Arm Issue question

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Had this happen with my 2025 when he was 14, also a catcher w/ some pitching. He is now a full time catcher with no pitching. He had Growth Plate Inflammation (GPI) in the shoulder, we followed ortho guidance, shut him down for 6 weeks, ramped back up. After 2nd tournament back he developed GPI in his elbow (LL elbow). Shut him down for 6 weeks ramped back up. One tournament and pain returned in his elbow. Went back to ortho more GPI and they also did an contrast MRI on elbow to make sure there were no other issues. We shut him down the entire fall of Freshmen year using band work to rehab while he was shut down. Then started to ramp up using the Dr. Andrews return to throwing program. He was ready for tryouts in Jan for the HS team. I know of a few players that had the same type issues from 12-15 years old. One kept throwing with pain and fractured his growth plate and needed surgery, they did not take the ortho's recommendation to shut down.

So I would say this is pretty common. You can see what worked for my son.

Something you may want to think about after each incident the ortho did clear him to hit after about 2-3 weeks after the shutdown, just no throwing. His team did keep him in the lineup as a DH.

Have to say, I am not a doctor and do not take this as medical advice, it is just what worked for my son.

He was also going through high rate of growth at that time (about 7in that year).

It is interesting about being a DH. The ortho did allow my son to hit last year so with his time off from throwing. He focused on his hitting, blocking and receiving. Because of this he vastly improved in those areas.

Looking back did you notice any mechanical issues that may have contributed to the inflammation or do you it was a combination of growing quickly and perhaps throwing too much at the same time?

I assuming your son is 16 now. Do you think he is better now because his growth has slowed?

I think for the most part it had to do with overuse and growth (IMO). He was the primary catcher on his Travel ball team. Caught almost every game and most of the time when he was not catching he was pitching and played 3rd a little. Once he got to high school and a higher level travel team they have had several catchers, and mostly he has caught every other game. Also shutting down all pitching has helped. Catching and pitching together I think was a major problem (IMO).

I do not think there were any mechanical issue. He has been to some high level coaches for individual work and there has been no concerns.

My son is a late bloomer and still has a lot of growth left (from the reads of his bone density scans). He will be 16 in May.

I think the biggest impact has been cutting back on workload, getting stronger in supporting muscles (lifting a lot) and a solid structured throwing plan. He throws low intensity at least 3 days a week (out to about 120 ft) and long toss twice a week (out to about 250-300ft.) He threw from end zone to end zone for the first time a few weeks ago (it may have been a windy day LOL)

I am not going to say he has had no further issue because, I do not want to jinx it. ; ) LOL

Does the ortho he saw specialize in sports injuries? If not, see one. My son had a knee injury and a shoulder injury. His ortho also worked with pro athletes. We searched him out.

Good input from Txballdad and I was just about to go down the road RJM went...

You don't have a location on your profile so no one can steer you in terms of network of docs but I would definitely seek out an ortho that specializes in sports throwing motion.  Try to find the best in the area or whatever areas you are able to travel to.  I realize that isn't always feasible but...  also, be aware that PT's, while always trained for throwing motion issues, aren't always personally knowledgeable at the detail level with proper sequencing of throwing a baseball.

I also second the notion about pitching and catching... you can search many posts here about the differences in throwing mechanics, tempo, etc. between the two and they often conflict.  This can be particularly tricky when also dealing with significant growth spurts.

Even though he isn't pitching much, you may want to have him connect with a good P instructor every few weeks/months or so just to keep mechanics and sequence in check.  Ask up front if this is something they feel is a point of emphasis that they excel at.  I'd be looking for a tall guy with otherwise strong qualifications

Lastly, be cognizant with the long toss program.  Pretty much everyone including myself endorses them but sometimes when tilting to achieve the longer distances, mechanics are compromised if not paid close attention to.

I just want to second what Cabbage dad said, when long tossing, if the throwing motion changes (other then switching to a crow hop) stop them and make sure they are aware that something changed (examples of what my son has done: dropping arm angle, body following through to the glove side after the throw, flying open). They were different from his normal throwing motion.

By the way, I give my son a bucket of balls to carry out with him, so he can keep throwing after I can no longer get the ball that far. LOL So Dads and Moms, you do not have to stop throwing with them when they start throwing far. It is the highlight of my day when I get to throw with him. Trying to take advantage of every second I can with him before he goes off to school one day and I no longer have the opportunity. Warning for parents with younger players. Time really flies by. Sorry that was off topic.

Good points above. Relative to long toss, which I endorse wholeheartedly, we like to keep our guys at a distance around 120’. Once past that distance  most players change things in their throwing motion in order for the ball to carry farther in the air. Distance of carry is meaningless and it makes no sense to practice something that’s different than what you do as part of your normal throwing motion. So we have found that limiting throws to 120’ or so eliminates some of the unwanted variables.

Just jumping on the bandwagon here: I was born with a pretty good arm, and I tore a ligament by throwing at too high of an angle. I wasn't a ballplayer, so no biggie but I made sure my son never long tossed at higher angle than a normal throw - 120' sounds appropriate to me.

Also, my son at about 14 was experiencing forearm tenderness after throwing (tendentious?). I took hIm to a kinetic chain style pitching coach, they slightly changed the mechanics, worked on smaller muscle groups and recovery and the discomfort completely vanished (best coaching money I ever spent).

