coachKidsSports.com

People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball. - Sandy Koufax

"Pitchers and Catchers report"… those words always warm my heart, usually because the rest of me is stuck in the frozen midwest…  When I hear that phrase on TV and radio I think about the baseball season that is coming.  Spring Training means summer will make an appearance, even as the snow is falling and the temperature makes global warming seem like a cruel hoax.

As close as it may seem however, spring training extends from Valentine’s Day to April Fool’s day  (as a Cub’s fan, I understand the irony, it starts with love and ends with someone telling you the pretty girl really wants you to ask her out, just go ask her in front of her friends… ).  But, if it takes six weeks for professional baseball players to stretch out their arms and get ready for the season, why do we try to get our kids ready with 10 minutes of long toss at the first practice?

Kids are notoriously flexible and quick to recover.  Because they seem indestructible, it’s easy to assume they can handle an accelerated "Spring Training".  Unfortunately, that’s not what the research says…

Among pitchers under 12 years old, as many as 45 percent complain of chronic elbow pain, according to several published studies. At the high school level, nearly six in every 10 pitchers suffer chronic elbow pain. Yet another study — in the May/June 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) — showed that it may be even worse than that, with 50 percent to 75 percent of all adolescent baseball players — not just pitchers — reporting elbow pain.

The article goes on to list some possible causes of these injuries and leading the list is over use.  Throwing more builds strength, but not unless it’s done properly and with enough rest to allow the muscles to rebuild. 

It’s the start of the season, so build their arms smart — slowly, but consistently — and give them a chance to keep pitching into their teens.