HS Varsity Coach Pitcher Prep

I'm with you...use a gradual build-up...30-40 every other day week one...50 week two...til you're up to 75-80...however most high school pitchers also play a position (many ss and of's due to their arm strength) and often are making more throws on what should be "off" days...if they're simply "stretching out" while throwing every day it shouldn't be a problem...for years Leo Mazzone had Braves pitchers throwing everyday in spring training...his philosophy was "they're pitchers and what better way to get an arm in shape than throw?" as with everything the kid has to be smart and back-off if there's tenderness... especially early in training...trying to throw thru pain only results in forming bad mechanics to compensate

A 6-day throwing program is in order, but it should involve steps like long toss one day, flat ground work one day, bullpen one day, rest day, scrimmage day, rest day.

Throwing off a mound 6 days a week is asking for trouble. And because this is an issue potentially affecting player health, I think a respectful approach from a concerned parent is in order. I think it is fair to say your son's coaches need an education. This is not a judgment call area, this is an area where they are demonstrating ignorance and they need to open their ears and their minds.

What they're going to wind up with is a bunch of guys with tired and sore arms, and no one at all will be ready, short notice or not.

quote:

They did the same thing last year

What were the results of last year? Any injury? Are those 30-40 at full speed?

Maybe the coaches need education maybe not, the problem is that you are in no position to be their teacher. Your son agrees plays for them, it is their team, their rules. If in fact what they say or demand is unacceptable, you and he have a couple of choices...none includes attempting to tell the coaches how to coach. Ask you son if he wants you in between the coach and him, my bet is that he'd much rather deal with the situation himself. Unfortunately from now until hes out of ball, parental input is not asked for and (Unless under extraordinary circumstances) never accepted.
For your part, I'd learn as much as I could about arm health and keeping it there and apply it at home, if you are convinced he's not being treated as he should.
The National Pitching Association (NPA) was started by Tom House and he is likely the most public and accessable person/group/association that has arm health as a high priority and educating about how to acheive it is top of the list with them.

Parents absolutely should stay out of coaching decisions -- unless health or risk of injury is involved.

Your son will not want you to intercede because he will fear retribution. You may also fear retribution. Tough. This is a situation that requires intervention by adults. You approach it in a respectful manner, but if you get nowhere, you do what you have to do.

Being named coach does not give anyone license to hurt a kid or ruin his future. Strategic decisions, lineup and playing time decisions, etc., are completely off limits. Health and safety issues MUST be taken up, and the sooner the better.

It is no answer to say that kids need to learn to handle these things for themselves. The kids are taught from day one that their coach is an authority figure not to be questioned, and kids for the most part think they are invulnerable anyway -- until it's too late. If a parent sits this one out and simply hopes for the best, the worst will occur with some percentage rate of frequency. You buy your lottery ticket and hope it doesn't hit your son's number.

The vast majority of coaches will not put you in this situation, I'm happy to say. But there are always going to be a few who just don't know the limits they should observe, and there are fewer still, but still some, who arrogantly and recklessly take risks with players' health. The first group can be approached and you can hope for an open-minded reception if you make the approach with due respect and manners. The second group, you try the first route, but then you may have to go over their heads to get higher authority to intervene before somebody gets hurt.

I know kids who've had to have TJ surgery because of this kind of foolishness, and it is absolutely wrong IMHO for a parent to sit by and watch it happen without doing anything.

quote:

I know kids who've had to have TJ surgery because of this kind of foolishness, and it is absolutely wrong IMHO for a parent to sit by and watch it happen without doing anything.

Midlo you are making a bunch of leaps based on little information. Just the couple of questions I asked could provide more clarity. Sure if the coaches simply did just throw 30-40, 6 days..may in fact prove problematic (This is assuming the kids have no other conditioning and preparation beyond that...even the op mentions "stretching". Are you saying that you personally know kids who were involved in this program...or were treated in a like manner? I sincerely doubt a (Though I grant that your experience is different than mine and you may have surely experienced such things) coach having a kid throw 30-40 pitches is going to cause TJ. I mean do they make them pitch when injured, or sore? This is the information needed to be able to give the poster reasonable advice.
I really suspect that there is more to it than the small snippet of the situation provided in the op.
I don't mean any disrespect to your comments but if you approach a coach and tell him his program is injuring little Jr. with no real evidence other than what you heard on a web forum, you'll likely not have the issue to deal with in the future and the coach will likely not spend another minute of worry about it either.
If kids are coming up damaged it will be readily apparent.
They should be able to throw 5+, and if they have a lay off, what is the kid doing? He should have his own throwing program, it should mostly coincide with the team but if he sits for weeks and doesn't throw...it's his own fault (I don't mean that harshly..but it is a fact).
I would be happy to refer the poster to a couple of places where they can get an idea on how to condition and prepare...with or without a quality pitching program at his school.
My son is a varsity pitcher on a team that has coaching that thinks pitching is an after thought. Midlo...you want things to get mad at...his moron coach (Through indifference and ignorance) allowed him to take the mound..with no warm-up and throw a 100+ pitch CG, I know full well how a coach has the power if given to him to injure a kid. It's been my policy for the last 4 years to overcome such idiocy and it can be done. It takes work away and keeping the kid as arm smart as he can be. In our case it has worked..my son has big schools looking to get him and has been scouted by the pros.

