Been reading and following this for awhile.
I feel like there is a danger in assuming we can 100% blend science and sports. I've seen many posters with possibly no scientific background quoting scientific studies some of which have little to do with baseball. If science were perfect we would never have to play the game.
So I want to address a few things from my experience.
Lactic Acid.does not build up in any major way in a pitchers arm. Thus a run after pitching is not needed to flush it out. Having said that I normally ran about two miles the day after a start before practice to warm my entire body up. I don't necessarily like promoting a supplement but potassium before you pitch or do any significant exercise a will lessen the stiffness of any workout.
Ice: Personally I always iced after the game however it was normally 10 on 20 off twice throughout college. I find this a coaching and personal choice. We have two pitchers who do not everyone else does. Our pitchers rarely throw more than 1 game a week as starters and usually come back as a reliever which is one of our attempts to protect arms. Cooling the arm after a game seems to be important for recovery. The overwhelming majority of trainers and orthopedics I have had contact with do not consider it a valid study, feeling tests need to be larger in scope when it come to basic recovery.
Please research any instructors and approach with caution anyone claiming to increase velocity. Some instructors claim big successes when they should not. Example: one instructor I know of claims 2 students progressing 9 and 10 miles an hour from the end of their freshmen year to the start of the season the next year because of his revolutionary theories. He fails to mention both kids grew 3 inches and an average of 15 pds over that period. If your son is still physically developing please make sure instructor is focusing on good mechanics not throwing harder, especially preteens and middle schoolers.
Someone asked what a coach had his pitchers do.
We have a pitcher who is throwing in d2 and his general program outline from last year was:
2 weeks after end of season,.no activity.
Middle of June to end of July played on a travel ball team. Pitched one game a tournament usually on weekend. Monday and Thursday. 3 mile run, light weights and core, throwing program. Tuesday and Friday. Throwing program flat ground mechanics depending on travel schedule.. Wednesday. Bullpen 60+ pitches minimum + spartan workout + pyramid sprint workout. If he didn't have a game on the weekend we would rework for two bps.
August: throwing program with light weight including bands lots of cross training. Basketball. Soccer. Cardio on machines etc.
From September through October we play in a fall ball league. Workout similar to July except 2 bullpens not long.
November. December January: No throwing plus he played basketball.
February. Throwing program 2 days, 1 day bullpen starting out around 30 pitches increasing each week until practice starts.
March. In general our pitchers are broken up almost like college starters which is possible because of the excellent schedule our head coach puts together. So normally we have someone covering monday\tuesday, one Wednesday at bursary. And he was Friday starter. If by chance we needed to change he took on our toughest opponents. Generally he was on throwing program every day with bullpens 2x a week with some varied running and conditioning mainly legs and core. Day after start was a short throwing program day before short bp. His long bp was on Monday. Long bullpen was never more than 90 pitches.
Topped out at 84 mph, 9-1 record w\ 3 saves. 1.88 era, 11k/9
No arm issues and he did ice after every start.