stretching pitching arm

s2fmf,
Best rule of thumb here:

If it feels tight, stretch it...if it doesn't, don't. Obviously there are circumstances where this is not the case, but this guideline will prove to be true more often than not.

If you're looking for info on how to stretch, I'll try to help as much as I can.

Dave

I figure this is the place to ask this.

I am a catcher,not a pitcher,and my arm hurts like never before.

All last week,we lifted,ran,and threw.I think where I went wrong was after an upper body workout on thursday,I threw right after running that same day(snap throws).My arm felt a little tender,but nothing too bad.

Then,the following day on friday,we did pullovers,and lowerbody workouts,ran,and then we did long toss.

To be quite honest,it hurts typing this.My arm has never felt this bad before,but I dont think its an injury(nor does athletic trainer).
I think it might just be readjusting to snap throwing for the first time in 2 months,but I hope in nothing serious.

Now I have iced,and then used heat.But I wake up the following day feeling bad again.The pain is in my elbow and upper forearm.

What should I do?

sorry for the long post

Well, I feel pain in simular places from throwing, although rarely in the forearm. infact, the only time I feel sorness in the forearm is when it gets hit and then keep throwing repetitevely afterwards (AKA football). I doubt your arm was hit, but it might of.

ANYWAY, icing always works for my elbow and its all I ever really need. I doubt its anything that you should be concerned by too much.


I do have one significant question though that I think would help the entire forum: How active have you been up to this past week? What I'm trying to ask is that I assume you had some planned time to take off for recovery this summer, and I was just asking if there is any possibility that maybe you came off your rest too quickly. I only ask because it happened to me this summer. I had planned to take rest right after baseball, and then come back and start preparing for football, and I came back too quickly and I too had severe pain.

Also, what is your heating method? I never used those sleeves because I never saw the logic. I do the old fashion put the arm in warm water for a few minutes method, and while I must admit I do not heat often, when I do, I feel fresh after it, so maybe heating right before your practice/game would help.

Just some suggestions, I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask about any specifics of my arm experiences (I felt the post was long enough as it was )

Andrew

PS. This is my 100th post; I just realized that! lol

Summer ball ended in Mid July.
I have been lifting every other day all summer
Longtoss every other day the whole summer
Snap throwing a few times a week.

I never took any time off,but now Im being forced to.

The way I have been heating my arm is I have an Old dress sock(fitted and tight)and I microwave it for 1 min,then when its on my arm,it maintains heat by closure and "fittedness"

I would deffinately try to take a couple weeks off. I had a tough schedule as well, and while I didn't explain this well in my last post, I actually took time off in two "sets" of a little over a week, and it worked really well. Again I really suggest it.

I've never heard anyone else try your heating method, but it sounds smart. How hot is it when you put it on your arm and how long do you keep it on?

i think stretching is a good thing to do.as a father of a player that recently had tj surgery .i would advocate any elbow strenghtening workouts you can do off season.maybe i'm just a little gun shy but we never worked on the elbow before?now i think everyone should. keep reading up on this stuff.i'm pretty sure i have all the answers ,it's the questions i'm stuck on.lol

I'm interested in hearing about this side of the coin. Proper stretching is important to loosen the muscles but when?

Track coaches tell me dynamic stretching (emphasizing stretching while actively moving) is far better for the legs just before competition than the usual stretch and hold method. The latter method can actually weaken legs for up to an hour after stretching.

Anyone have ideas on whether dynamic stretching should apply to the arm as well?

20dad, I was just wondering, what type of elbow exersises did your son do? And just to clarify, is it to strengthen the ligament in the elbow that is replaced in the TJ surgery, becuase I do experience sorness there when throwing and would be interested what can be done to strengthen it.

Dynamic (taking a joint through various range of mation) warm-up should be done before practicing, training or playing. Static (hold a stretch)stretching should be done post-training, pratice or game.

However, be careful when making the trasition. If you have been stretching in a static manner for years do not just do dynamic movements tomorrow and cut off static comletely before training. The transition needs to be gradual.

It is true static stretching can lower power output and strength for a given period of time. But the real benefit of dyanmic movements is increasing joint temperature and stimulation the central nervous system (CNS). This greatly enhanced performance and decreases injury when done correctly.

Its hot,but its not like hot enough that its uncomfortable to put on.

In the past and present,it has worked.

I saw my coach today,and he said Im not throwing unitl atleast wednesday,so Im happy to hear that.I just need to make sure I have everything ok before I get back to throwing.

andrew
rehabing from surgery now.he never did anything to strengthen his elbow,that makes me think he should or could have helped prevent this? ucl tears don't just happen to pitchers.
just my thoughts that it can be stronger with a workout.many smarter people here than me .i would love to here some thoughts on it.

Joint integrity/stability is what needs to be developed in order to prevent injuries from pitching strain.

It is very difficult to explain the training methods I use to accomplish this but they involve various exercises using non-conforming objects and fitness bands (not tubing).

Jon Doyle,
do you have like a book or something of your baseball training advice?I would seriously buy it if you did.

Just a thought for the future

Futurecatcher,

I do have mutiple books and DVD's that explain and show some of my methods. You can check them out at the link below my name. Thanks.

Awesome.Thanks

I threw some today on the side.My elbow felt good,but it wont be 100% for a little longer.I should be able to throw long toss again by friday.