Is there such a thing as too much baseball?

If you talk with physical therapists and orthopedists, they'll tell you that studies have found a direct correlation to year round play with repetitive motion injuries, and stress injuries. The approach we've taken after consulting with these professionals is to encourage the young men who play with us to shut it down for at least a month and a half, doing nothing, or only long tossing. They can use this time to work on strength conditioning, speed training, and lots of other things that will benefit their game, but no baseball for some period of time.

I know a lot of people view this differently, but that's what we've come to view as a prudent way of dealing with this topic.

I was told by a local coach that college coaches take into account how much wear and tear might be on an arm. They could not really tell me what this might lead to. Maybe someone here might know? I understand that MLB teams require MRIs to access any damage.

My son was advised to take off time and he did. He worked on hitting and agility. He didn't have any issues, but we all felt like he needed a rest - took about 6 weeks). He picked right up and has been fine.

I don't know that there is any across the board agreement on this. Common sense tells me that any over use is a bad thing. Then it tells me that if you don't practice you might lose an edge. Pitching is such an unnatural motion and strains several sets of muscles, I think a pitcher needs a rest. (imo) Most pitchers are born, not made, so a rest period won't have a negative effect.

Players need to play, but they also need to rest both for the physical and mental benefits of recharging. I think players are well-served by playing another sport (which is not always possible), but also need at least two periods of shutdown per year, each lasting at least six weeks.

Yes, I think so, but it's hard to manage when the kid just loves baseball and only baseball. 2B had overuse growth plate aggravation in his throwing arm beginning the day before his 12th birthday that lasted on and off for 3 years. He played P/3B/SS every inning in that year leading up to Cooperstown, wanted to practice after practice, and finally his body said STOP!! When he was told to rest his arm, he would then hit and hit and hit and hit, and got OCD last year in an unusual part of his elbow joint, most likely from the repetition of swinging - he thinks a bad swing when he was tired caused the initial damage. Everything has healed beautifully, due in part I think to the fact that we took it seriously and got him to the doc for diagnosis/treatment/management early, rather than just hoping it would go away. Even after we understood that all this was caused by overuse, it was really hard to say "no" when he was feeling good and wanted to go out and play.

He can go without baseball for 2 weeks max before he's asking to hit or throw or take grounders. But now when we throw outside of practice, we limit it to 50-60 throws, either long toss or taking grounders. And when we hit outside of practice, it's 50-60 swings instead of 200-300. So far so good.

Pitcher son has taken November and December off since he started playing school ball in 7th grade (now entering sophomore year). He works on other things such as strength and starts long toss in January. It has worked for him. He loves baseball but enjoys his down time too. Some friends that go hard all year round are always talking about how their arms hurt all year & are routinely at the ortho or chiro's offices.

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In the long term does it give the sunbelt player an advantage over the player from up north as both players climb the ranks through college and the pros?

The argument that is always contested here, is that some feel Northern players are second class non-athletes when compared to their Southern brothern. If looking at pure # of players, # of select teams, # of D1 college, while wearing those blinders, I may also think that way . However, if a player is making it to the levels you ask about, it becomes more of a passion, desire, hard work issue, rather than where you were brought up. IMHO

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If you talk with physical therapists and orthopedists, they'll tell you that studies have found a direct correlation to year round play with repetitive motion injuries, and stress injuries.

It's called Repetitive Stress Syndrome. It not only happens to athletes but to working people. From a youth sports standpoint it's advised kids take at least three months off from any one sport. It's why it's good for little kids to play as many sports as possible. Their growth plates are at risk.

When my son was ten he was playing over one hundred organized games of baseball, basketball and s****r. His sports medicine ortho specialist said this could have been a bad situation if it were one sport. But playing three moved the muscles and joints in different motions. As it was he went through mild cases of Severs and Osgood-Slatter.

He always had at least two months off in middle school with the following two months only being one workout a week. In high school it's year round. But he doesn't throw for two months.

for the player.....yes, they need time off to recover.

for the fan......never!

