We are 19 months post-surgery and all is well. My son had a full return to baseball within 4 ½ months of surgery with no issues. FOLLOW THE REHAB PROTOCOL! From hearing the surgeon and PTs talk, it is the kids that are lazy and do not follow the rehab protocol that have issues like decreased range of motion. Even when my son rolled his eyes at me, we rehabbed. In terms of where he is at now, he has not lost anything at all – you would never know he had an issue. Sometimes we even think it was good for him. But you have to keep him together emotionally and focused on a return to baseball if that is his goal. Here are some of the things we did:
- One handed hitting drills with his front hand. He can still work on his swing to continue to make progress as a player.
- Short hops and picks at 1B. Regardless of whether he is a 1B, short hops and pick drills will make him a better fielder as he comes back. And he does not have to use his rehabbing arm.
- Infield ground balls with no return throws. As rehab progresses, hit ground balls to him without return throws. Focus on his footwork.
- There will come a time when he is cleared to start “rehab hitting” – ease into it. We hit 2X week during this period. First week was whiffle balls, second week was tennis balls, 3rd week was hitting off a tee, 4th-6th week was front toss.
You would be surprised how you can take a kid who is rehabbing his throwing arm and still have a productive practice that keeps him progressing. It is good for the mental side of things.