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Arm Pain from Throwing Too Much

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Key Points

  • A parent must not rely on a coach to protect their child’s arm health
  • Should follow the MLB pitch count guideline on the number of rest days for pitchers
  • Arm care is extra important if your child also plays the catcher position

Introduction

In youth baseball, its common among healthy young baseball players to experience arm pains when throwing too many pitches (and also playing the catcher position).

Unfortunately, many inexperienced coaches do not know any better and encourages these young players to continue playing despite the arm pain.

As a coach and father, I have been very careful about not over-extending my son’s throwing arm, including not allowing him to experiment with throwing breaking pitches until very recently (he is about to turn 14).

What Does Too Much Throwing Look Like

Greg isn’t the biggest kid, but he is certainly stout so I was surprised to hear that he was experiencing arm pain during a rec game when he was catching. I was very proud of him for recognizing his arm pain and promptly asked to be taken out of the game.

After few days of no throwing, he seems to be recovering okay so I decided to take a look at the Game Changer records (I keep scores for both rec and travel teams).

Call it a mental lapse on my part but I was surprised to see the following when I merged all the records together:

  • April 17 – Babe Ruth Seniors League Recreation game; starting pitcher; threw 49 pitches in 3 innings; catcher for 4 through 7th innings
  • April 18 – 13-15U Travel game; catcher for 1 through 5 innings
  • April 20 – 13U-15U Travel practice; catcher drills (throwing down to 2nd base, etc.)
  • April 22 – 13U-15U travel practice (4pm)
  • April 22 – Babe Ruth Seniors League game (8pm); starting pitcher; threw 59 pitches in 3 innings; catcher for 4 through 6th innings
  • April 23 – light toss with dad
  • April 24 – Babe Ruth Seniors League game; catcher for 1 through 3 innings; took himself out for arm pain
  • April 25 – 13-U-15U travel game; designated hitter due to arm pain; no throwing at all

The number of days my son pitched and/or caught is is simply too much, even for an adult!.

In addition to his workload, he just learned how to throw a slider from his travel coach so I know he was throwing a quite of bit of braking pitches which could have further contributed to his arm pain woes.

So how much rest is required between games?

The Major League baseball has a nifty chart, recommending pitching count for each age group. I have outlined all of them below so that you don’t have to click back and forth to see the different requirements between age groups.

Just keep in mind some leagues may also have extra mandates beyond what is stated below (i.e. Little League specifies that a pitcher who threw for 2 innings cannot be a catcher in the same game).

Ages 8 and under (small field; 46×60)
Focus on athleticism, physical fitness, and fun
Focus on learning baseball rules, general techniques, and teamwork
Do not exceed 60 combined innings pitched in any 12-month period
Take at least 4 months off from competitive pitching every year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing
Make sure to properly warm up before pitching
Set and follow pitch-count limits and required rest periods
Avoid throwing pitches other than fastballs and change-ups
Avoid playing for multiple teams at the same time
Avoid playing catcher while not pitching
Players should not pitch in multiple games on the same day
N/A
Play other sports during the course of the year
Monitor for other signs of fatigue
Pitchers once removed from the mound may not return as pitchers
No pitcher shall appear in a game as a pitcher for three consecutive days, regardless of pitch counts
Daily Max: 50
0 day rest: 1-20
1 day rest: 21-35
2 day rest: 36-50
3 day rest: N/A
4 day rest: N/A
5 day rest: N/A
Ages 9 – 12 (medium field; 50×70)
Focus on athleticism, physical fitness, and fun
Focus on learning baseball rules, general techniques, and teamwork
Do not exceed 80 combined innings pitched in any 12-month period
Take at least 4 months off from competitive pitching every year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing
Make sure to properly warm up before pitching
Set and follow pitch-count limits and required rest periods
Avoid throwing pitches other than fastballs and change-ups
Avoid playing for multiple teams at the same time
Avoid playing catcher while not pitching
Players should not pitch in multiple games on the same day
N/A
Play other sports during the course of the year
Monitor for other signs of fatigue
Pitchers once removed from the mound may not return as pitchers
No pitcher shall appear in a game as a pitcher for three consecutive days, regardless of pitch counts
75 (ages 9-10); 85 (ages 11-12)
0 day rest: 1-20
1 day rest: 21-35
2 day rest: 36-50
3 day rest: 51-65
4 day rest: 66+
5 day rest: N/A
Ages 13-14 (big field; 60×90)
Players can begin using breaking pitches after developing consistent fastball and change-up
N/A
Do not exceed 100 combined innings pitched in any 12-month period


