John Smoltz's HOF speech on specialization

I don't really have any idea what you mean by "going overboard with protecting arms."

You say you'll worry about injury when and if the injury happens.  But the thing is that some injury may well be happening to your son in slow burn  already.  That's because some injuries are the  result of cumulative overuse that may seem no biggie along the way.   The kid feels fine all along the way, right up until the point that he doesn't. THen something snaps and the kid is never quite the same again.  When it finally happens, he may think it was something he did in the moment that caused the injury, that it was just bad luck or a bad day or something -- when in reality he's been in the process of injuring himself for years and years.   So I don't think one can really judge on the basis of how a kid feels at each given moment whether he's injuring himself or not.   It's like when I had a bad back problem, apparently out of the blue, with no particular traumatic event occurring.  I told my doctor,  "I didn't do anything. It just started hurting out of the blue."  She said,  "you've been doing it for 20 years, and just haven't noticed until now."  

Plus, you know,  it's  not just a matter of "protecting arms in case the kid make it to the next level."  It's a matter of protecting young arms period -- even if the kid lacks the talent and drive to ever "make it to the next level"  you STILL don't want to abuse the kid's arm.  Those injuries that we suffer in youth have a way of having lingering effects far beyond youth.  

As I said above, kids lack judgment, wisdom and experience.  They want to please their coaches, their teammates and, yes, their parents.   Isn't the job of a parent to do that on the kid's behalf?   I would think that part of what  "letting a kid be a kid" amounts to is not asking them to make adult decisions, but also not side-stepping our responsibility as adults to make such decisions on their behalf.

You said above "I don't really have any idea what you mean by "going overboard with protecting arms.".......what I mean is clearly laid out in the rest of your response.  Is it possible my son is hurting his arm from pitching, even though he is following the ASMI rules AND receiving lessons to address any mechanical flaws...yes it's 100% possible.  It's also possible he has a slow growing brain tumor, so I am choosing to focus on him being a kid, and playing a game he loves, rather than wrapping him up in a bubble wrap waiting for the what if's the happen.

If I was saying "forget the ASMI" guidelines, I know better" I could understand the responses here saying I am heading down the wrong path with letting my kid play on a team year round, but I am not saying that.  I am following every guideline out there to protect my son's health while letting him play the game he loves. 

I do not want to look back and have to explain to my son why all the kids on his high school team got to play year round baseball from 9 and have all these great memories of summer trips, and winter training with his buddies, but he doesn't have those memories because I wrapped him in a bubble based on a possibility that he MIGHT hurt himself....that is overboard to me, and not allowing him to be a kid.  Before I get the smith/jones'es comments my response would be the same if it were regarding a summer camp, or a music club, part of being a kid is being with your friends, why not do it on a ball field?  If my kid starts throwing 90+ I will change my tune on how much he can throw, for now he's throwing 70, which is not even close.

By the time if and when he reaches 90+ he will be too old for you to limit his activity. 

I think that's a point you are missing. Control what you can while you can. 

Some choose to do that and others don't. No one said you are a bad parent because of what you choose to do so stop defending yourself.

I was just away for a week, however, the town I was staying in happened to be having a national youth tournament going on.  One day when the rest of the family was tired I went over to the fields to watch for a while.  I had this thread in mind so I was specifically looking for things to share in this discussion.

The first thing that stood out is how many times during  the game I was watching  I  heard a coach, parent, sibling, whoever, yell  something like “throw hard” to the pitcher.  Coaches literally pleading with the kid on the mound to “keep throwing hard”.  I didn’t once hear, “change speeds”, “pitch smart”, although, who knows, maybe that is said in the dugout.  I didn’t hear anyone ask the pitcher if he is tired, fatigued or sore.  This was the finals, so these teams had already played at least 6 games in the last 2 days. There is definitely a macho environment around these games, and you have to think some of these kids don’t want to ever say they’re tired because it may make them look less than tough.

The second thing I noticed was the pitcher for one team I was watching sat out an inning after he was pulled, and then was put in to catch.  This happens all the time during my son’s games as well.  Coaches, parents, players want to win that trophy.  That often means riding your best guys, which could mean pitching and catching for some of the kids.

