The impact of injury on a player

My son struggled with chronic elbow pain from his rising soph year that shut him down a number of times until he elected for surgery during the fall of his senior year. He played on competitive HS team and his playing time was affected (barely played as a senior). The team was still successful and while he was happy with the experience, we had many conversations throughout the seasons and he was frustrated not being able to contribute in a meaningful way, he dismissed me when I reminded him he scored the game tying run on the chip game during his junior year...**sigh** teenagers I tell ya.  This was an experience that tested his resolve and for the first time and he had serious thoughts and plans with baseball not in his life. Given that and the craziness of the pandemic shutdown on his soph year, he still managed to get recruited to a HA D3 and is doing very well in his freshman year.  No elbow pain, he is in the best physical shape and baseball skills plus the highest confidence I've ever seen. We parents were the ears and shoulders throughout and provided counsel when asked. The one exception was I pushed for him to not play his senior year to focus on rehab as he was committed to play a summer college league (30+ games in 6 weeks) and I was concerned the limited playing time and awfully long and imo poorly run HS practices were not getting him ready in time for summer ball. It became somewhat heated as I felt he was being stubborn, but he stuck to his guns and I respected his decision and secretly admired him for standing up to me. He ended up staying at home to rehab, work to earn some college spending $$, spend time with a new girlfriend and played in a local college league that was coached by his former HS pitching coach. It turned out well for him.

REALLY good question.  Son was lucky to never really have a real injury until this past year and was extremely fortunate to have it happen in the offseason.  Son's was an overuse injury.  I think I was almost more worried about him mentally, than physically.   He was definitely down when he needed to go to PT for weeks and could not weight train, hit, throw, or run.  He did seem very frustrated and depressed, at times.   We had so many conversations to and from those PT sessions about staying healthy, the need to rest, not rushing progress and letting it happen.  He was in excellent shape at the time of injury, but he was REALLY pushing himself to get better.  He was very disciplined about his diet during the PT phase - he could not exercise other than PT.  The upside? Real appreciation for being and staying healthy enough to play.  An appreciation for balance and the need to rest.  He still does his PT every single day.  Fingers crossed he stays healthy (he does seem to be past it, but we don't take good health for granted)- right now, I would say those weeks off have not hurt him.  He's come back very strong.

My son was on the verge of receiving several P5 and possibly Ivy offers. He tore his PCL and MCL the first game of the first tournament post junior summer. Most importantly he missed closing time for college recruiting. Second, he knew he was going to miss senior year of soccer. He missed going to states. Only playing one sport was going to cost him an opportunity to be male athlete of the year at his high school.

Once off the crutches he fell during rehab and separated his shoulder requiring surgery. The ortho told him he wouldn’t begin throwing until May and would miss senior year of baseball.

I never saw my son get so steely eyed in my life. He pointed at the ortho. He told the ortho he would be in the opening day lineup and the ortho was going to help make it happen (had to medically clear him).

My son DH’ed opening day. He was in left two weeks later. It was a month after lob tossing for the first time. He was back in center the second half of the season.

It was now after his senior year. He had a plan for the fall to get recruited for college ball for the following year. When he got injured the schools we thought were about to make offers disappeared. He got recruited out of summer ball for that fall by two of the previously interested programs. His 17u travel coach helped by updating them. He committed two days before classes started and flew out. The commitment was for the following season. Five to play four allowed him to get two degrees.

What you find out when a kid hits adversity is how badly he wants it. The options are feeling sorry for yourself or focusing. You can’t change the injury after the fact. Focus on what you can control. My son chose to focus on getting rehabbed and to the next level. Until this experience he had never had as much as a sprain. He once left a 16u travel game after taking a line drive to the head on the mound. He wanted to stay in the game.

@BB328 posted:

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Did he ever get frustrated and want to give up? How did you support him as a parent?

Was there any silver lining to this? Did they learn anything positive from the experience i.e. like taking better care of their or embracing the grind.

I know a lot parents here talk about the college baseball experience but I was more referring how it was pre college like 14U-17U.

