and years in young players 

    2.  Poor pitching mechanics

No single athlete has all the answers to athletic success. That’s because what works for one athlete may not work for another. Although knowing what works for you is vital. However, most athletes don’t understand what needs to be done in order to progress and gain an edge on the competition. As said by world-renowned motivational speaker, Tony Robins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
 

In order to avoid such a fate, there are three thoughts every athlete playing at a sub-professional level should complete daily:


These steps are just a quick glimpse of only a handful of habits that can help you. It is important to remember that no one thing is going to make a tremendous impact, however all of the little things done right will certainly help a player’s long-term development. It is also worth noting that all the small things won’t get you appreciable praise, at least not directly. But that shouldn’t matter; you shouldn’t be doing it for the praise. 

First step: Identify and address inefficient movement patterns. Once we create a solid foundation of movement, the process of acquiring strength and then speed begins. That’s right, you need to acquire strength first before you can become fast.  Athletes simply need to first build a solid strength foundation. As you can see from the video below, many of our athletes arrive with less then adequate movement patterns. These patterns must be fixed before strength can be applied!

   

No so fast!!  The repetitive pounding of high volume running and jumping (plyometrics) can be very dangerous to the long-term health of a young athlete. When an athlete is sprinting, the ground reaction forces that travel through the body is approximately 4-6 times the athlete’s bodyweight. An untrained 135lb athlete is now sending forces of 540-810lbs of force into a single leg (ankle, knee and hip joint) during each stride (let alone how much these forces are increased when jumping is included!).

Eccentric strength training (the ability to lower a weight under control) leads to a more dramatic increase in strength while learning movement patterns. It is much harder to handle a load while decelerating it, as opposed to pushing it back or moving fast. This given load can begin as bodyweight and progressively increase with external resistance until the athlete is ready to move the load at a faster pace. Single leg eccentric strength is the key!! From our junior athletes to the advanced collegiate athletes, the philosophy remains the same. Single leg strength first.  Speed second.  

An athlete’s speed will increase as they get stronger. I have parents and coaches tell me their kid's feet are moving so fast but they aren’t going anywhere. This example indicates that the athlete does not have enough relative strength. This is a very simple concept that is often been made all too complicated by a “have to have it now” population looking for a “magic drill.” Here it is in simple terms:

It all comes down to force production. The best solution to slow feet is to get stronger legs (one leg at a time!). Single leg strength to be specific.

In order to propel yourself forward, you need to be able to push back into the ground. The harder you push, the farther you go; the stronger you are, the harder you’ll push; the stronger you are, the faster you will be. Notice the pattern here? In every sport (except track) the athlete needs to be able to decelerate, change direction on a dime and repeat this for an extended period of time.

It’s no accident that in the last 2 years we have helped athletes win 4 NCAA National Championships in sprinting and jumping events. I will not be so bold to say that it’s all in the strength training. It’s just an important piece of the puzzel. Athlete motivation, effort, special skills coaching and nutrition all play a big role.

So why do some facilities advertise “Speed and Agilty Camps? And why do some programs spend so much time on “Speed and Agility”? The simple answer is money. You can cram a lot more kids into a group and run them around some cones, hurdles, ladders and “perform speed drills.” This is much less coaching intensive. Less staff, more kids equals more profit. The process of getting a kid strong, safely takes not only time, but a variety of exercises, individualized cues, progressions and more individual coach-to-athlete interaction. “Speed camps and clinics” just won’t get the job done. At Conca Performance, I will not let the business model dictate how we train our athletes. 

A great example of how to spend your time and $$ and

NOT get faster!

Depending where the athlete is in their stage of development and physical maturity, they may or may not need much movement training. Athletes can increase his/her speed without even performing any wild plyometrics or spending time on the agility ladder. Don’t get me wrong, the agility ladder is a great tool for developing the brain to muscle connection which is a piece of the neural puzzle. But don’t waste your time using the ladder as “the tool” to increase speed.  Pushing a sled is much more effective!

Concussions Part 2:  

Every athlete who has been diagnosed with a concussion must progress through 6 steps or phases in the recovery process.  Once the first step has been completed each subsequent step can be completed every 24 hrs. If any symptoms return during any of the steps, activity should be stopped and the athlete is regressed to the previous step.  The return to play steps are listed below:

1.  Asymptomatic and Cognitive Recovery - No Aerobic Conditioning
2.  Light Areobic Exercise
3.  Sport Specific Exercise
4.  Non-Contact Practice (Resistance training can begin)
5.  Full Contact Practice 
6.  Return to competition
 

To Complicate things... cognitive deficits and post-concussion symptoms do not always resolve at the same time.  (Broglio et a., 2007)  Post-concussive symptoms can resolve while cognitive deficits remain and vice-versa, where neurocognitive function returns to normal while the athlete is still symptomatic.  If this scenario occurs it's important to explain this to the athlete, as they can get frustrated if they think their recovery is being delayed.  

We are fortunate to live in close proximity to the epicenter of concussion research.  Below is some information from the Sports Legacy Institute, Boston MA.   


For local athletes here in Western Mass, Conca Sport and Fitness works closely with the physical therapists and  physicians from the Baystate Rehabilitation Sports Medicine Concussion Program.  

If you wish to hear more detailed information about concussions, how to recognize symptoms and access local resources then please click HERE to attend the FREE Baystate Concussion Clinic on Tuesday August 2nd, 2011.