Advice re Catching and Pitching

My son did same thing at that age. Also would catch double headers, sometimes catching 5 games in 3 days. As I recall there were a couple times he had soreness and that was never desirable. Here in Florida, we had little down time between fall - spring and summer ball.

He went totally to catching only at 13. No one can definitely advise as each kid is different (shape, type of pitches thrown, effort expended, competition faced, etc.)

In the 7+ years since 11, my son has had one bout with tendonitis that kept him out of two games. Also of note, he never threw a curve ball in competition.

This fall he is a freshman catcher in college. I don't know if anything I relate here helps, but looking back, I just know that we could tell when it was too much and when to back off a little.

Most of the arm Gurus, ie. ASMI, say you should not pitch and catch - especially in back to back games. Problem is, you get tired catching, especially the legs, then your pitching mechanics change due to fatigue. That is where risk of injury comes in. I would shy away from doing both in the same day. Worst case, pitch first, then catch. I would not do it the other way.

It is a interesting prediciment when a player is trying to both pitch and catch. Prior to 13U, we would have a catcher that pitches throw on Fri night of a tournament, then only catch the rest of the weekend. Trying to pitch and catch is double work on the arm and legs and creates a situation for mechanical breakdown. At 13U, I think you almost have to make a choice unless you are a part-time catcher. It's fine to C and play another position, that does not require constant throwing but pitching nad catching is a lot of repitition.

It is good to have the skills to do both. Good Catchers are really hard to come by. If my son were working on both, and he had the love to catch, I would concentrate a lot more eforts on that. Just a personal opinion, not a recommendation.

The situation you describe is pretty common among youth travel teams.

I don't worry so much about pitching, then catching -- at least, as long as you're not pitching the kid until his arm falls off. The problem comes with catching and then pitching.

To me, the problem is all about the legs. Truthfully the throwing is not so much an issue as long as you didn't pitch the kid until he hit a breaking point. There are not that many stress throws in catching; most of the time you're just returning the ball to the pitcher, staying loose. If you pitch a kid for 50 pitches or less, I wouldn't think you were abusing him to have him do some catching afterwards.

But I agree with the above comment that if you wear out a kid's legs with squatting, and then ask him to pitch, you're asking for trouble. Plus, for what are you taking this risk? He's not likely to be at his best at that point anyway.

Also bear in mind that in your typical youth game, even in only 6 innings you may see 120 pitches or more. So the wear and tear is substantial. Even without pitching, I don't like to see a kid used at catcher all weekend long, nor for all the innings of a doubleheader.

My son did this exact thing this past weekend, and while I did't have a problem with it at the time, it's not something that I will let him again any time soon. Our team is currently playing in a 13U Fall doubleheader league. During the regular season, we have four catchers - 1 primary catcher and 3 substitutes (which includes our number 1 and 2 pitchers) to make sure we don't wear anyone out during tournaments. Unfortunately, all but one of our catchers (my son) are off playing football. So, that's left my kid with the primary duty and we've coerced another kid (yet another of our pitchers) into covering when my son is on the mound.

This past Sunday, he threw a complete game - 6 innings and 72 pitches (yes, he was very efficient... and it was against the number one team in our league!) - then caught the second game. While he did a good job, I could tell that he was very tired halfway through the game... not so much his arm, but his legs. He's a fairly small kid, and uses his legs tremendously to gain velocity on his pitches. For the first time ever, I saw him really sit back on his knee supporters while catching, rather than crouching the way he has been taught. Needless to say, his throws to second didn't carry the same speed as usual, either. Obviously, after the games he was exhausted, but elated (it was only his second complete game this year).

As a rule, we are very protective of our kid's arms - hence the reason that we have 4 catchers (now five, considering the amount of training the other pitcher is getting at the position this Fall). Additionally, we work with almost all our kids to pitch (we have 5 starting pitchers, 2 regular relievers and 2 pitchers we use for "spot" duty (usually when we are getting killed or killing somebody). We also keep a pitch count on our kids and we try to make sure they stay under 80 pitches per outing and less than 100 pitches over a 3 day period (usual length of a tournament). We have no idea if any of our kids will get the chance to play in high school, but we want to make sure we don't screw up their chances by abusing their arms.