I don't think southern players have an advantage. Bum, Jr. has played primarily up north but for awhile there he also was on a in southwest travel team playing against some kids from Arizona and California.

One rule of thumb: (Kid's age * 10) - 10 = maximum number of innings per year. So if a kid is 13, then (13*10)-10=120. If kids in California are pitching more than that, I would think this to be counter-productive to their progress.

Bum, Jr.'s college team was out on the field scrimmaging Feb. 1st just like every other D1 team. So it's colder, big deal. He'll play all the way through July, then fall scrimmages and shutdown mid-October. That's enough baseball.
The offseason is used to train and get in great shape. For Bum, Jr. baseball is year-round and being up north hasn't affected him at all.

In fact, if you look at the number of drafted players, per capita, Washington is about the same as California. Where's the advantage?

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I don't think southern players have an advantage. Bum, Jr. has played primarily up north

Bum,
You use the phrase "up north" but I think that needs some clarification.

Seattle forecast for the next three days:
The highs ----
Wednesday 53 and sunny
Thursday 52 and sunny
Friday 56 and sunny

Here's an Int. Falls, MN (up north) forecast:
The highs ----
Wednesday 5 Cold
Thursday 7 Sunny
Friday 14 Snow


I forgot to add the lows -- in MN -21 below zero tomorrow night.

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It's called Repetitive Stress Syndrome.

Finally! I've been wondering just exactly what my problem is.

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Originally posted by rain delay:
I once heard that pitcher has only so many pitches left in his arm and then he is finished. I have always wondered having kids playing baseball year round primarly in the South and Southwest is really a good thing long term for the young player both physically and mentally? In the long term does it give the sunbelt player an advantage over the player from up north as both players climb the ranks through college and the pros? Does the longivity of the player that did not play as much growing up have a longer tenure in the majors than the one that had very few breaks between seasons in the South?

I don't think that it matters where you live, north, south, east, west, pitching causes injuries and most pitchers rarely escape being 100% healthy during their careers.
Proper pitching mechanics,a good conditioning program, a good long toss program, rest when needed, stopping when tired are good habits that everyone should follow to prevent injuries later on no matter where you live.
MLB only does MRI's on those drafted getting larger bonus or have had previous history of injury.
My feeling is and always will be to save those bullets for later on, there is no need for a young player, no matter where he lives, to not take care of the arm.

Fungo, dang.. I was hoping the 'mutts would be practicing in driving rain. I'm on the drier eastside. Perfect baseball weather right now. 44 degrees and partly sunny. Heard it will be 39 degrees in Arkansas this weekend.

Two more days!

Bum, Snow in the forecast for Saturday here. Great weather for the Service Academy Spring Classic. I wonder if AcademyDad will show up in his traditional California attire of flowery shorts and flip flops?

Yes, Yes, Yes, there is such a thing. I didn't used to believe it but I now see it is true. My son is lucky enough to be playing College baseball but there were several times I thought I had lost him to BURNOUT. We live in AZ and started club ball at the tender age of 9. I used to think every tournament was sooooo important, especially as he got older. Triple Crown, USSSA, SuperSeries....every tournament available. We were lucky enough to have a wealthy sponsor so money was not really a challenge although I would hate to tally up the travel expense I logged chasing the team around from Cali to Mississippi to Florida. My son really was not enjoying the team because of the pressure to win, win, win. As we hit high school age it was summer ball, fall ball, Jr. Olympics, showcases, Jr and Sr Classic three years in a row. Now I realize that when it all came down to it at least 50% of the play could have been avoided with no real loss of ability. The biggest benefit I can see was his comfort zone in the batters box. He had seen it all and was afraid of no pitcher. He ended up setting the single season hits record for his High School division in Az, definatly a byproduct of all those quality at bats. Through all that "exposure" we were still unsigned in June of his senior year. He was finally "discovered" at the 4a High school all star game (free to all players I might add) practice. Two weeks later we were signed to a Division 1 school in of all places California. Things have a way of working out, you have to have faith, but I sure wish we would have spent a few more weekends fishing or riding bikes, a lesson to learn and pass on.