Thanks for the quick replies.

MD - It is six days pitching off a mound. He still does routine batting practice, fielding drills and some other throwing.

jd - last year he pitched the most innings, pitched in most of the toughest games, and was given the team's pitcher's award as well as some minor regional recognition. He was not injured. In fact, in all of the years he's thrown, he has only complained of a sore arm on one, single occassion (which may have actually been from some ill-timed weight training - not throwing). I have no trouble with how he "is treated." The coaches have always been fair to him in all respects. I don't have any interest in getting involved with coaching decisions, or telling the coaches what they should be doing. I could encourage my son to ask them about changing his routine or I could shut up and let it play out. If people here seem to find my son's coaches method of prep generally reasonable, I'll keep my second-guessing to myself and not infect him with any doubt. Thanks for the NPA advise.

jd- It's hard to have him do his own routine when they don't let him know when he's expected to pitch next, but be ready every game. Like your son, but probably not as successfully, he has pitched several 100+ pitch games. It can still be quite unpleasant in the northeast in April and May. That's a lot of throwing for anyone on a 60, 50 or 40 degree day. They do not want him throwing away from the team -"be ready every game".

I don't speak from merely scanning web posts. I have read, I have played, I have coached, etc. There is a medical consensus on this issue. Overuse is a serious problem. And throwing off a mound six days a week is something not even an MLB closer is asked to do.

I don't think you wait until someone gets hurt to point fingers. There is an opportunity here to take the uneducated and help them understand that you don't condition pitchers the same way you do hitters or infielders. You can take BP every day if you want to, and you can take grounders or shag flies every day if you want to. But pitching is not something you do 6 on, 1 off.

Since it has been clarified that this coach is indeed asking his guys to throw off the mound 6 days/week, I think someone needs to step in and say something. Diplomacy is the watch word, to be sure, but you can't just sit and do nothing.

quote:

last year he pitched the most innings, pitched in most of the toughest games, and was given the team's pitcher's award as well as some minor regional recognition. He was not injured. In fact, in all of the years he's thrown, he has only complained of a sore arm on one, single occassion (which may have actually been from some ill-timed weight training - not throwing). I have no trouble with how he "is treated." The coaches have always been fair to him in all respects.

So following their program he did really well with no injury.


There is a medical consensus on this issue. Overuse is a serious problem. And throwing off a mound six days a week is something not even an MLB closer is asked to do.

Yes indeed I am one of the loudest advocates to not over-using a pitcher.
Closers can appear 6 times in a week, certainly warm-up up every night in a week, but they are very closely monitored and get days off etc.
My point is Midlo that we don't know the program. It allowed the kid to have an outstanding season last year, without injury...doing the same thing.
Japanese teams throw as much as 8 hours a day, Mazzoni typically has his starters throw long toss at 70% and 5 innings worth of bull pen after a complete game. The University of North Florida has a daily throwing schedule for pitchers.
From what the poster has said...at least the impression I get, is that the coaches are aware, and they value the posters kid. For all we know it may be a renowned program with a great heritage...known for quality and healthy pitchers. I acknowledge that your concerns are realistic and the poster does well by looking for input...I guess being on the ground they will be the final decision maker. I think the kid will have a tremendous season and staying within what he did last year has all the prospects of staying just as healthy.

quote:

It's hard to have him do his own routine when they don't let him know when he's expected to pitch next, but be ready every game. Like your son, but probably not as successfully, he has pitched several 100+ pitch games. It can still be quite unpleasant in the northeast in April and May. That's a lot of throwing for anyone on a 60, 50 or 40 degree day. They do not want him throwing away from the team -"be ready every game".

