Q&A Tommy John Surgey

Danny,

Long time no talkie.

I'm here for ya. We've been through TJ roller coaster as a family as I watched my son go under the TJ knife, start a game 11 months later, and all the ups-n-downs in between. It is not the kiss of death as many feel, in our case quiet the contrary.

If you asked my son what was the best thing that happened to him in his baseball life he would tell you that his TJ injury made him not only understand the passion he has for the game, but also the understanding that it could be all over with one pitch. His grades skyrocketed, and his outlook at life without baseball became part of his mindset. As much as us on this site live for our kids baseball, it should never encase us from the real world. He taught me a life lesson I will never forget.

Drop me a pm with your ph# if you want to chat sometime

Danny, I hope all goes well for your son on his surgery. Thank you for offering your advice.

Danny - best of luck to your son.

I share your intent - my son is a position player - not a pitcher - and he had Tommy John surgery.

Much different process as a position player - much easier IMO - any one with any questions - I am more than willing to share my observations of the process.

Again Danny - best of luck to your son - it will be fine.

Q & A Tommy John surgery

The most important question for a player who has gone or going through reconstruction of the UCL.

Should I return to and throw with the same mechanics I threw with when I destroyed my original UCL? !!!

Your body will tell you what you can and can't do. Maybe that's a 180 change...maybe it will be "as it ever was"

good luck with the surgery. i researched it so much i almost feel as though i could do it.

my lhp son had it as well. came back physicaly, was never the same bulldog on the mound.

the mental part can be worse than the operation. but that balls in their court,. we give support etc. but at the end of the day.........who know's.

Best wishes to your son. I trust that you and him are satisfied with the Dr. and all. My son had surgery JAn. 13 and is doing the re hab now. Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by Yardbird:
Q & A Tommy John surgery

The most important question for a player who has gone or going through reconstruction of the UCL.

Should I return to and throw with the same mechanics I threw with when I destroyed my original UCL? !!!

I will let you know in about 12 months Yardbird.

quote:

The most important question for a player who has gone or going through reconstruction of the UCL.

Should I return to and throw with the same mechanics I threw with when I destroyed my original UCL? !!!

i asked myself that same question when i broke my leg crossing the street. now i look both way's, trying to avoid car's.

many reason's for tj surgery. overuse being a big one. i am of the opinion that the player is throwing harder than the body is ready for. most all pitchers that i've seen/heard need it throw 90+. couple that with over use...........?

.
Danny...so sorry to hear that, not sympathy but empathy.

On the other hand (and I had been meaning to brign this up) that March UTA game with 26 strike outs by two pitchers, 8 by Adam in 5, that ranks SECOND all time in the NCAA record book has to be sustaining in a time of patience...

I trust that all will go well...

44
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20dad,

For what it's worth, my son didn't fall into any of those categories. Never saw 90mph a day in his life. Never was "the guy" where he would eat up innings and get overused. Told by most folks that he had pretty solid mechanics. It just shows (in my opinion) that there are different reasons for different folks to have TJ. The one thing that is a fact though, is our arms are doing something that is completely unnatural for the arm and over time, this unnatural action will catch up to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Boydston:
The one thing that is a fact though, is our arms are doing something that is completely unnatural for the arm and over time, this unnatural action will catch up to you.

I agree. People don't want to admit it, but luck plays a big part of the game. Some guys with less than ideal mechanics go uninjured and some guys with perfect mechanics have a different fate unfortunately. I saw Sandy Koufax's retirement press conference with the media the other day. He knew he was doing things his arm was not supposed to do.

Best wishes for a full and complete recovery for Adam.

My eldest son had terrible mechanics as a shortstop and second baseman. Really - just horrible.

Incredibly - in his senior year in high school - his coach brought him in to pitch on a 35 degree day. Never pitched in high school before. He threw about 5 pitches - and I just winced.

He was never the same after that day - and played with a bad arm for the next 3 years.