I went back to my hotel and caught up on this thread.  Since I started it, I feel obliged to follow it. There’s a lot of valuable discussion going on here about overuse injuries.  I remembered that last year we had two of our pitchers unavailable to pitch by the end of the season.  One kid, a PO, was diagnosed with the growth plate injury that you hear about, while the other, pitcher/catcher  had an unknown problem. The reason it was unknown was because the parents wouldn’t talk about it. He was obviously hurt, and as we wound up the year he wasn’t pitching or catching. He had resorted to a side-arm style of throwing the ball in from the outfield. This was U11. The irony about these two kids is they were the only two on the team who took private pitching lessons. It made me wonder about what it takes to become a “pitching coach”? Is there any certification a parent should look for like the way you’d look for a PGA professional if you wanted to take golf lessons?

Finally, I’d like to say how funny I find the whole idea of these kids playing 9, 10, 11 months a year is.  Some of the greatest players of all time had actual jobs in the winter.  Suit salesman, truck driver, cattle rancher etc. and would then use spring training to get back into playing shape. Now we have parents of 11 year olds afraid Jimmie is going to fall behind if he doesn’t hit all winter or pitch in fall league.

Great post, Diamond Dogs!

This statement jumped out at me: "One kid, a PO, was diagnosed with the growth plate injury." 

That was SO common among pitchers (and more than one catcher) when JP was playing all that youth baseball. Makes me wonder: If a boy is throwing enough to cause damage to a growth plate before he matures, is he more likely to injure his arm later? I don't know the answer, but seriously -- that was COMMON.

My good friend's son had that injury at 12 -- and he totally shut him down, and didn't allow him to pitch until HS. I think that was smart.

And you are SO RIGHT about how everyone gets caught up in the moment when it comes to youth baseball championships! Heck, we LOVED IT!! Felt like it meant a lot! And in some ways, I suppose it did -- at the time.

We had a blast as a family -- traveling all over, camping, fishing, watching our son play the game he loved. And truth be told, most all of the boys on JP's youth teams are doing very well today. LOTS of D1 scholarships.

But more than one pitcher has paid a hefty price.

So Caco, 2020, and all of you loving parents of young pitchers, all I offer is this:

Let your son have fun. This is a great sport, and boys make lifelong friends playing it. Go and win a TON of championships, and bond as a family over baseball!!

Just keep in mind always that pitching requires the human body to do things it isn't designed to do -- so be mindful! And if you EVER hear a doctor tell you your son has a 'growth plate injury' shut him down for a LONG LONG time.

Then maybe, just maybe, all of here in the HSBBW community will join you in celebrating his post-HS success.

Not sure if this is place to post this link to July's Orthopedics Today roundtable/article titled "Epidemic of Youth Sports Injuries". Experts like Drs. Andrews and Romeo. Good info re Little League all the way to MLB. Food for thought re this thread.

http://www.healio.com/orthoped...t/orthopedics-today/{9b2e31e6-0a96-4a42-a7ef-f4c0bd427e73}/panel-discusses-epidemic-of-youth-sports-injuries-role-of-prevention-programs

A lot of good info.  Here's a really powerful quote from Dr. Andrews: "When I see new patients, I have them write down their history and elaborate about the awards they have won, the championships, perfect games, showcases, etc. These are all, of course, risk factors relative to injuries in the younger throwers. I have them put all this information on the blackboard including when they started throwing and how many innings they play each year and I will leave the room and let them finish that information. When I go back into their room, they usually have run out of blackboard space and I will look at the parents and the young thrower and say, “Do you all know why this young player is here?” They really don’t know how to answer my question. Then I will point to the blackboard and at that point, the parents for the first time understand why their young baseball player is in the office seeing me for a throwing arm problem."

I love this comment! There are many times I have wanted to start doing the same thing, but unfortunately I don't have a blackboard in our ATR to do just that! But it really makes a great point IMO..

He isnt the only surgeon who feels that way. 

Funny thing is there it is in black and white from a world renown surgeon and you still will have parents that will continue to do the same thing over and over. Play year round sports and never give the kids a rest.

JMO