Being prepared doesn't necessarily include throwing, please do look into NPA, I'm not a member but I've seen their material and it is outstanding...You could pm some of the regular posters on this site they are (Members), Roger Thomas, is one (And a great guy), CaDad (Also a quality helpful person) likely has as much arm rehab knowledge/info as anyone here..I know some of the other members do post here but their names escape me.

But really it sounds like he was ready...and gave an outstanding accounting of himself.
You guys have my best wishes on a great season!!

2008,
There is a fair amount of information out there on the harm involved with pitching too much. A good rule of thumb may be that kids need to throw more and pitch less, however there may be no absolutes here to hang your hat on regarding what is too much or too frequent. It is important however to understand that there is a legitimate school of thought that also argues prolonged over-throwing will have a culmulative negative affect on a young man. That is, just because he hasn't complained of arm problems up to this point doesn't mean it hasn't had an negative affect on him that might show up later. (I'm not saying by any means that this is the case but simply demonstrating a valid point.)

Finally, what I do think is most important is that you listen closely to your son (and to yourself) in trying to figure out what is best for him and don't let past or present success stand in the way of protecting him for his future.

2008Beebe, you didn't say how old your son is. Regardless, throwing six days a week is one thing - pitching off a mound six days a week is another. And pitching six days a week to start the season is a good way to get all of the pitchers' arms into deficit before the season even starts.

Proper rest after outings and bullpens is also very important. Pitchers normally throw their bullpens between outings such that they aren't throwing them the day before or the day after an outing. Being ready to throw on any day tells me that they might throw a pitcher the day after he threw a bullpen. Or even the day after a previous outing.

Many authorities claim that overuse injuries these days are caused by too much pitching and not enough throwing. Check out this excellent presentation by Dr. Andrews.

jd,

Are you not going to be satisfied until the team starts forming a line at the orthopedist's office?

Just because someone was fortunate enough to go through last season without injury doesn't mean you can keep doing it to everyone year after year without risk.

On the contrary. This is like Russian roulette. If you keep pulling the trigger, eventually you will get a disastrous result. The fact that you didn't blow your brains out on the first pull is no reason to act like you can just keep going without consequences.

Symptoms are going to start cropping up, including loss of velocity, reports that pitchers feel "tired", hanging of curves, tender elbows, shoulder tendinitis. Eventually someone will develop a bona fide injury.

Mazzone would always talk about how his throwing program kept everyone so healthy. There is a debate about whether Mazzone was really great, or whether he was fortunate to have greatness in his rotation. But leaving Maddux and Glavine aside, you can't pretend that Mazzone avoided injuries. Smoltz has had elbow problems several times. Hampton continues to suffer injuries. Avery and Nagle flamed out soon after their peaks with the Braves. To say nothing of a long list of lesser known pitchers who had problems. Or those who had difficulties in more recent seasons with the Orioles (Bedard shut down early last year for elbow issues; Ray out now with TJ surgery and rehab.)

I'm not blaming Mazzone, I'm just saying that whatever else it does, his throwing program does not have the pristine track record for preventing injuries that is often claimed.

But also bear in mind that he has the advantage of dealing with physically mature adults. HS kids are still maturing physically and that argues for greater care, not less.

quote:

Are you not going to be satisfied until the team starts forming a line at the orthopedist's office?

Just because someone was fortunate enough to go through last season without injury doesn't mean you can keep doing it to everyone year after year without risk.

I will reiterate. You don't know the program.
You are flaming on me based on one statement. Perhaps this poster can tell us if their program has had injury on a "lined up at the ortho's" basis in the past.
Of course it isn't prudent to have the whole picture is it? Lets send this person who obviously hasn't much experience into the coaches office and tell him that he's injuring players (Diplomatically)..if not now..in the future. Based on a question that some guy in Va. answered. Let us not find out anything other than just one thing and go off and make definative declaration statements that could effect a kids year. That is responsible behavior
As to Leo, let me just list out a few things here;

If I said that a guy was throwing 300 pitch bullpens daily, would that be abuse? Dice-K does it

