The majority of arm injuries that occur in high school athletics are related more to the lack of training and/or improper mechanics rather than over throwing. The need for a rule regarding pitching limits in High School Baseball in the first place is only because there are WAY TOO MANY high school pitchers out there who do not train nearly enough for the work load they are put through over the course of a season.
The reality is that I'm sure there isn't or at least I sure hope there isn't a single high school coach who would even blatantly put and child they are coaching in harms way intentionally. The issue though is that most high school coaches are never educated on the importance of training and technique and how this can affect their pitchers in the long run in regards to safety and injury prevention. Thus they don't realize how training less limits the ability to throw more... instead, regardless of how much training a player does, most coaches only use a rule to gauge how much their pitchers will throw. This mind set is brutal!!!
If we really wanted to do something to make the sport safer we'd find a way to make education for coaches MANDATORY in regards to training and proper technique. Unfortunately though, as is with most things in life, rules are made for those who aren't responsible enough to manage themselves, so someone else has to do it for them. A "pitch limit" or "innings limit" is an easy answer as opposed to further educating and then trusting people to understand and implement what they've learned or been taught.
The simple fact is that a player who trains and practices proper throwing technique gives themselves the opportunity to throw a lot more than a player who does not. Think about it... when do injuries usually occur? They occur as a player's body starts getting tired and they lose the ability to throw the baseball correctly. I'll tell you from personal experience, baseball players who throw more have far less arm problems than kids who throw less... especially if that player who throws more is using proper technique.
It's no different than training for a long distance race... Who's going to be able to run further with less chance for injury, the guy who trains and runs more so that their body is ready for the distance, or the guy who runs less and then expects their body to be ready for a long distance???
I'm not recommending that rest isn't important, clearly it is. I'm simply saying that proper training and technique would go WAY further to ensuring less arm injuries in high schol baseball then simply enforcing inning limits.
It's a bit scary... but in today's world of baseball being a year round sport kids do not spend nearly enough time training. It's such an important aspect of any athletes development, but unfortunately the idea today is that if you don't play on a team in the summer and fall in addition to your high school spring season you'll be left behind. I'd love to believe that players then take the winter to train, but the fact is that most don't. The weather outside usually isn't conducive to long tossing and kids like to go into "baseball hibernation" during the cold winter months. That said, there's no season during the year in which kids simply train.
Hence the overall idea of this message... Players need to TRAIN and TRAIN CORRECT MECHANICS more often. Doing this will dramatically reduce the number are arm related injuries. In addition, it's absolutely wrong for coaches to be uneducated in this area. Every High School Baseball Coach should be educated. Wouldn't it be wonderful if coaches focused more time and energy on training and technique rather than simply focusing on a pitching rule?
To answer your question Midlo Dad... Yes this topic has been beaten to DEATH on this site. Unfortunately though it's a major topic of conversation because most people are waiting to see what's next in the world of pitching rules in High School Baseball. 2013 is in the books... everyone who participated in last years season all played by the same rules and whether you agree or disagree with the interpretation it's irrelevant. The important thing is evolving and learning what's next and how can we make it better. Of course, unless I missed something, no one that I've seen comment on this topic is a decision maker in deciding what's next... that decision is left up to other people. So we'll just have to sit, wait and conversate...f
I don't know if the coaches are as focused on the pitch count rule as we are on this message board. I feel very fortunate that my sons play(ed) for HS coaches who are dedicated to understanding the game of baseball and the proper mechanics with pitching, hitting and fielding. And, they have a keen eye to detect improper techniques. This is not a gift given to all. In addition, they know their pitchers well enough to apply an approach that one size does not fit all (one kid is done at 60 and another can go 100). Obviously, more training is better than less but I don't think it's the "silver bullet" to resolve this issue. BTW, why do you believe coaches are not seeking training? It seems to me the Baseball Bash held in Richmond is well attended by HS coaches.