I think even though he's a catcher that sounds like a great idea when we are comfortable with him throwing again. Do you see a conflict with a catcher working with a pitching instructor? I know the throwing motion is different. I do think that he has been twisting his body off to one side while performing the throw from home to second. His catching instructor would call him out on that. He was trying to train him to throw straighter ahead. My son complained that he threw slower this way but I will say his throws looked more efficient and smoother and they were more accurate.

So to summarize a bit with regards to mechanics.... finding a pitching instructor who focuses on the sequence of throwing ( kinetic chain), long toss max 120 ft and watch for any change in mechanics that could be aggravating his elbow.

I will be the first to admit that I know very little about throwing mechanics and arm care so any resources you all can point me to would be great.

In regards to the ortho he saw, he seemed to be qualified he had worked with MLB pitchers in the past but had any little guidance for us just rest for 6 weeks and do a slow return to throwing or play 2nd or first base only and that it will probably reoccur again.

Tom House  will be offering a 3 day clinic a half days drive from us in a few months. Would that be worthwhile to attend for my son if he is healthy enough? It seems that they cover throwing mechanics, arm care and recovery. It is for pitchers, football players and position players. I know they focus a bit on metrics which I am not sure is a good thing right now because my son can become obsessed with numbers and is very competitive. I don't want him to hurt himself trying to compete. My goal is for him to learn how to take better care of his arm, and gain more knowledge about his throwing mechanics.

Tom House offers solid advice. Attending one of his clinics would be a no brainer.

I guess I do not consider long toss 120ft when the throw from the catcher to second is longer then 120ft. I may be using the term long toss incorrectly. Also, the Dr. Andrew's return to throwing program has the player throw out to 180 before any flat ground pitching.  

There is "magic" word in baseball. Used for throwing, hitting and fielding.

"EFFORTLESS"!!   synonym's  ["easy", "uncomplicated", "painless", "trouble free"]

Question: how to teach it?

Bob

By using "effortless'" just as magical cousin phrase... "use your lower half more, aka use your legs more"!

Ed

Gratetful:

In your mind, you can slow down the "speed of game". Tune out the negative comments. Relax and fine focus.

Bob

@BB328 posted:

I think even though he's a catcher that sounds like a great idea when we are comfortable with him throwing again. Do you see a conflict with a catcher working with a pitching instructor? I know the throwing motion is different. I do think that he has been twisting his body off to one side while performing the throw from home to second. ...

My goal is for him to learn how to take better care of his arm, and gain more knowledge about his throwing mechanics.

Your takeaways and goal are solid.  Your question is a good one.  Pitching instructor for a catcher - P's can maximize a smooth tempo, longer stride length, longer arm action and finish, etc. while generally C's cannot.  The objective with the P instructor would be to check things like sequencing and arm angle and to vet out any other potential areas  that may be causing arm discomfort or damage.  Many of the same principals would carry over, just shortened and sped up for C's.  Not a perfect solution but P instructors tend to focus more on those aspects while C instructors generally have different focus points.  You would want to clarify your situation and goals with the P instructor during the selection process to see if a good fit.

Baseball players throw a lot - catchers even more so.  Finding a path to arm health is imperative.

"Effortless"

Reminds of a 6'3" Rhp from Thunderbird HS in Phoenix at our 2000 Area Code games.

Mike Jones was on the mound at Blair Field for his 3 innings. Over 300 pro scouts and 150 College Coaches were watching his "nice and easy" delivery. Normally I can measure velocity by observation of the delivery and impact in the catchers mitt.

My eyes said 88-89 mph however the adjacent Pro scout's radar gun recorded 96 mph. The ball "exploded" in the last 10 feet.

Question: how to teach this delivery?

I have no medical training and I don't think my advice is contrary to anything above, but I do want to offer a slightly different take as the dad of a kid who had both "Little League elbow" and "LL shoulder."  It's well worth getting someone knowledgeable to assess your son's mechanics--I did that for my kid.  But based on my experience, sometimes a young player just has to take a break from throwing for a while when he is growing quickly.

Get a second opinion and satisfy yourself the only issue really is stress on open growth plates.  Find an orthopedist you trust and do what s/he recommends--I'm just some random guy on the internet.  But fwiw, my son missed most of his 12U spring with LL elbow, then pitched very successfully for a couple of months after time off and a return-to-throwing program.  Then about the time he turned 13 he started having shoulder pain.  So he went through the shut down, etc. routine again (he was able to DH the second time around; the first time he found his arm hurt when he swung a bat, so the doc told him not to do it).  The boy was still growing, but more slowly, when he returned to pitching the second time.  No further arm problems (knocking on wood as I type this) and he's now a sophomore D3 college pitcher.

It's hard to take time off because of growth plate issues.  But it's harder to rehab after surgery to re-attach a UCL to a growth plate.  And shoulder injuries are worse still.   Again, I say find a doc you trust and follow their advice.

Thanks I think I found a very qualified ortho to look at my son next week. I do agree that he may need a season or two break. It has been a year of tremendous physical growth and changing before my eyes.

He's so much stronger now. He swings the bat much harder now and I am thinking his bones may not have caught up with his muscle growth just yet.

The frustrating thing is puberty otherwise is giving him a nice increase in his bat speed, his speed is getting better and his fielding and agility has gotten better.

The challenge is getting my super active son fully on board. Last time we shut him down  I caught him playing volleyball and basketball and doing push up at times. At 14 it only seems like tomorrow exists.