If I said that a coach had guys throw 5 innings worth of bullpen after a 100+ pitch outing is that abuse? Glavine and Maddux did it...as to the other guys and whether Mazzone is a great coach, you are putting the star on Mazzone without any....Not a drop of background information on these other players..Hampton pitched for several other teams before he made the Braves, they got injured..it's Leo's fault (Are you sure your name isn't O'Leary?).
How about Smoltz...he comes back and under Mazzone he's a dominating closer and now back in the starting rotation....how many years?
You paint with a broad brush and want this person to do your bidding. I think the person needs to get educated and make her own decision based on knowledge...I'm comfortable with that and not being in concert with your thinking.
No, to answer your cynical question, I won't ever be satisfied if someone hurts a kid. I will offer whatever small of experience I have, any wisdom some small kid may have imparted on me and provide whatever resources I can in an attempt to help.....Not make declarations and pull the trigger (A trigger I might add that can adversely effect a kids entire season as an end result of my "dogma") based on scant information.
So we differ. The contrast is there for the poster to make up her own mind or not..I certainly hope this isn't the last stop on the search for keeping her kid healthy happy and on the road to his future.

There is a huge difference between throwing and pitching 6 days in a row---the terms are not interchangeable

Too much uncertainty in all of this. A kid throwing off the mound 30 to 40 pitches, 6 days a week, as long as he was not throwing near max velocity wouldn't seem to be too dangerous and would seem to be one way of building endurance for the season without that many pitches in any one session. It sounds like once the season starts and they're expected to throw more pitches per outing they drop the 6 day a week bit. Is it better or worse than the standard approach? Who knows? My concern is that throwing BP seems to be added in with the 6 days a week of throwing off the mound.

This approach would concern me, but unless my son came down with a sore arm it wouldn't be anything I'd challenge a coach over.

As far as never knowing for sure when he is going to pitch you just have to do your best to have him ready as often as possible. You don't play every day so there are things you can do. That's an issue everyone tends to face to some degree. Now that we're into the regular season mine usually throws a pen after the game if he doesn't pitch in the game and there isn't a game scheduled the next day. Fortunately, we've got some hard working catchers who are willing to stick around to catch the pens.

quote:

Originally posted by jdfromfla:
(Are you sure your name isn't O'Leary?).

What was that about? This is your second remark about Chris and no, Midlodad is not chris O'Leary.

Midlodad's son is, at this point one of the top pitching prospects in the country, in fact I think he is in the 50 of all HS prospects. Most of us here know who he is. Though I agree we do not know all of the circumstances, I don't think he got that way pitching from a mound 6 days a week. He as well as I can tell you that most parents don't realize much that goes on with HS pitchers can lead to not being able to pitch later on. We both know that even little things happen when sons put too much time on the mound, even when treated with kid gloves. I will tell you , if you don't question and something happens you WILL NEVER forgive yourself.

It's accumalative, I see it ALL of the time, good pitchers leaving HS entering college with shoulder injuries and TJS, college pitchers not used or prepared correctly going to pro ball with shoulder issues or elbow issues.

Roger Thomas answered the question. Throwing from a mound six days a week is a lot different than throwing from flat ground. Again the problem with HS and travel ball is that most coaches have no clue how to prepare pitchers go or defined roles. They prepare them all the same, that is not how it's done and if a HS coach sees a special arm, it's his responsibility to take care of it. But many don't. Starters, releivers and closers all prepare differently. I defend coaches, but just because you are paid to caoch a team, doesn't mean yo have all the knowledge.

Now here lies the problem, a new poster comes along, and asks a question about preparation then states he may lie dormant for 10-14 days. What did he do in that time frame off? That is very important in the scheme.

You have great pitching knowledge for a HS parent, use it when someone needs a question asked, not to argue with an experienced parent who has seen 4 years of HS pitching. You haven't gotten that far yet in your son's pitching career to know what will work and will not work for him. Then us Old Timers accuse of of being "rude". Throwing him on the mound with no warm up (unless playing in the game) on a 100 pc is VERY bad news. He has a loong way to go, never be at the mercy of a HS coach who may be ignorant of how pithcers need to be treated. Many coaches are fine coaches, many of them are NOT pitching coaches.

We don't know, 100% for sure what causes damage, over use, pitching when tired, not enough rest, if one wants son to play beyond the HS game, and not sure of what is going on, do your homework and ASK. Don't go by what works for one may work for all, ALL pitchers are different.

My son was coached by, IMO, one the best college pitching coaches in the country. I learned a lot from him by what he did and didn't do with his pitching staff. I know when he sees and hears how much HS pitchers are overused, he literally cringes, he has had to rehab many of them. He won't even let a college pitcher go more than 50-60 for the first few games until he feels he is ready.

Ok so jd where did your nasty post go?

Or did you realize Beebe was a he not a she and I am a she and not a he, buddy or sir?

