Enough time to bounce back?

When does your HS season begin and end?

My son had surgery in october and had to wait until Jan 1 to resume throwing. He will be behind come spring training. That's the price one pays when there is injury.

Whatever you do, do not do anything earlier than you have been told to do, even if you feel "good". Proper rehab means less stress later on.

Good luck.

Tryouts start the first week of March, and the best case scenario for being cleared to pitch again is the last week of Feb. Season ends middle of May.

I agree with you 100% on waiting until fully cleared. Its just not worth it to pay for it down the line.

NW Knights 07,

quote:

“As a 16 y/o starting pitcher I recently had an elbow problem diagnosed.”

Exactly what was the diagnosis? Explain where it hurts and what type of pitches you throw. Is the pain in the back of the elbow, on the inside or the outside.

quote:

“ and as part of the healing pr****ss am required to take 6 weeks (3 more weeks now) off before doing anything as far as throwing or pushups

This is typical of Dr’s who have no clue as to what the problem may be!!
Rest equals atrophy, stimulating the effected area if it is muscle strain will heal it faster and maintain muscle mass. If you take the Dr’s advice and then get his release, you should then start from scratch with an atrophied arm, this will take a couple of months of hard training before you can then safely pitch a few innings of competition.
At your age this is OK.

quote:

“But the real question is will I have enough time to build back up to the point of being able to pitch at the high school leve?”

No!! you must be in complete shape to pitch competitively so you will not have the same reoccurrence.
Are you going to change the way you trained before the injury?
Are you going to change the mechanics that injured you in the first place?

quote:

Exactly what was the diagnosis? Explain where it hurts and what type of pitches you throw. Is the pain in the back of the elbow, on the inside or the outside.

The actual diagnosis was "little league elbow", or more specifically a separated growth plate in my throwing elbow. Pain was always at the back of the elbow, and I'm currently undergoing a major overhaul of pitching motion, and curveball mechanics.

quote:

Are you going to change the way you trained before the injury?

The injury occured at the end of the last season from too heavy a workload, and was reaggravated after taking time off in hopes of recovery. The muscle groups that needed to be worked (rotator cuff & forearm) never got there, and I'm not about to let that happen again.

Since the high school season is completely out of the question, will I be in good enough shape for legion ball in the middle/end of May?

NW Knights07,

quote:

ual diagnosis was "little league elbow"

Little league elbow is the same as tennis elbow where the pain emanates from the lateral epicondyle (outside of elbow) where the muscles that supinate your forearm attach meaning that these muscles and tendons are not in sufficient shape to handle the stress placed upon them.

quote:

“ more specifically a separated growth plate in my throwing elbow”

A separated growth plate means that it is not closed yet meaning that you are not biologically mature in this area? If the growth plate has a crack in it (very difficult to see) then you must treat it as a broken bone where you place no stress on it by shutting it down completely for 5 to 6 weeks (this produces atrophy) until you get your Dr’s release.
If there is no crack in it and you only have fatigued (micro torn, not tired) muscles and tendons from lack of fitness then you need to stimulate them through light use.

quote:

“Pain was always at the back of the elbow”

This means you are slamming the epicondyle of your Humerus into the capitulum of your Ulna together in a ballistic fashion typical of driving the ball by supinating (thumb driving up and elbow driving down) your forearm. This causes loss of range of motion, severe pain, inflammation and bone spurs in your elbow and must be eliminated in all your pitches by pronating (thumb driving down and elbow driving up) your forearm with all your pitches.

quote:

“ I'm currently undergoing a major overhaul of pitching motion, and curveball mechanics’

The pronated curve ball is very difficult to perform but is possible to learn!
Remember to try and throw the pitch over your glove side ear and pop your elbow up and attain 12/6 horizontal axis presentation by pronating the drive and release.

quote:

“The injury occured at the end of the last season from too heavy a workload”

It had nothing to do with your work load and all to do with your arrival and drive mechanics! If your mechanic is non-injurious your load will not matter.

quote:

“and was reaggravated after taking time off in hopes of recovery”

Rest = Atrophy, when your growth plates have solidified at biological age 16 (not chronological) you can train year round and compete for 6 straight months. Do not compete during fall and winter and only showcase yourself during the summer.

quote:

“The muscle groups that needed to be worked (rotator cuff & forearm) never got there, and I'm not about to let that happen again”

Good for you but these muscle groups have nothing to do with your injury! Supination is your sole problem as with all who have centripetal (7/8’s, ¾’s 5/8’s arm vector) mechanics

quote:

”Since the high school season is completely out of the question”

I would not say this, you can still contribute mid way and at the end of season if you make the mechanical changes!!!! The difference when you learn to pronate will amaze you and you will get stronger and stronger without the continual regeneration of the injurious supination.

quote:

“will I be in good enough shape for legion ball in the middle/end of May?”

I have seen all who change from supination to pronation eliminate the pain then get into good enough shape to compete long before May.

You must learn to transition your Humeral/forearm at the back instead of off to the side by elevating your Elbow at the back by supinating your pendulum swing to full range of motion so then when you start driving the ball forewords you can then pronate the drive from having arrived at supination (thumb up and hand under the ball) at the back.