How to Not Hurt Yourself Throwing

Throwing injuries are common among baseball players, especially with teenage or younger pitchers.The most common therapy for serious throwing injuries is the "Tommy John" surgery, named after a major-league pitcher who was the first to have the elbow-reconstruction procedure. Teenagers and pre-teens are most vulnerable to this ailment since their bones, ligaments and cartilage are still growing. There are steps a young pitcher can take to avoid injury.

Instructions

    • 1

      Avoid throwing curveballs, sliders or fastballs as a young pitcher. These require the pitcher to cock his wrist and uncock it quickly. These pitches put a strain on the ligaments in the elbow that can result in ulnar collateral ligament injuries. Sports doctors recommend that pitchers avoid these three pitches until they are shaving regularly. Until then, the young pitcher has to throw straight off-speed pitches and rely on placement to be effective.

    • 2

      Learn proper form. The pitching motion tends to be different in each individual; however, there are commonalities: Throwing consists of the proper stance, weight shift, leg kick, stride toward the plate, arm and body motion to deliver the ball and follow through. Each of these components have a proper execution that avoids injury.

    • 3

      Don't throw too much. Training year-round wears out the elbow. Pitchers shouldn't compete or train more than nine months a year, and the three-month vacation should be taken all at one time. Sometimes, pitchers will sign up in more than one league to double the playing time. This leads to excessive training and injury.

    • 4

      Watch the number of pitches thrown during a game. Players between eight and 12 years of age should divide the pitch count by their age to get the number of days rest between training sessions or games. For example, a 10-year-old who throws 40 pitches during a game will divide 40 by 10 and rest for four days. Players from 13-to-18 follow the same formula but can subtract one. In the same example, a 15-year-old would be able to rest for three days between games or training sessions.

    • 5

      Participate in year-round training programs for the entire body, especially the core muscles and lower body.