Throwing sidearm

Like this guy?

Um, yeah, exactly.  Thanks!  Obviously I do not watch enough AL baseball.  Got to show that to my kid.

This too:

Even though I am admittedly a Met fan , I do catch a few Yankee games with my son as they are close by.

2B throw differently then SS's and 3B, they have to.  Cano is not the only 2B that throws in this manner.

I am used to seeing both MIF guys throw sidearm on balls to the left side, but throwing more over the top when they go to the right. 

Due to a very unusual injury my kid has been told by his doctor that his days of throwing overhand are over.  As a natural SS that's tough news for him to hear, and it's hard to believe that he can play SS  throwing sidearm only. But 2b does seem possible.

Unfortunately there is another part of the equation -- he has to see if he can throw sidearm without pain.  But since he does hit without pain, and the arm action is somewhat similar, I am hopeful.

JCG, I hope he heals up soon.

Thanks!  The bad news is that his is a bone injury that can't heal. Surgical repair is possible, but that would end his baseball career.  The good news is that the injury doesn't yet require surgery.  If he can develop a throwing mechanic that doesn't make the injury worse, he can keep playing baseball.  If not, he'll have to play s_____r or something. 

Just joking about s_____r.  He is cleared to play basketball, and he loves that almost as much as baseball, but I don't think he's got nearly as much upside in the sport.

Curious what sort of injury would prohibit overhand throwing, but not sidearm, while also allowing him to play basketball, which seems like it would have enough overhead action with the arms to cause problems similar to overhand throwing.  Can you share more?

He has a depression in the head of his humerus caused by bone-on-bone contact with his his glenoid (the socket part of the scapula).  This occurs when arms are dislocated and is accompanied by labrum tears and more.  But my son has never dislocated his shoulder, and he has no tears.  Apparently it's just the act of reaching back as he throws that has caused the bone damage.

It's an odd injury because it's so rare.  The first orthopedist we saw was kind of stumped. The second orthopedist was trained at ASMI (Dr. Andrews' clinic). When he showed them my son's MRIs and X-rays, they said they had only seen a handful of similar cases over the years.

The docs don't feel that contact is a particular risk, or really anything that does not hurt.  Except for baseball passes, nothing he does on a basketball court hurts him. Hitting doesn't hurt either.  Nor does swinging a golf club, or even throwing a football.  Anything that does hurt is causing more damage, and more damage would cause him real trouble later in life.

When I coached Babe Ruth ball I inherited a very talented 2b with a similar shoulder injury. He was fast and he could hit. I moved him to center. He played center on the all star team that year and in the CWS five years later. Center or left might be possible options for your son.

Good to hear, RJM.  I am looking forward, but with some trepidation, to the first week of the new year when he starts throwing again.  He'll see a pitching coach who threw sidearm in MILB, but mostly it's going to be something that he has to find for himself.

It's been 2 months since I posted this and I thought I would update, mainly to keep a log of one Freshman's journey into HS ball -- or rather, his dad's view of the same.  The day  after my last post, we went on vacation to a tropical destination, where we managed to pick up ball and glove a couple times. Throwing from a max of 60' or so, my kid did not look good. He tried throwing side-arm and 3/4, and both hurt. He tried short-arming, and that felt better, but his strength was unimpressive. I've played catch with many 14-15yo's, and with my 58yo eyes and reflexes, it's often an intimidating experience.  Not so with my boy. It was like playing catch with him as a 12yo again.  We were both a little depressed.  At least I had umbrella drinks for solace.

When we got home, I took my son to see the head coach of a rival high school; he was a D2 and MILB pitcher.  He started my kid from scratch, working on getting more whip from his wrist and on up the chain. After a couple of lessons, my boy and I started playing catch 3-4 times per week, and he did his physical therapy religiously.  He seemed to be pain-free and very slowly gained strength, but his work suffered a setback, of sorts, when he ran into his school's varsity basketball coach, who asked after his health. My son told him his doctors had cleared him for basketball and he was looking forward to playing next year.  The coach said why wait, invited him to practice, and put him on the team.  He's been having a great time, riding pine mostly, but getting a few minutes per game, as well as getting stronger and tougher by practicing against the older boys.  But we kept throwing 2-3 times per week, and he got into a couple club baseball games and did well, so we both started believing that he'd be strong enough to play, if only at 2B.

In our league, basketball and baseball overlap by one week. For those who are on teams that go to the postseason,  that gets extended to 2 or 3 weeks, and that's the case for my kid.  It's going to be difficult for him to hit the ground running when hoops is over, so his baseball coach has told him that he's got to get his work in independently.  I've been trying to motivate him get his hitting and throwing in, without being "that dad" who drives his kid out of baseball. It's a difficult balance.