2008 Beebe,
I suggest again if you feel uncomfortable, being a cautious dad, get some more info from your son on what's going on, speak with a professional pitching coach or pm me and I will ask one for you.

quote:

What was that about? This is your second remark about Chris and no, Midlodad is not chris O'Leary

I was making a comment on taking one piece of information and jumping to a conclusion. Chris does that (I'm sorry I don't remember making another remark about Chris...I'll just say I've debated him and defended him, he wants to help kids and that is ok by me), Midlo did that. Sorry if you didn't like it.
TPM you don't know me, what I said to this poster can stand on it's merits.
You said not one thing that controverts the points that I made. Just because Midlo has a son who has made it to a great school doesn't make him right. I'm certain he has experience and knowledge that is very interesting and no doubt he has great knowledge to impart on others. I disagreed with his take and offered an alternative thought and resources that could possibly help the poster, that is all. I left off at that. He called me out and you seem to be bothered that I retorted to him.
As I reflect on what you said to me, the op was attempting to question..(I know I'm being redundant but maybe this time it will sink in) What I did was recommend she get more knowledge..to become educated to the facts..I also provided her with resources (Not setting myself up as ultimate authority as Midlo is attempting to do), one of those resources...who is a very close friend of mine Roger, was concerned about what he heard and gave the person more information, the other CaDad, who I've been associated with for a couple of years now and have great respect for, was more leaning toward the fact...fact TPM, that we do not have enough information to make sweeping declarations and felt perhaps it wasn't as bad as painted.
Now, yes I have a son who is now a senior, but I also have a 28 year old son (Who I coached through his time in baseball)...I've also coached for 25 years and been associated and interned with D-1 College coaches and major league players and pitching coaches. So though this isn't the most extensive knowledge available it is not insubstantial.
I made very clear that I am very concerned about over use.
But in the reality of it all, let us just stop and say what in the world can she do outside of becoming educated as to what is or isn't over-use or MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY how to make sure her son is fully aware of arm health maintenance and care and practising it? You and Midlo cannot realistically think this person is going to be able to even carry on an intelligent (No Slight meant here)discourse about over-use other than to simply say please don't over use my kid. How is it that you or Midlo think that the coach would even take her seriously ("Uh coach the guys who you've devloped and trained are going to be injured..if not now then later...I can't tell you why but if you contact Midlo from Va. or TPM who loves the Cards..they'll set you straight")?
If I disagree, I disagree with respect, just because one guy makes a point that may appear to agree with Midlo (And I'm not sure that you can say Roger is 100% in his camp), doesn't give Midlo the right to expect that I will abandon the points I have made while he pushs his little cynical digs at me.

Oh by the way..Go Cubs!

Hmmm... It seems I made the assumption that the pitching referred to by the original poster was off of a mound. My bad. I didn't mean to assume that. The original post didn't indicate whether the pitching was off a mound or flat ground. In this scenario, I don't think it matters - it wouldn't change my opinion though I would agree that pitching on flat ground will be easier on the backside decelerators.

Also, the original post made no mention of the intensity level of the pitching. They may have started off pitching at less than 100% intensity. But it is reasonable to assume that they would be working their way towards 100% and 6 days a week at close to 100% is still too much IMHO.

Jd,
First, I did mention you had knowledge of pitching, and I do agree that we don't know all of the facts. Often very common here, a poster comes to ask a question and leaves out half the info required to head them in the right direction.

As far as MD, I understand his concern as a parent of a pitcher and that should not be questioned. I don't always agree with MD, but as parents of pitchers and knowing who we are there is a respect.

Bebee is a dad, not a mom.

I am not a he, buddy sir, I am a she. Maybe that makes you think we as woman (due to your comments regarding Bebee being a mom) we are stupid and don't know how to speak to coaches. So you yourself have jumped to conclusions. We all tend to do that.

No disrespect to Roger or Cadad, you steared Bebee to contact them, why? Because they have pitchers in HS? Because they are dads who coached?

I am a friend of Chris', too bad he has been banned from this sight, I enjoy his theories and enjoyed his discussions. We keep in contact and I took your comment as a dig.

I suggested that Beebe find out what's really going on and ask a professional or to watch a practice.

Since you wish to get into it, you know nothing about me as well. Throwing in go Cubs was another assumption and dig,IMO. I am a Marlins fan that is a Cardinals fan because my son is a Cardinal pitching prospect who worked under Kevin O'Sullivan at Clemson. So we all bring experience to the discussion, even us moms.

quote:

No disrespect to Roger or Cadad, you steared Bebee to contact them, why? Because they have pitchers in HS? Because they are dads who coached?