Thankfully - he had TJ surgery after his 3rd year in pro ball - changed how he threw the ball - and plays painfree. Believe it or not - he actually has a pretty good arm as well.

The damage done - by bad mechanics - and moronic coaches - will eventually catch up with you.

To the PM's and emails, what a procedure. All went well and the hard work begins.

Again, thanks for the support!

Danny

Danny Boydstron,

quote:

“I will let you know in about 12 months”

This decision needs to be made as soon as he gets his Dr.’s release to begin rehab, usually between 10 to 12 weeks after the surgery. In the past a conservative approach was used and the pitcher did not start pitching competitively for 18 to 24 months. During this period in the past Dr.Marshall had his recovering pitchers back with in 11 months pitching competitively. Now recovery times have caught up to Dr.Marshalls recovery timelines.
Dr.Marshall is the one who taught Tommy John himself how to recover and at the same time changed his force application allowing Tommy to also establish the record for time on the mound after successful TJ surgery. Normally pitchers return to the mechanics that destroyed their original UCL and the new one having no revascularization and capabilities to repair itself degrades even faster hence the modern proliferation of more of the same repeat surgeries.

quote:

“Told by most folks that he had pretty solid mechanics”

Hence the proliferation of all the related injuries produced by these injuriously solid mechanics. These same experts everywhere still call out “perfect mechanics” and refuse to make the changes that will make a difference.

quote:

“The one thing that is a fact though, is our arms are doing something that is completely unnatural for the arm and over time, this unnatural action will catch up to you”

This is one of the false excuses that have been used by everybody, especially the ones that teach pitching because they have no clue or curiosity as to why their clients get injured.
All the arm articulations from underneath to over the top are well within the ranges of motions produced by multiple hinged human arm motion and completely natural.

20dad,

quote:

“many reason's for tj surgery”
“DB-there are different reasons for different folks to have TJ”

There is only one reason for UCL degradation! The backwards bouncing action of the traditional pitching motion at initial forwards torso rotation after transition forcing outwards rotation of the humerus (eccentrically) rather than under the control of voluntary loading contractions of this action to attain full length then forwards contraction from further back.

quote:

“overuse being a big one”

Overuse is an excuse used by kinesiologically uneducated Dr.s now passed on as truth to all.
Misuse would be a better term. It is entirely mechanical!!

quote:

“i am of the opinion that the player is throwing harder than the body is ready for”

You actually do not need a UCL to throw if you throw properly (although I would suggest having one); unfortunately the centrifugal force mechanic that is being taught everywhere uses this ligament to help stabilize your elbow at the end of transition.

The MLB pitcher D.A.Dickey was born with out a UCL!

Dickey, a huskily bearded father of three, said: “Doctors look at me and say I shouldn’t be able to turn a doorknob without feeling pain, and I shouldn’t be able to turn the key and start my car without feeling pain. But I’m still here. I feel I have a whole career ahead of me.”

quote:

“most all pitchers that i've seen/heard need it throw 90+. couple that with over use?”

The degrading mechanic “forearm bounce” is present whether you throw 45 or 90, micro tearing the UCL with every pitch.

Clevelanddad,

quote:

I saw Sandy Koufax's retirement press conference with the media the other day. He knew he was doing things his arm was not supposed to do.

Sandy actually had better mechanics than today’s pitchers and suffered from a congenital arthritic condition that degraded his elbow even faster from supinated pitches.

To all,

To rid yourself of this injurious mechanic you need only bring the ball out of your glove down, back then up to driveline height by supinating (thumb up) your forearm (first 90 degree outward rotation of the humerus) them immediately raise the inside of your elbow up while it is still laid back (second 90 degree outwards (transition) rotation of your humerus and now at full range of motion) causing a lengthier forwards ball driving action eliminating forearm bounce.

Unfortunately the baseball establishment teach is the opposite and comes with a derogatory term to go along with their injurious teach. They call the proper pendulum swing used by many youth pitchers “Pie throwing” and immediately change it to the injurious pronation (thumb down) swing.

quote:

Unfortunately the baseball establishment teach is the opposite and comes with a derogatory term to go along with their injurious teach.