My youngest son got hurt on a recruiting trip between his high school junior and senior years.  He had several D3 schools interested that immediately dried up, and communication stopped.  At first, he was devastated.   Then a funny thing happened.    Sure, he rehabbed and got back on the mound his senior year and was a big contributor to his team as they made their run through the State tournament losing in the semi-finals.   But the injury forced him to look at what he was passionate about and he quickly changed his priorities.  He thought he wanted to play college baseball, but as it turns out what he really wanted to do was ROTC and serve in the military which he currently does.  He was one of many high school baseball kids that I think default to playing college baseball because that is all their travel baseball friends talk about.   Once he had a chance to really think things through he knew what he wanted to do.  I look back at this time as a personal transformation from a follower to a leader in terms of what he wants to do with his life.

As a parent, we were always there to talk about anything that was on his mind.   Fall of high school senior year changed his college outlook from college baseball focus to ROTC and military service focus.  I'm not saying the injury was a good thing, but I do think it gave him an opportunity to re-focus on something he had always wanted to do since he was a little kid.

Just my experience.....

@fenwaysouth wrote, “He thought he wanted to play college baseball.”

There is a lot of truth in this statement. I agree that it’s default thinking in an awful lot of HS ballplayers. Not only do they think they want to play college ball but they also think it will be on their terms. And it’s hardly on the player’s terms. It’s almost always on the college team’s terms. When this reality hits a player it’s often when they stop playing. College is the first place that a lot of kids really have to compete and earn something without their parents being  able to do something to influence the results. Injury and/or adversity, the realization of how many guys you have to outwork/outplay, and the demands of a full time job often weigh heavier on a young athlete than their love of the game.

Mine had a knee injury during his senior year while playing. he was beginning to get D2 offers (pandemic year). 4 months later during recover he dislocated the other knee. 2 surgeries in a span of 6 months. 12-13 months break. He joined a local JuCo program - redshirted, but now is back to playing.

The biggest lesson as he keeps stating repeatedly these days is not to take anything for granted.

In the past 24 months, my kid has had 4 MRIs: Severe Hip Flexor Strain, Grade 1 Ulnar Collateral Ligament Tear, Shoulder Labral Strain and possible Hamate Fracture. (Still waiting on the results.) So, I have some experience on this topic.

As a parent, each time, I just reminded him that he's still on the team and this isn't a reason to check out. Go to practice even if it's just to pick up balls in the batting cage. Go to games even if it's just to be a cheerleader or count pitches.  Personally, I feel this is important because it makes the kid see what they are missing and helps keep the eye on the prize of fighting to get healthy again and back out there.

Years ago, a friend had a son who was very highly touted as a pitcher in High School. College and pro scouts were sniffing. He hurt his arm and needed surgery. He was totally out and took that time away from the game. While absent, he decided he was having too much fun with his girlfriend and decided not to play baseball anymore.

I wasn't shocked. Absence makes the heart forget.

On the mental side, each time my son was hurt, I kept stressing to him to stay positive, not fall prey to any fears that he couldn't come back and to focus on what he needed to do to get back on the field.

The worst part sometimes is the "I know a kid" thing. If your son has been playing long enough, he probably has a network of buddies in the game. And, it seems that everyone has had something at one point with many associated horror stories. In this situation, a kid is sometimes convinced that he's going to suffer because he knows a bunch of guys with the same thing and they had a terrible road to travel when they had it.

That's another thing that you have to help a kid navigate and fight against. Not every situation is the same.

Francis7 I wish your son a speedy recovery. Baseball can be such a bumpy road. I can only hope that it prepares our sons for the future and that they are better able to handle the ups and downs of life in general.

I posted this because as a parent I was at a loss how to support my son thru some growth plate inflammation issues he was dealing with.

There are so many factors and frustrations like losing a spot on a team that he felt he was well equipped to get. Having the coaches look at you differently. The grind of PT and recovery. While your fellow teammates pass you by.

But also knowing that rest is a very necessary part of training as well and learning to take care your body is most important.

My son has been amazingly diligent with PT and accepting of his situation and has participated in his winter workouts to his fullest ability. He's done really well in PT gained a lot of shoulder mobility and is pain free. He's been very focused and determined. But now as he is slowly returning to throwing, he is starting to get upset as tryouts for school ball get closer and is putting a ton of pressure on himself comparing himself to other players and were they are vs. where he is right now. It quite possible that he will not earn a starting spot like he thought.

