Arm Strength, Conditioning and Injury Prevention

There are many things to be concerned with when coaching young baseball players. Developing their skills and improving team behaviors are chief among them but keeping them safe and healthy should always come first. CHLL is very fortunate to have an experienced Safety Officer, Don Montuori, who has developed a comprehensive Safety plan and by all reports our fields have been relatively injury free.

Less obvious but perhaps even more dangerous are the long term issues associated with overuse injuries. We all need to be vigilant in regards to varying drills and activities so that nobody is taking too many swings or making too many long throws or pitches in a day, week, month or season. We need look no further than our hometown Nationals to see the impact of either faults in mechanics, weaknesses in conditioning or the combination of the two.

We should have strength and conditioning plans for all our teams and in particular for our pitchers and catchers. There are many different plans out there. Little League has one (see: LINK) and if you search back on this blog you will see examples of other progressive throwing plans. The importance is consistency and progression. This is something that needs to be done with regularity and done purposefully with a focus on proper mechanics being the first and foremost goal. The linked file here is the strengthening program we received from my son's travel team this year. It can be done with any exercise band product. The starred pages are done on one day and the circle pages on another day - (LINK).

Even with the best training program, you need to track the volume of pitching and be cognizant of overuse within an inning, within a game, during a week and over the course of a season. Do you know how many pitches your kids are throwing? Do they play on other teams? If so, are they pitching in games other than Little League? Determining how many pitches they should throw in Little League is pretty well regulated by the rules (See a good summary at: LINK). Our AAA and Majors Commissioners do a great job of tracking pitch counts and ensuring adherence to these rules. Following these rules should also be complemented with some common sense on pitches per inning and also augmented with an awareness of their non-Little League play.

Communication and Data are the keys.

Communicate with the parents and the kid and keep track of the data. I have 6 players on my team that play outside of Little League and I try to be aware of their schedules and do my best to be respectful of their arms. Luckily my little league team has been able to pitch 10 kids so far this season. This volume of pitchers has helped insure that no pitcher has thrown more than 50 pitches in a game and no pitcher has just now eclipsed 260 pitches for the season. This gives me great piece of mind when they go off to play Travel Ball on Sunday. In terms of gathering the data, GameChanger (LINK) is a life saver! I am very fortunate to have had parents/coaches that have tracked each and every pitch of every game on GameChanger – both LL and Travel – for the last 3 years. I know with certainty what nearly every kid is doing. 

Also – it is not just about pitchers! Track your Catchers as well! There are very appropriately rules about catching to prevent overuse.

• A pitcher who delivers 41 or more pitches in a game cannot play the position of catcher for the remainder of that day.
• A player that plays catcher for 4 innings cannot pitch that day.

Some experienced coaches and trainers warn that while injuries will certainly be caused by overuse, the real warning signs are a drop off in velocity, efficiency and effectiveness. If the players pitch per inning stat is creeping up along with hits allowed and runs allowed, maybe it is a sign. If those numbers are staying even and there is a no drop off in effectiveness – play ball!

Key points in Summary:

• Develop proper mechanics as early as possible
• Warm up, stretch and condition before throwing.
• Pain is not normal in the elbow or shoulder. Never throw through pain.
• Don't pitch year-round. Take minimum of 2-3 months off during the year.
• Abide by pitch counts/innings pitched in every game.
• Seek a doctor or physical therapist if pain persists.

Warm-Ups

In my opinion, warm-ups are the most important part of practice. Warm-Ups set the tone for the whole session, either establishing a routine and decorum or setting you up for chaos and dysfunction.

With slight variations in order to keep them on their toes, Warm-ups should be the most consistent part of practice which within a couple weeks players should be able to lead on their own.

RULE #1 - Don't throw to warm-up, Warm-Up to Throw.

We are all guilty of throwing out a bucket of balls and telling the kids to play catch. In actuality they should be warming up by jogging and doing dynamic stretches like;

• Butt Kicks
• High Knees
• Shuffle-Shuffle
• Shuffle-Turn-Run
• Karaoke

The Baseball Rox Site has a great set of videos @: BASEBALL ROX

Next Static Stretches like;
Pinch the Shoulder - Take the right arm across the chest and grab it, concentrating on stretching the rotators. Another great stretch similar to this one is to take the arm behind the back, pull the elbow down, and try to stretch as far down as you can. Then switch to the left side and do the same thing.
 
Pretzel stretch – Sit down and put your right leg over your left. Now hook your right foot under your left leg and pull your body the opposite way, to the left, while looking behind you. You’ll get a great twist, which will help you to stretch out your back. Be sure to do the pretzel stretch on both sides.
Groin stretch – Pull your feet up under you, and pull your feet together. Grab your ankles and push down on the inner thigh in order to really stretch out the groin.

Arm Circles - Arms straight out to the side at shoulder height with a slight bend at the elbows.  Palms of the hands facing down for 16  forward circles at 9 different checkpoints: 16 small circles, 16 quarter circles, 16 half circles, 16 three quarter circles, 16 full circles, 16 three quarter, 16 half, 16 quarter, and 16 small.  Keep the circles symmetrical: as high as you are low and reach backward as far as you are forward.  Eventually add one baseball in each hand for weight when ready, then two in each hand when ready, and at some point.

Start throwing with form throwing drills, if possible with taped balls. Tape Balls provide clear guidance on grip and immediate visual feedback on spin/rotation. There are commercially available products that include (2)colored balls, striped balls, etc but nothing works any better than electrical tape across the seams.
Begin with a discussion on grip -  teach them to hold the baseball in a 4 seam grip. The “correct” way to hold a ball to throw in the infield is a 4 seam fastball.  This can lead to greater velocity, and less unwanted movement. We don’t want to be throwing curves to our first base. Get the kids to hold a ball and show you the 4 seam grip. Some of their hands might be too small to handle the ball with 2 fingers, so that third finger is not a problem at this point.

Examples of throwing form drills, include:

• Out-Front/Wrist flip drill/sideways-knee drill/sideways on feet
• Thumbs down-palms away
• Glove side action
• Regular Toss > Long Toss

See this previous blog post for guidance: CLICK HERE

Here is a great 10 minute video of a solid throwing progression program: CLICK HERE 

If you are organized and efficient - this entire process should take no more than 15-20 minutes. The kids will be warmed up and will have reinforced a lot of fundamentals.