How does a pitcher care for their arm after pitching?

My college son does nothing.  Never ices (unless sore or injured) as a routine.

Personally, I think excessive icing may be causing some injuries.  That's just me.

Also, we stay away from Cipro antibiotics - they list tendon ruptures as a side effect.

I thought my day would be boring, but just saw your post.  Get ready!  Unfortunately you will not have any actionable take-aways, but you will get all sorts of opinions. 

My 2017 seems to tolerate pitching well and usually does not even have general soreness.  I am not a big fan of icing unless there is a desire to reduce inflamation from injury (including overuse).  Any mild soreness is to be expected and could (opinion) reduce natural healing.  I think stabilization exercises after the game as well as a lite throwing program during the days after are important.  If you have moderate/severe soreness after each outing, then you should address that in the pitching mechanics and not pain relief after the fact.

Drink a Protein Shake after a start or long outing.

Heard the running piece gets the blood flowing for assistance with repair...

Be patient - the "running" folks along with the "never run" folks will soon show up.  One take is that running helps cleanse, especially lactic acid.  I would not recommend running, but I would say the worst thing one can do is strap on 5 lbs of ice and sit on the couch for the rest of the day.  These folks will probably also wander off into whether running is good training or not - long distance versus sprints.  My global take is to appreciate the level of "damage" incurred (lots of good material on micro-tears) and proceed accordingly.  The one really good area of interest is whether some type of "cooling", including icing, actually speeds up recovery and not simply reduces inflamation.

Happy to entertain you 2017!

So, in short, after your kid pitches he sits back down, does a few stretches and the next couple days he takes it easy on his throwing...that's all?

For pitchers and arm care, ASMI is a great resource. 

http://www.asmi.org/index.php?page=home_page

I didn't do anything after pitching. Neither did my son. Neither of us ever had a sore arm. Excuse me, in summer ball (Legion) I drank lots of beer after pitching. And chased girls.

Sadly this is the information I already had...and technically speaking the coach followed those but for the first time my sons arm was still sore the next day, and even two days later.  I laid out the course of events for his pitching instructor and the guy basically said that there was nothing wrong with my sons mechanics, but those rules are really geared towards youth pitchers that rest after pitching...and doesn't account for types of pitches thrown, so in short, they are a loose guideline at best...so, now I am trying to figure out the world of pitching because apparently these rules aren't enough.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked but for my son when he started to get serious about pitching and doing all the work in the gym before and the recovery workouts after is when he started to recover much faster and feel much better.  Arm still tired and stiff the day after a start but much better than it used to be.

FWIW he does some bands right after he is done and maybe a little ice.  Light toss the next day and start the process to get ready for his next start.  He has the benefit of only DH when he is not starting in HS and PO in the summer.

That to me is the danger when the boys are younger.  Pitchers don't ever really rest.  They pitch and go play somewhere else in the field so their arms never truly are off.

I had this posted on a different thread recently.  This is what BFS Jr. does, it works well for him, may not work well with others.  Keep in mind much of this he does at home, after his practice is over.  His HS has two games per week, they go with two starters, and have a pretty strict rotation (does not vary)...starters do no come in relief on off days....he plays 1B or DH on off days.  Some of his flat ground, and part of his bullpen below are done with the Core Velo belt...has been discussed in another recent thread.  Excessive or persistent soreness after pitching is not a normal sign. The guy giving pitching lessons, really can't say his mechanics are not correct.   I'd be looking for reasons why he is having lingering soreness.  As others have stated, doing nothing can / could work, however I guess if doing nothing could work, doing what we are doing is viewed at a minimum as insurance, plus we truly feel it benefits his performance when he does pitch.  Sounds like a lot, but it really is not.

Within 1-2 hours of outing (preferably as soon as possible):

• Body blade - gets range of motion (everything back in place) which facilitates recovery
• Marc Pro - electrical device that conditions/ facilitates recovery in all the pitching muscles / ligaments, very different device than a TENS unit

Day 1 after outing:

Body blade, light throwing (if feels like it...optional), Marc Pro, rebounder with 4 lbs. plyo ball, sprints

Day 2 after outing:

Decelerator muscles band work, Marc Pro, flat ground throwing to 120', 

Day 3 after outing:

Flat ground throwing to 120', Marc Pro, body blade, sprints

Day 4 after outing:

Body blade, bullpen from a mound, Marc Pro, rebounder with 4 lbs. plyo ball

Day 5 (2 days before next start):

Decelerator muscles band work, sprints, catch or no-throw day (optional), Marc Pro

Day 6 (1 day before start):

Body blade, flat ground (60' working on location 15-20), rebounder, Marc Pro

I am no expert and actually have limited experience with arm soreness.  Had a couple of instances of tendinitis in the wrist and occassionally some true muscle soreness but never any joint pain of either shoulder or elbow.  If a kid begins to expereience pain after pitching what appears to be a normal outing (i.e. no pain last week on similar outing), I would be investigating what might be different as opposed to figuring out how to treat.  Alot of what has been offered so far is really on the preparation side which I feel is essential.  Pain and soreness, especially when it first appears, is the time to start looking at all aspects of his game.  For instance, does he pitch in games the same as he pitches for his coach (or conversely, has his coach seen him pitch in game situations)?  Has he been playing a secondary position excessively or that is new?  Did his school get a new jungle gym the day before his outing?