So, while I don't think this is any bid deal to do occasionally, I wouldn't allow my son to do it regularly. And I would never allow him to pitch after he had caught a complete game. I have no doubt that his mechanics would break down and he would have a huge chances of hurting himself.

The part about the legs wearing down is the big issue. My son has been typically catching the first game, and then pitching. He is very tall, so it is a big load for him to catch, and catching several innings seems to really wear on his knees. Of course, he will say he is fine, and in last weekend, after getting a rest, and then getting stretched out good, he seemed to be able to maintain mechanics pretty well.

i never liked a player to pitch and catch. especialy in back to back games. it's like pitching 2 games. different arm angles, then the hurried throw to 2nd. you may not know for a few years if it had an effect on their arm. but.... that's me.

Not to brag. My son played in a 10u tournament as a 9 yr old, double elim in a saturday and sunday. It took us 7 games to do it. He caught 45 of the 49 innings. 14 for 21 21 rbi , 5hr. We still shake our head and say he's reached the pinnacle of his career.

In the younger divisions, it's probably more common for the better players on their respective teams to pitch and catch. My son did it quite a bit at the LL level.

I was a bit surprised to see him do it at the HS level in the same game one time. He was the emergency catcher on the team and they had to use him behind the plate because the regular catcher had to come out and nobody else could catch. I supppose once in a while won't hurt but I wouldn't think it would be a good idea on a regular basis, He was not the team's regular catcher nor did he try out for catching but he told the HS coach he has experience catching (he had a strong accurate arm ) and wound up backing up the regular in his sophomopre year catching over a 1/4 of all the games that season. He was an OF/P.

quote:

Originally posted by kevin25:
Not to brag. My son played in a 10u tournament as a 9 yr old, double elim in a saturday and sunday. It took us 7 games to do it. He caught 45 of the 49 innings. 14 for 21 21 rbi , 5hr. We still shake our head and say he's reached the pinnacle of his career.

I wouldn't brag about it until your son reaches high school and still has an arm. I know a kid whose dad used to brag about the same thing. By 13U he had arm problems and couldn't catch anymore. He missed his soph year of high school with arm surgery.

RJM didn't mean to come ff as braggging. That tourney was an unusual thing. Just after the tourney we thought about it and realized how bizarre that amount of catching in 2 days were. We tease him that he'll never hit like that again. He "shot his wad" so to speak. Luckily he he's on teams now , where he doesn't carry such a heavy load.

I do not allow my son to catch and pitch. There was a very nice player 10 years old that both caught and pitched. He caught every inning of every game unless he was pitching.

At 11 years old he had to have arm surgery and I am pretty sure it was Tommy John surgery.

I would rather the kids play lots of positions and protect their arms while really learning to enjoy and respect the game. Too many travel teams have a win now attitude which in itself is not bad but they overuse the kids with the big arms.

If we coaches take the time to teach more kids to pitch I think a lot of the overuse issues might subside.

This summer, my son caught two games Wed, one game Thur (DH'd the second game). This was in Tenn at the Battle in the South 14U so it was HOT! He pitched a complete game 7 innings 92 pitches Friday and then caught a game on Saturday (we were eliminated-thank God).

He wasn't the same the rest of the summer. I'm sure every kid is different, but ours will never be subject to that workload again as long as I'm around. Instead of leaving it up to a professional coach, his parents will decide when he needs a break from now on. If we get removed from the team, then so be it. If he pitches any more at all, he will have to give up catching. IMHO by the time you are 13 or so, you should pick one or the other and stick with it no matter what the pressure to win becomes. If you are a stud catcher, but also the best pitcher on the team, find a team that is loaded with pitching and have some fun doing what you do.

While 13 has been a catcher since the first day of tee ball, he started double duty when they reached kid pitch. We started seeing the effects at 13U when you could tell that it was taking it's toll. Luckily, his coaches at the time noticed & rested him & then only used him as a spot/backup catcher. His pitching improved dramatically & he wasn't as worn out. Now, the coach of his new select team has more catching options, so 13 can concentrate on pitching & 1B. I guess it is time to sell the "tools of ignorance". There is a lot of good advice here. Good luck to your son GMonster. Remember, like GameTimer said, you (and your son) decide what's too much.