I am a friend of Chris', too bad he has been banned from this sight, I enjoy his theories and enjoyed his discussions. We keep in contact and I took your comment as a dig.

I suggested that Beebe find out what's really going on and ask a professional or to watch a practice.

Since you wish to get into it, you know nothing about me as well. Throwing in go Cubs was another assumption and dig,IMO. I am a Marlins fan that is a Cardinals fan because my son is a Cardinal pitching prospect who worked under Kevin O'Sullivan at Clemson. So we all bring experience to the

I threw in the Cubs thing because of the natural rivalry (And I am a dyed in the wool Cub fan), I suggested Roger because of his ties to NPA and CADad as his boy has been through heck and back with an injury and he's walked the miles...also to provide resources to the poster to get educated (For this MD AND you smacked me around??!!).

Since you wish to get into it, you know nothing about me as well. Throwing in go Cubs was another assumption and dig,IMO

I didn't and don't wish to "get into it". The man called me out and you got onto me for defending myself..It wasn't any assumption to see the Cardinal logo in your signature...

I grant you the point on gender. I was wrong in this internet world to make any assumption.

I had no idea anyone booted Chris off of any site. I have had a very cordial relationship with him for a couple of years and have had interesting debates with him. The point I made about him, I would, will and have made to him directly in the past and will make and debate with him in the future (On a site where he isn't banned).

Perhaps as an "Old timer" you are sensitive to "digs", but you certainly made no comment to Midlo as he made his snide comment to me. So it looked to me as you were also being antagonistic to me in support to him.

Sorry about that Marlins thing...we can't all be long suffering
I still use that time Beckett threw at Sosa's head as an example of how he won that series with that one pitch...curses! Darn winners...it's been 100 years this year ya know...Stupid goat!!!

MidloDad can tell you we don't always agree.

If one goes back and reads how the thread evolved, MD put in his opinion, that was it. I don't see and still when reading over where he should have been given a hard time. JMO.

Read over again everyone, he stated his son through from a mound in 30,40, degree weather and over 100 pitch games and to be ready every game.

This doesn't sound like a new type of pitching theory to me, does it to you?

Not to get into a measuring contest, but I would appreciate it if someone would address what I said, and not their twist on what I said.

No one ever said, "go tell them Midlo Dad said", etc.

As I mentioned, there is a medical consensus on this issue. Much of it has been posted in various forums on this site. There are innumerable publications about it. Little League has studied it to death. ABCA has published on it. Coaches are offered seminars that speak to it.

In short, a coach almost has to be willfully ignorant not to know about it.

I also said that the first approach should be to educate the coach, since he apparently is one of the few who has not learned about this issue yet. The coach is entitled to respect until he proves otherwise. If he becomes belligerent or defiant when politely provided with the widely available information, then at that point he will have proved otherwise. Hopefully he will accept the good faith input, learn from it, and adjust his practices accordingly. But if he doesn't, my whole point is, you can't just sit back and do nothing.

As for my comments on Mazzone, I think the jury is out on him. Which was my whole point. I don't know that he can be blamed for anything, but I also don't know that he can be credited for all that happened on his watch, either. But even Mazzone's regular throwing program is a THROWING program. On some of the days, pitchers merely loosen up, or long toss. They don't throw off a mound 6 days a week. Frankly, outside of the post that started this thread, I have never before heard of anyone so far out there that they think throwing off a mound 6 days a week is OK.

In that same vein, I'm scratching my head that JD seems to think it could conceivably be defensible. JD, don't rely on me. Do a darned Google search and bone up on your reading if you need more info. Lord knows, you'll probably get hits in the thousands.

Look, lets just chisel this down and call it a day, I said that the poster needed to provide more info (What if they threw at 50% and were doing drill work to get mechanically correct so they didn't injure themselves..would that change anything in your mind Midlo?) and to be educated about arm health for the sake of this persons kid and to also educate the kid, for this I was asked if I wanted to wait until the line formed at the ortho.
Midlo, you think the poster should set about educating the coach..you don't say how or in what way..just that he needs to be addressed.
I don't know maybe I'm nuts but it didn't sound like a practical approach, but really acknowledge and agree that the poster should be very watchful and cautious (But from an educated and knowledgable perspective).
I have nothing but respect for the both of your efforts to help and assist kids and their parents, I want no hassles and wish to give none.
I wish ya'll, the poster and anyone else that has put up with this back and forth, a wonderful and safe Easter.
jd