ICING

If you're talking about knees needing ice then it is a good question. I know I rarely used ice after games / practice but when I did it would feel great usually.

Now if you're talking about arms due to throwing I think it comes down to effort. A catcher makes almost as many throws as a pitcher does but nowhere near the number of max effort throws a pitcher does.

At a minimum a high school catcher is going to make 7 max effort throws (actually 6 if the home team wins).

I've heard the same thing that icing doesn't hurt but it may not help. I think if it gives a player just relief mentally then go for it.

Coach

I think we both agree that baseball is more mental than physical, especially for pitchers

TR, we all know pitchers are mental cases anyways haha. Tim Lincecum is 5'11 and doesn't ice his arm but judging by his two Cy Youngs he's doing pretty good. On a serious note, baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical

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Originally posted by TRhit:
Coach
I think we both agree that baseball is more mental than physical, especially for pitchers

I always laugh at this one. Yes it is mental if you have the physical talents. Does not matter how "mental" you are if you can't play.

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It just shows how the mental aspect is involved in baseball---catchers do not worry about it while pitchers think about it continually-

Pitchers are head-cases. Every last one of them!

Pitchers who have more of a tendency to get inflammation build up can benefit from icing. In other words, it varies from person to person. I agree that for catchers it would tend to apply to knees more so than arms. Catchers probably work their arms harder practicing throws to second than during games.

TR, interesting point about catchers. Pitchers and catchers may make about the same number of throws in a game, but my guess is that a catcher makes many more throws over the course of a season since most will play more games than a pitcher.

It seems that most coaches are more in tune with arm conditioning/care for pitchers than catchers. I'm sure there are exceptions, but this has not been our experience. My son (a catcher) is working with a trainer to develop his own conditioning program since he's had a couple of minor arm problems in the past 2 years.

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Originally posted by Bulldog 19:

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It just shows how the mental aspect is involved in baseball---catchers do not worry about it while pitchers think about it continually-

Pitchers are head-cases. Every last one of them!

Too true! I'm one, so I sure know!

Lincecum is 5'11" standing on a phone book.

Do you guys really believe icing doesn't help you physically?

I completely agree that icing is more of a mental recovery method then physical. And I believe that it may, in fact, do more harm then good.

When a pitcher comes out of a long outing he's got a lot of pooled blood sitting around their shoulder girdle and upper arm. We all know that cold causes compression which is why we use it on swollen knees. But ice also causes constriction of the blood vessels causing the lactic acid filled blood to be trapped in the shoulder girdle.

Instead of ice, we get our guys on a PNF stretching program and active mobility to keep the muscles mobile while flushing the bad blood out and replacing it with oxygen rich good blood.

Just my $0.02... you can keep the change ;-)

I had a PT tell me today that the reason you should ice isn't for immediate relief but for the following day's running program. He actually said the icing helps relieve the pressure built up by lactic acid and makes it easier to flush out the following day.

This comes from a PT that is also a former college pitcher. Good dude who gives solid advice.

Some day baseball people will realize lactic acid build up DOES NOT occur from throwing a baseball!.. I won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen...

Your right BD. The jury is still out on icing. For injuries yes, for general shoulder/elbow maybe. ASMI is doing a research study right now.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog 19:
Some day baseball people will realize lactic acid build up DOES NOT occur from throwing a baseball!.. I won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen...

That came from the medical world.

Icing is a tricky topic. For a lot of pitchers, it's their routine. It's just what they've done. They were always told by coaches and parents to ice after starts because their arm is inflamed.

There are plenty of college and professional pitchers that do not ice their arms post throwing session. Icing for pain and inflammation is one thing, but icing just to ice is different. Someone mentioned that icing restricts blood vessels decreasing proper blood flow to that area. This is true so something else needs to implemented. The idea of mobility drills, scap exercises, Sleeper Stretch & Elbow Extension Stretches and other dynamic warmup drills or agility drills is ideal. This Allows for proper blood flow and will not let the blood pool. Foam Rolling is beneficial as well.

Catchers throw at a much lower intensity than pitchers. Even though the volume is high, they're not throwing nearly with the amount of force as a pitcher. If the catcher has poor throwing mechanics, well that's a different story. Icing the knees is OK if necessary. Foam Rolling and strengthening post game is ideal and needs to happen. Realistically, it's tough for high school or youth players to stay after and take care of that. Thought process of the athlete is that it is much easier to ice the arm on the car ride home then to stay an extra 30 minutes after a game to do their scap work and stretching protocols