Normally I just encourage him to work harder but there is only so much throwing he can over the next few weeks.

He's only 14 so what I think I am experiencing is watching my son grow from adversity it's just tough to watch. As a parent you want to fix it or help make it better but you can't.

Thanks @BB328

Another thing I have learned, it's one thing when you're in a cast, sling, brace or on crutches. People see you are injured and they get it.

It's another whole story when you appear perfectly normal at first blush to the naked eye but have some injury that's preventing you from playing.

People are much less understanding when it's like that...coaches, trainers, other parents. They all want to know why you are not playing because you don't look hurt. And, that's really tough on a kid.

@Francis7 posted:

Thanks @BB328

Another thing I have learned, it's one thing when you're in a cast, sling, brace or on crutches. People see you are injured and they get it.

It's another whole story when you appear perfectly normal at first blush to the naked eye but have some injury that's preventing you from playing.

People are much less understanding when it's like that...coaches, trainers, other parents. They all want to know why you are not playing because you don't look hurt. And, that's really tough on a kid.

This has definitely been my experience with both my kids.  I never did it, but I can recall one occasion when a coach was pushing my kid to play/train and I really wanted to say "so Coach, what did you see on the MRI that you think the orthopedic surgeon missed?"

@Francis7 posted:

Thanks @BB328

Another thing I have learned, it's one thing when you're in a cast, sling, brace or on crutches. People see you are injured and they get it.

It's another whole story when you appear perfectly normal at first blush to the naked eye but have some injury that's preventing you from playing.

People are much less understanding when it's like that...coaches, trainers, other parents. They all want to know why you are not playing because you don't look hurt. And, that's really tough on a kid.

This.  When my son was injured, he looked fine - but when he ran, hit, or threw he was in pain.  Meanwhile, a parent was chirping at me prediagnosis at the side of a field that "kid just needs to tough it out."  Had we ignored the injury at that point, kid would likely have developed a full-blown break and a much longer recovery than he had.  Know your kid and teach him to listen to his body. 

We've gone through this a lot. Daughter her senior year with a back injury. She looked fine walking but couldn't play and the diagnosis was hard/inconclusive. Very hard to work through but at least she had a body of work that gave her the benefit of the doubt. This season, she dislocated her finger badly. Played through it all season and will need surgery. She tore her meniscus her last game. Went out of the game to make sure it wasn't an ACL and came back into the game. Sports can be brutal. So now we have to see if she needs one or two surgeries.

As a kid, we definitely had some growth plate issues to work through. More recently, Son had hamate issues, then randomly got hit with a ball during a practice. Hamate issue resolved with rest and switch to an axe handle. Getting hit by the ball (most people didn't know what happened) turned into the  "big guys are always injured" narrative. In all cases, we learned that it's key to tune out outside noises, control what you can control in terms of PT/surgery/etc. and getting to the bottom of each issue to the best of your ability.

At opening season last year son started to feel tenderness in lower back, then more pronounce after a few swings, then, so much pain he didn't swing and opted to rest.   Most people he spoke with said he'll be fine after few weeks.  Pain continued, only to finally get a contrasted MRI revealing a L5 stress fracture.  Missed the entire season, rested, rested till July, then with rehab, and methodical strength & stretch program did he regain full function of his back.  Now uses a back brace, hits 3-4 times a week instead of 7 and takes a solid day off each week to rest. 

Opening season the past weekend, he started at SS with some phenomenal plays and hit well going 4/9 with solid approaches.  Happy for him, (and me...)

To top it off, last June he was diagnosed with Kerotaconus - then had corneas scraped out via Laser treatment, and laser activated new growth for new corneas.  I did not know this was a thing.  Shocking for this to happen on top of the back gig.  Were so worried for his overall health - vision affecting quality of life, let alone his favorite sport.

His focus and determination to overcome with a solid rehab plan and engaging directly with doctors himself to understand and pursue a course of action.  Damn solid for a 22 year old.  Well done son.

And he played this past weekend....and well...crazy story...can be overcome.

Cheers