To think that the baseball world has been infiltrated by "arm assassins" posing as instructors with a goal of destroying the boys on the bump. I'll bet its the same group that introduced the metal bat, the DH, and slow pitch softball. If the mechanics were as simple as you claim, MLB would be protecting their pitching investments with your advice, you'd be on Dr Andrews shet list, and probably be richest man in the baseball business.

Yardbird, while I agree with some of your beliefs, I'll bet every one of your points have varying opinions that can be backed by substantiated data by other experts. What I really do like about you is your conviction and explanations that support you view.

Rz1,

quote:

“To think that the baseball world has been infiltrated by "arm assassins" posing as instructors with a goal of destroying the boys on the bump. “

How is it that I can post a truth known to all about anecdotally attained ignorant belief passed on to all and you decipher this information as instructors are doing it on propose knowing the correct information already, you could not be further off on your assessment.
My previous statement that “they have no clue or curiosity as to why their clients get injured” shows this.

quote:

“If the mechanics were as simple as you claim”

Your simple statement “if” shows you where everybody is on this!
The pendulum swing mechanic change is easy to perform, the early transition immediately following pendulum swing is what is hard for previously proprioceptively (muscle memory) trained athletes (in late transition) to perfect it, yet getting even closer to this lessens stress at the UCL.

quote:

“MLB would be protecting their pitching investments with your advice”

I don’t care about MLB pitchers, they are adults and they can do it any way they want to, this is High School Baseball Web catering to youth athletes.
Pitching coaches at every level have made their decisions on how best to apply force on a baseball and have gotten it wrong all these years and they do not own these teams, nor do they have any control (MLB) of these adult athletes and their training.

They are slowly going over to some of this information though; you can see it gaining acceptance and consideration more and more every year for the last ten years.
This particular injury is only difficult to eliminate because of the previous accumulated mechanical belief of bringing you ball back with your hand on top making you perform a late transition.

quote:

“you'd be on Dr Andrews shet list”

What makes you think this information is not already on this list?
He owns what many perceive as the best organization in the world dealing with these injuries yet for 20 years now they have not made one discovery (the biomechanists at ASMI) related to eliminating the injuries suffered by there nominal mechanical recommendations, nor have they apparently tried these mechanical changes either but then Dr.Andrews makes his money doing $50,000 dollar operations and not trained in kinesiology, how would he know?
I have never heard Dr.Andrews give mechanical advice and I’ll bet he never goes down to ASMI to do any evaluations to change anything, statis quo is good business apparently, I hope this is not the case and we will see because they have had the information now for a couple of years and probably longer, so far mum is the word.

I actually think that it is going to take a Lawsuit to make any progress on this? Just one person putting their favorite Gurus feet to the fire for teaching injurious mechanics while also not being qualified to do so (oxy moron, they are actually qualified in teaching injurious mechanics), like me before I became aware.

quote:

“probably be richest man in the baseball business”

The information is offered for free! How could this lead to wealth at the expense of baseball team owners? The only people getting rich are the ones that keep rehashing out and reselling the same old injurious mechanics.

quote:

“I'll bet every one of your points have varying opinions that can be backed by substantiated data by other experts”

How is that? The mechanics that I teach are not taught anywhere accept a few places and are not used, how could there be any data let alone substantiated? I’m all ears?

I have been replicating the mechanical discovery now for over a decade with 100’s of youth pitchers and have some of the only data known, that’s why I’m here! It all works as claimed and produces a better game result let alone injury proofing.

I think what scares people off is the bottom half Crow step mechanics (and false info) that only protects the bottom half, people are not even aware that Tommy John and many others also had to have hip replacement surgery, Dr. Marshall had to have his knee replaced like many others but who cares what happens to them after they retire, many think they have made their money!
The top half mechanics can be performed with the useless leg lift that is also the gateway to lower back injuries also.