3 tips any coach can use to prevent pitching shoulder injury and elbow injury in kids.
Today kids are playing year around by the time they are 7 and 8 years old. Besides burn-out, other side effects another side-effect is injury.
Here are the 3 things to pay attention to:
- Focus on Proper Mechanics.
- Don’t Pitch through shoulder or elbow pain.
- Limit young pitcher’s inning count.
Here’s a quote from the article on pitch count leading to pitching should injury and elbow injury.
A recent study conducted by Glenn S. Fleisig, PhD et al. published in the Feuary 2011 Issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine followed 481 pitchers aged 9-14 over a 10-year period. The authors found that pitchers who throw over 100 innings per year are 3.5 times more likely to undergo shoulder or elbow surgery—or even worse, are forced to retire due to a throwing injury. This means as a coach it is your responsibility to ensure your pitchers arms get proper rest and are not overworked. Do your best to keep track of the number of innings each of your pitchers has pitched, and if they play on multiple teams you need to be talking to them and their parents to find out how often they’re pitching outside of your supervision.
See full story on coachup.com
Leave a Reply