When do they figure it out?

I think kids will begin to realize it when they have the "right" coach.
Most kids just float along thinking eveythingg is A-OK.
Then comes a solid travel team and things change if the kid is smart enough. A good travel team with a good training regimen is great preparation for going into the frosh year of college.

Thankfully my guys learned early in their HS careers and it carried over---my last guy even took it to the point of working out regularly, on his own, with the track team as well as the local health club

And sometimes arm injuries in college just happen as the net result of all the arm use from LL thru HS

I know of a freshman 2-way player at a top JUCO who has continued to throw this fall despite the fact that his arm is killing him. His mom has begged him to talk to the coach, but he refuses to say anything out of concern that the coach will consider him a wuss. A blow-out waiting to happen, IMO.

Lack of conditioning can certainly cause a blow-out, but so can a refusal to stop throwing when needed, due to fear/intimidation, a desire to not "fall behind" one's teammates/competition, or an immature decision to push through the pain without regard for the possible long-term consequences.

I think it's very typical. We all see the same thing from our "kids" from time to time. The older we become the more we realize the rewards of dedication, focus, and preparation. But remember these are kids that haven't learned some of the facts of life. After all baseball is a game and is supposed to be fun --- not "work". I say why worry? I have seen a lot of parents "crushed" when their sons didn't take a sport as seriously as they think they should. I fault the parents more in these situations than I could fault the players.

I have a lot of hobbies which are my "games". Some hobbies I take seriously and some I "piddle" at. Some days I have plans to fish all day and by 10:00 AM I'm back home. Was I SUPPOSED to fish all day? Much like baseball, in fishing there are those that turn pro. There are local tournaments, state qualifiers, regionals, nationals teams, clubs. I would not appreciate anyone telling me how I should play my games or how seriously I should take a sport.

I know it is to US but in reality is baseball different than skateboarding? Should a parent tell their son he needs too be more serious about grabbing some big air on his skateboard?
Fungo

I look at it this way, if you cheat you pay. At that level of the sport, not taking care of every aspect has a cost..sadly this kid has his. So not conditioning, not doing your throwing, not preparing mentally, not taking care scholastically, trying for too much velocity when the rest of the body isn't ready or mechanically sound, not getting proper rest, not having a good diet..will all "come home to roost" (To overuse an overused cliche) at some point..Some may somehow prolong it...but pay they will. Heck even doing everything is no proof against injury..but it, I believe, is the best way to prevent it.

There are certain exercises that a pitcher should do, that, if they were taught ahead of time, would prevent a lot of the injuries we commonly see. Unfortunately, most times a pitcher doesn't get taught these workouts until he experiences a problem and sees a therapist to get the rehab program.

Used to be that most kids gave up baseball before wear and tear took too heavy a toll. These days, though, more and more kids are playing a LOT of baseball with year round travel, etc. So you see more of the long term wear types of injuries. Those who throw with greater velocity are particularly susceptible to things like stretching of the shoulder capsule, for example.

Tubing resistance work, combined with focus on core strengthening and proper use of core muscles (mechanics instruction) will do a lot to prevent harm. You can't stop every injury from happening, but we could do better, and we probably need to do better as we identify higher level pitchers in their early teens.

For many players they have not had proper coaching which does involve proper excercises and conditioning. I can honestly say that the elite teams around here are fanatic about proper training and teaching proper mechanics.
My guess ia that a lot of injury at college is due to over exertion ar a pitcher tries to compete with high caliber pitchers that are far superior to what they ever competed with before. Even position players face stiffer competition for roster spots and over excert themselves.
Throwing motions should be smooth and natural and not forced.Unfortunately their mechanics break down. Elbows drop below the shoulder and even at college the coaches don't pick up on the issues. Players are determined to throw 90+ and that can lead to the break down in mechanics.
I have said this before but I see more injuries from kids that went to college than before they went. I believe it is more about intensity, over excertion and poor mechanical habits that conditioning. Most colleges condition you to the max with all the book read drills that they have picked up.
I don't think too many can get to a college program that don't have a lot of talent.

Great post, as usual Fungo.

Just going off of observation and eliminating the obviously lazy pitchers...I cannot come up with a correlation in my experiences between those pitchers I've known who had arm troubles and the amount of training they conducted. Seems to me that the arm "blowouts" I've known firsthand about have come from both medium-workers and hard-workers.

I am not sure if lack of conditioning had anything to do with blowing out the arm, that damage is usually done beforehand. Did he over use his arm to get where he had to go. Previous injury? This happens often.

I will admit son didn't work very hard at conditioning as others did. His conditioning was always pitcher specific, which did not include lifting heavy weights.He did work very hard on his mechanics though, which included RC excercises, core and legs (run, run, run). When he began to lose speed due to huge growth spurts and became gawky, he knew it was time to become just a pitcher, which meant not as much time in the playing field to get injured or doing other sports other than the ones where he could hurt himself. But he sustained no injuries through HS or college. And the ones he did have, were always because he was kind of clumsy and done off the field.
This is not uncommon to see when players reach college or pro. They work very hard, sometimes over doing it to get to the next level, then all heck can break loose. And as suggested, sometimes players keep quiet regarding when something hurts until they can't push teh envelope anyomre. This si where you teach your players to be smart.
Sometimes I think young kids work too hard at conditioning their bodies and can ultimately hurt themselves.

JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Sometimes I think young kids work too hard at conditioning their bodies and can ultimately hurt themselves.

What's your definition of "young kids?" Mine is pre high school. Until high school I told my son playing other sports is all the conditioning he needed. When he got to high school I told him the difference between him and upperclassmen is upper body strength. Freshman year he didn't take me seriously enough. It may have been a factor in being the last cut from varsity. This year he's taking it seriously. He's not worried about making varsity. He wants to be one of the best players. It's his motivation to train.

By young I meant under 15. I agree with you, in middle school we told son all the conditioning he needed was playing sports and being active. He didn't begin actual workouts until HS, he was 15 and still was no where near beginning of puberty.

Young kids tell their folks they need to workout, mom and dad get them a gym membership and most have no clue what to do when they get there.

I got my gym membership when I was 12. It was called the tobacco fields. When mine were younger if I was in the yard working so were they. As they got older I told them it was time for them to take care of the yard and all the chores. I had a friend whos son would sit inside and play video games as he was cutting the grass , weed eating , cutting firewood etc. It made me sick to see.

If kids are not active the problem is with the parents not the kids. Mine have never wanted to sit inside on a pretty day. But if thats all they know thats all they will do.

For me the time to start seriously training is the summer before you are entering HS. But thats just me others might see it differently. But putting up hay , priming tobacco , cutting grass , cutting and stacking firewood etc etc is very good training as well. And not just for baseball.