Can you provide any more detail on the pain/soreness to see if anyone else may have dealt with something more isolated?  As for what my 2017 does, he keeps moving and has a throwing regiment between outings.  If there is pain/soreness, try real hard to isolate and determine the cause.  The worst thing to do is to have a kid nurse his arm for 4-5 days only to have another start on day 7 without any real interim training. 

That is pretty much where we are.  You asked for specifics...well I will give them but I'm pretty sure everyone will understand why his arm hurt, so this scenario won't be repeated...but I'm trying to avoid others.

(All games are 6 innings)

Saturday Game #1 4pm: Played 6 innings as 1B

Saturday Game #2 8pm: starting pitcher, kept missing, pulled in first inning after 21 pitches; immediately went to first where he stayed all 6 innings.

Sunday: Game #3 12pm: Starting pitcher, threw 74 pitches over 4 innings (minimal defensive backup, seemed like they got 5 or 6 outs per inning).  Half of what he threw seemed to be the overhead football curve, did not look tired, had not lost steam, started 5th inning as 1B and was there for 6th inning too.

Sunday Game #4 4pm: Played 6 innings at 1B

Pitching instructor said between the 2 pitching warmups, 4+ innings of pitching, and 19+ innings at 1B, warming up the infield in between innings from 1B...well it was more like he threw 175 pitches so no freaking duh his shoulder hurt. 

I know, I know...well, NOW I know.  I looked up the pitching guidelines and the tourney pitching rules, the coach didn't even use him all up according to either of those rules...and yes we are switching teams this year and I will do my best to keep it from happening again.

Run, Don't Run....Run.......away from this topic as fast as you cannnnn..

Seriously, my son never ices. Had one of THE best D1 pitching coaches say this when i asked about post pitching icing "I dont take ibuprofen if i dont have a headache, i dont think the ice and cold helps heated muscles/tendons and can actually harm them". The only soreness my son has is in the scap and and he is working on the exercises to correct and strengthen those. Every kid is different, one thing my son does is he keeps the arm moving every day between starts.

I used to be an ice guy, however after going to Ron Wolforth my son doesn't ice unless he has an injury.  He throws 6-7 days per week, long tosses 2-3 times per week, throws one full bull pen and one "touch feel" pen.  He uses bands 7 days per week and lifts 2-3 times per week.  As long as he long tosses enough his arm is never sore.

 If his arm hurts, there is something wrong.  Frankly, 21 pitches on Saturday, and 74 the next day isn't that far out of line for a 12yo.  And playing first base doesn't require that much throwing, it's good his coach put him there.  I think there is something else going on.  I think he plays a lot, throws a lot by your other posts.  He should rest, then start back up.  The posts on bands, other strength work are good advice.  It could be an accumulation of throwing over the last several months.

My son is 13, and I ask his org to use him as a reliever in tournaments (30 or so pitches one day, 30 or so the next) or only pitch him one time in a weekend.

Isnt your son relatively new at pitching?

This is the typical scenerio of a coach using a pitcher poorly. If a ML starting pitcher gets pulled early, does he go out and try again the next day? NO!!!

His shoulder hurts because he hasnt developed the muscles that help support a pitcher when they throw, that's not only in the shoulder, but the core muscles and the butt and legs as well. Until that develops, he will be most likely throwing more using his "arm" than his entire body. So that means, "take it easy".

Playing first means he hit as well, that was added stress on his shoulder. At 12/13, he should have some type of recovery program and the pitching instructor should help with that. If he wasnt hitting his spots, then more than likely he was having issues with his mechanics, maybe you need another insturctor?

Even at that age, if son pitched he was not in the game. And he never pitched the next day, regardless. 

As far as to ice or not to ice, that is a personal decision, son always iced,  but he also threw much harder than most.

After my son was out a month for shoulder muscle strain he started doing the Throwers 10 program every day.  This helped him, I believe, recover fairly well.  

He still used this program and will continue even through football season since he is the QB.  

I also bought a shoulder ice wrap that he will wear after the game as well as take 3 Ibuprofren for the inflammation of his muscles.

Another part of the arm health program should be watching pitch count and rest between outings. 

Daily J bands. Marc Pro after a full outing. No back to back pitching days.  

I listed what Jr. does, of which some likely does apply, and some likely does not apply for pre-teens....for those who have gone through puberty, have attained some amount of muscle mass, and throw in the 80's and above, I recommend the Marco Pro for recovery,.... for those who are not there, I would not recommend.  Jr. is a 2017 LHP, 6'2 / 180, throwing 85+, so in "his" case the Marco Pro IMO is great, and he uses the heck out of it, even on non-throwing days, but on throwing days for sure... we just talked to others on here who have used it, and their results are positive as well.  His arm feels much better / live the day after a start then ever before.  Just our experience.  That type of investment likely would not be wise for a pre-teen, or others, at least not yet.

