Pitching: Taking Care of Your Arm
82
Pitching
Taking care of your arm is the most crucial part in pitching or even playing in the field. For pitchers, your arm is your lifeline. If you lose it your career could be over before it even starts. There are techniques that you can utilize in order to keep it in good shape during the season for a good post season.
One thing that is often overlooked, especially in high school sports, is that taking care of your arm is not just icing after every game. It takes a lot more work than just that in order to keep your strength and to use that strength throughout the season for optimum performance.Throwing is one of the most crucial parts of arm health in itself. Now-a-days players just throw to get whatever they are working on done and not to further their arm health. Throwing is something that needs to be done, like every other skill it needs to be honed in order to be at its best. Kids in Cuba and the Dominican Republic are constantly coming over to America with arms better than those found right here in the United States where the sport was born. Why is this? Kids in those country don't have the things we do in this great country of ours. They may only have a baseball to play with for their entire childhood and that ball may be the same ball their entire life until a MLB scout sports them. The kids in other countries throw just to throw and have fun, which is something many of us have forgotten about here in the U.S. ...fun.
Throwing everyday is crucial, but there are many other things you can do in order to achieve the healthy arm you want. One of the most important things you can do is to listen to your arm. It will talk to you and tell you when you need to stop throwing. When it hurts, throwing more is never a good idea. Everyone should know that. Growing up playing Little League I played with a guy that had two sons that were excellent pitchers. The only problem was that they stayed in the game no matter what. If their arm was hurting, they would pitch through it because they thought their father would get mad if they wanted to come out. Now they aren't even playing anymore because of arm problems when they could have a chance to play at a higher level.
After you pitch there are certain things you should do in order to ensure that you keep your arm healthy. The first thing is ice for about 30-60 minutes. If you go longer than 30 minutes, you need to take equal time off before starting again. Icing is important because it will not only dull the pain (if its hurting) or relieve the tension that will make you sore the next day.
Another thing that is important for arm health is exercises and stretching. Every pitcher should know that stretching is important before and after throwing. Arm Exercises going along with stretching. Elastic bands are something that are used today more than ever. Players use them before and after they pitch to help maintain shoulder and elbow strength.
The term flushing comes to mind for another suggestion for keeping your arm healthy. My high school coach used to always tell me that running flushed out all the lactic acid in your muscles after you throw. In most cases this is true. Throwing breaks down your muscles and what comes with muscle breakdown? You got it, lactic acid. Running after you pitch should be an important part of your routine for staying healthy.
One last thing is something precautionary. Don't stray from your mechanics. This is something pitchers due from time to time that can result in injury. If you stick to your mechanics that work, your arm will be fine. If you disregard them then it could lead to you on the DL and cursing yourself.
Pitch count is also very important. Going over about 100 pitches depending on age and arm strength, can be dangerous to your arm health. For younger kids a lower p;itch count of about 60-80 pitches max would be sufficient. Going over this pitch count consistently can easily burn out a pitchers arm and maybe even end their career in this beautiful sport.
In the end, taking care of your arm is just as important as making your arm as good as it is. If you take care of your arm you can stay healthy and compete in whatever league you are in on up through the pros. If you have any other questions feel free to comment this hub and I will answer as quickly as possible.
CommentsLoading...
Thanks wildiris! That totally blanked my mind when writing this hub. I wouldn't have even caught that if it weren't for you.
Thanks for the hub. I agree 100% with everything you've said and don't ignore any pain or prolonged weakness. Great Hub.
Enjoyed the read. Being the father of a pitcher who will soon turn 14, pitch count is huge. I need to instill the running part. His pitching instructor (Aug - Dec) has encouraged that. His running, though, is usually post game. But since he usually starts (usually goes about 4 innings based on pitch count) sometimes there is a delay until the running takes place.
Good hub. You should try to minimize any delay between when you stop pitching and when you run. If a starter comes out of a game, there's usually an opportunity to run down to the bullpen and back a few times, or go run a little between innings. If he's still playing after he pitches those innings, keep it light obviously, but still try to fit a little jog in before he settles in at his position. If you can't, no big deal, it still works later on just not quite as well.
ok. im a pitcher for my team and my arm HURTS all the time.. before and game and practice we start throwing to each other and by the time i throw to my teammate like 5 times my arm just starts killing me.... i don't get it:( i ice every day and i use icy hot cream. and my arm just hurts all the time and this is really affecting my pitching. so if you guys have anything to tell me what i'm wrong. that be great thank you:)
I'm not sure how old you are, but if you are on a school team you need to tell the coach and see the trainer. If you are younger than that, you need to tell your father and/or mother and have them tell the coach pitching is off limits for you until your arm stops hurting. If you stop pitching for a week and it still hurts, get your parents to take you to a sports ortho (Dr.)
Thanks for the tips. How about between seasons though? What should I do to keep my arm in shape? Im only 14 and I never really thought about keeping my arm healthy untill I talked to a guy yesterday and he said that he could throw low 80's his freshman year and every year he slowed down untill his senior year and he only threw low 60's. This made me worry about my arm so I thought I'd try to find ways to keep my arm in shape. If you have any tips I would appreciate it.
Caleb - my thoughts - first, I have a son who is 14. He takes pitching lessons during the Aug-Dec timeframe so he stays in throwing shape. It's not the same as competing, but the work will help you develop. Make sure you or your parents check him out first before you start. If he has a website, you can see a list of players who have been thru his organization and where they are now (i.e. college or pros). Ask him about doing bandwork. There are certain type of band exercises that will help your shoulder structure which is important. Make sure you begin your training under the eye of someone who understands how to train a pitcher. Hopefully your pitching coach will be that guy.
Also finding a period of time (2 weeks, 3 weeks, or 4 weeks) to rest your arm is a good thing. If your travel season ends in June and lessons start in Aug. That might be a good time. Some college programs will ask their pitchers to not pick up a baseball the first month of fall semester. That's because they have been thru a season in school and summer.
Alright, thanks for the tips.
WildIris 2 years ago
The only thing I would like to add your Hub is that a pitcher, be they little league or high school, should keep track of their pitch count per game, per week. If a kid is good, and no one is watching, their arm will get overused by coaches.