roothog66,
That is some real good stuff! IMO
You know I have heard from an extremely reliable source that there are hundreds of surgeons today capable of performing TJ surgery.
My biggest issue remains this... Everyone seems to agree that fatigue and over use is the biggest factor for all these injuries. I love having rules that help prevent some of the abusive pitch counts and lack of recovery time.
However, we all also know that every pitcher is different. The fatigue doesn't set in at the same time for every pitcher. So how do we protect the kid that is totally fatigued after throwing 50 pitches, when the rules say he can throw 100 pitches?
So having guidelines are great and very helpful, it will actually take more than rules to keep everyone health or at least most pitchers healthy. It takes someone, coach, parent, etc., that takes the time to watch closely and determine what that pitcher is capable of and when he reaches his "personal" danger zone. When fatigue sets in! Then we know that number of pitches he should throw for now until he develops more stamina and can throw a higher number.
Because of what we do, we see lots of pitchers. We have seen pitchers that have had TJ surgery that never once threw what anyone would consider too many pitches. So I have to believe that not every pitcher was born with an equal UCL. I mean can't we just look at each other and see the differences?
I totally respect Doc Andrews and everything he says. He and his staff probably knows more about TJ surgery than anyone on earth. That said, I feel like there is still a lot that is unknown. In the meantime all people can do is use common sense and at least follow some guidelines. That is why PitchSmart is important, it at least gives some guidelines that will help many young pitchers.
I think, however, that one thing that never seems to be emphasized is that the current pitch count guidelines are really meant to protect arms from the extreme situations. In the end, it's up to individual coaches (and parents) to closely monitor their pitchers so that they understand what limits and restrictions apply individually to their pitcher. I often see coaches who lean on these guidelines and substitute them for their own judgment. They seem to operate under the notion that as long as they stay within the guidelines, they've done their job. Unfortunately, there are a lot of kids being coached by staffs with no qualified pitching coach onboard. I see this A LOT at the high school level.