Today we went to school before basketball practice and slipped into the cage. The varsity team was there doing field work.  They razzed my kid about picking up a shovel, but the head coach nodded at us approvingly.  After my son hit a couple buckets, we went to the OF to throw.  It's been a gradual process, but today, still throwing short-arm, he seemed be getting the kind of snap on the ball that you expect from a 15yo, and I found myself getting a lot more focused, trying to be sure I didn't catch one with my face. He was able to extend further than he's been able to so far -- maybe 140", and said his arm felt the strongest it's felt since he started up again.  With no pain.

He has a ways to go. The ball seems to sail on him a bit. He says he's getting a lot of backspin from using his wrist more effectively  and still learning to control it.  But he's making progress.  2 months ago I wasn't sure he could play.  A month ago I thought he's be limited to 2B. Now I'm wondering if he can play SS again, if not this year, maybe next.

HS basketball is so much fun for the players, and such great entertainment for the parents and fans, and I'm rooting hard for the team, but dang -- I sure am looking for the season to be over so my kid can get out there and start his HS baseball career!

I am not really understanding what exactly the problem is.

Can you send more info via pm?

Sure. But the post from 12/18 is the crux of it.

"He has a depression in the head of his humerus caused by bone-on-bone contact with his his glenoid (the socket part of the scapula).  This occurs when arms are dislocated and is accompanied by labrum tears and more.  But my son has never dislocated his shoulder, and he has no tears.  Apparently it's just the act of reaching back as he throws that has caused the bone damage"

This here's a wiki on the injury: http://orthopedics.about.com/o...ill-Sachs-Defect.htm

 -- except it says it always results from a dislocation. He's never had one.

Just read through the post so forgive me if it's there and I just missed it, but was your son a pitcher at any point? Also am I right that he's a 2017? Strange situation with no dislocation to explain the injury. Any idea how this damage occurred so young? Wondering how he was diagnosed, did you go in for x-Ray or MRI?  Glad you're seeing some improvement.  

Soylent, yes he's a 2017. He was a front line pitcher in LL and halfway through  his 13U year, but then moved to a much stronger team that used him infrequently.  But he never really complained of arm pain until he did pitch for that team, and frankly, at first it seemed like the kind of sore arm a kid gets when he's getting lit up.  First diagnosis was rotator cuff impingement.

Neither orthopedist we saw had ever seen this injury and had  no explanation except for instability and weakness of the labrum. One suggested that he might have been trying to reach back too far without "pinching" his scapula.

The lesion was first spotted in an MRI, then confirmed with x-rays taken with dye injection.

Interesting. My son went through about a two year period with something called "winging scapula"... A condition of sorts. Not the same thing as what you're describing with your son though. Always concerned with any damage that might have resulted from that and/or just innings in general from 9-13 or so. Most kids are slinging the ball more than pitching at that age, my son was no different. Anyway, best of luck to your son in getting back up to speed this season. 

My advice to anyone and everyone.

Always have a second opinion.

My son lost almost 2 seasons (and ready to give up pitching) because the team doctor could not find any specific thing (they blamed it on all sorts of things). Went to one of the top  guys in the country (not Andrews), he figured it out right away. These type of doctors see the unusual.  They have seen and heard it all. You can ask that doctor who diagnosed this rare condition, to send the mri to Andrews (or any one of the guys who specialize in difficult to diagnose shoulder issues).

What could happen is that eventually he may come up with elbow issues, because that part of the body will compensate as will the shoulder for elbow issues.  JMO

It is very hard to diagnose anything going on in the shoulder, my son also had a rare condition, diagnosed in 5 minutes and  (surgery)with a 3 month recovery.

Agreed. But we did have a second opinion, and a third. Or I should say we saw 1 GP, one sports doc, and two orthopedic surgeons. The only one who really gave a final opinion was last orthopedist we saw, who is head of ortho and sports at a large regional Kaiser facility and did a fellowship with Dr. Andrew. He he did send the MRIs and x-rays to Dr. Andrews, and didn't render his opinion until talking with somebody there.

The thing is that the diagnosis wasn't difficult -- once my kid had the x-ray everybody agreed that he's got the lesion -- they just had never seen anybody get the lesion without the dislocation and/or without other damage. They kept expecting to see significant labrum damage. 

As for the elbow, yeah that's true. But my kid will never pitch again, and that should help minimize the risk.

Ok you followed a good procedure.  I hope that everyone else does the follow through as well.

Best of luck to him.