I am not a big proponent of pitchers icing after an outing unless the arm hurts. I have some pitchers who ice occasionally and others who don't. I have a couple of them who like to use the Game Ready for either their shoulder or elbow after a game or the day after. I pretty much leave it up to the pitchers to do as they please.

Running is another topic that I simply educate kids on why their pitching coach (or whoever tells them to run for 30 minutes) is wrong. If they choose to still do it, then so be it. I won't say it hurts them. But the science does not support the concept. In fact, it may be doing just the opposite. Pitching develops very little lactic acid. Running, on the other hand, develops quite a bit. If more people understood the physiology behind muscle activity, more people would understand that distance running to rid lactic acid was incorrect. 

Oops sorry, no!  I didnt see anything in the original post about the age of the pitcher. Was just responding on what my son does - He is 16. 

Thank you Back foot slider and Enjoying the Ride.

I think its a good idea for posters need to identify their players age when posting.

Just a suggestion. 

Yes, he is new to pitching, you make a totally valid point that he probably doesn't have those muscles developed and likely threw with a lot of arm. 

I asked him why he thought he missed on Saturday night and in short he said because I didn't think the catcher could take full force, but trying to throw softer just screwed everything up.  I told him that coach would probably have him pitch the next day and he needed to pitch with his natural movement and if the catcher couldn't handle it then that was the coaches problem NOT HIS as long as he was throwing strikes or near enough. Sunday you could see he just let loose, and didn't walk anyone in the 4 innings he pitched.

I think the muscles not being there is dead on, I'll look into getting some of those bands.  Thank you.

Well. 500+. Growing up a little.  

quick jog

arm circles

some band work 

(just not arm, but back and rotational as well)

upward tosses with a ploy ball

Next day and or later that night....

foam roll

rebounder throws (just added these)

shoulder tube

The reality is that not every arm recovers the same and not every kid has the same toughness when it comes to recovery. What I mean by that is that in some players minds, it takes them icing, running, etc. for them to believe their body is recovered. I have been speaking against ice and against distance runs for years but from time to time I will have a player swear he needs both to recover. I feel like it would be foolish and arrogant of me to deny him the opportunity he feels like he needs to perform at his best. 

So, I feel that every body recovers differently but their certainly should be similarities with all players to get them ready for their next outing. I feel for college athletes that weights, explosive exercises, and stretching should be in every recovery program. That wouldn't be true for a 12 year old. 

If you are starting from scratch and have no preconceived feelings on the subject, lose the ice; lose the distance run.

....after a pre chase stretch I assume....

I think RJM's routine has some merit to it - drink lots of fluid and do some running.  not sure if his was sprints or long distance.

I think the discussion of icing will have more impact on younger players.  The fewer kids that ice, the fewer that think it is "cool".  Should cut down on icing over the next couple of years.

On an unrelated note, I played baseball my senior year in high school some 30 years ago.  I had to move to 1B from 3B and could not pitch because of some weird "injury".  Oftentimes when I would throw hard, my shoulder would sort of lock up.  I would have to then pull on my arm at the wrist and sort of let it unlock.  It almost felt like something was slipping into the shoulder joint - sort of like the muscles were not holding the arm tight enough - when I would relax and pull on the arm it would seem to slip back out and everything would be fine.  Never had any associated pain.  Did not bother me otherwise and I had zero future in baseball so never got it diagnosed.  Figured I would toss it out here to see if anyone has seen anything similar.

Just realized I shot a video on the topic. Here's some of the stuff our guys do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28k_vFAHfMI

Kyle and Driveline Baseball's recovery methods are top notch. Before, I was the traditional "Ice and Run" pitcher...now, I not only feel better (less inflammation and feel more loose/normal) but I feel stronger (instead of trying to get back to my regular self, I feel like I'm moving forward)

A typical post throwing night for me:

Hip mobility and some other active stretching

Foam rolling

LAX Boll Rolling (as seen in Driveline)

I-Y-T/Skydiver/90-90 Series (As named by Randy Sullivan) -- Lie face down on the floor, perform each for six seconds...I'm sure there is more information somewhere on his website about these.

J-Bands (as seen in Driveline)

Upward Tosses (as seen in Driveline)

The next day contains most of the same...add in some catch (just as it feels comfortable)

My son pitches in Single -A , after he pitches , he hits locker room food, watches film, he and his roommates head to their apartment, drink beer and play ping pong,lol. Has never really iced or anything else. He will occasionally do some light jogging, but that's about it. Guess it depends on the pitcher.

In every level son hit in milb there was a protocol after he pitched...as a starter especially but he did continue as a reliever.

Agree everyone is different. But there is specific arm care for pitchers for a reason!

TPM, where's your son pitching at? Junior has never liked to ice, he follows any direction given to him by the team, has a strict throwing program he lives by, Has worked well so far .

TPM, he is in low A with the Padres. He starts and follows their program.

Oh.