Take at least 4 months off from competitive pitching every year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing
Make sure to properly warm up before pitching
Set and follow pitch-count limits and required rest periods
N/A
Avoid playing for multiple teams at the same time
Avoid playing catcher while not pitching
Players should not pitch in multiple games on the same day
Make sure to follow guidelines across leagues, tournaments and showcases
Play other sports during the course of the year
Monitor for other signs of fatigue
A pitcher remaining in the game, but moving to a different position, can return as a pitcher anytime in the remainder of the game, but only once per game
No pitcher shall appear in a game as a pitcher for three consecutive days, regardless of pitch counts
Daily max: 95
0 day rest: 1-20
1 day rest: 21-35
2 day rest: 36-50
3 day rest: 51-65
4 day rest: 66+
5 day rest: N/A
Ages 15-18 (big field; 60×90)
Players can begin using breaking pitches after developing consistent fastball and change-up
N/A
Do not exceed 100 combined innings pitched in any 12-month period


Take at least 4 months off from competitive pitching every year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing
Make sure to properly warm up before pitching
Set and follow pitch-count limits and required rest periods
N/A
Avoid playing for multiple teams at the same time
Avoid playing catcher while not pitching
Players should not pitch in multiple games on the same day
Make sure to follow guidelines across leagues, tournaments and showcases
N/A
Monitor for other signs of fatigue
A pitcher remaining in the game, but moving to a different position, can return as a pitcher anytime in the remainder of the game, but only once per game
No pitcher shall appear in a game as a pitcher for three consecutive days, regardless of pitch counts
Daily max: 95 (ages 15-16); 105 (ages 17-18)
0 day rest: 1-30
1 day rest: 31-45
2 day rest: 46-60
3 day rest: 61-75 (ages 15-16); 61-80 (ages 17-18)
4 day rest: 76+ (ages 15-16); 81+ (ages 17-18)
5 day rest: N/A
Ages 19-22 (big field; 60×90)
Keep track of the amount of pitching throughout the course of the year.
 
N/A
Although the safe yearly limit varies from pitcher to pitcher, it is important to remember that overuse injuries are the result of short-term and long-term overuse
Take at least 3 months off from competitive pitching every year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing
Make sure to properly warm up before pitching
Set and follow pitch-count limits and required rest periods
N/A
Avoid playing for multiple teams at the same time
Avoid playing catcher while not pitching
Players should not pitch in multiple games on the same day
Make sure to follow guidelines across leagues, tournaments and showcases
N/A
Monitor for other signs of fatigue
N/A


No pitcher shall appear in a game as a pitcher for three consecutive days, regardless of pitch counts
Daily max: 95 (15-16)
0 day rest: 1-30
1 day rest: 31-45
2 day rest: 46-60
3 day rest: 61-80
4 day rest: 81-105
5 day rest: 106+

Recovery Period

Thankfully, after taking a much needed rest, my son’s arm is back to normal. Here’s the recovery plan:

  • April 26 – no baseball activity
  • April 27 – 13U-15U travel practice; no throwing
  • April 28 – no baseball activity
  • April 29 – 13U-15U travel practice; no throwing
  • April 30 – no baseball activity
  • May 1 – no baseball activity
  • May 2 – 13U-15U travel game (catcher for 7 innings)

Recovery Aids

So are there any products on the market that can speed up the recovery process? Most MLB player have access to state-of-the-art physical therapy and cryo-therapy tools and methods.

For the rest of us, you can use a variation of ice/heat packs along with R.I.C.E (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).

For youth baseball players who are 16 years or younger, I recommend a simple gel pack like Natra Cure Gel Cold Sleep Wrap versus ice packs because gel packs cool evenly (no cold spots) and lasts around 10-15 minutes (no supervision necessary). On hot days when I know my son will be pitching, I usually carry 2 or 3 gel packs in my ice cooler so that he can cool his elbow between innings. The only draw back is that gel packs are for cooling only (i.e. you cannot microwave these for heat treatments).

For older kids or kids who are big and throw harder, I recommend on on the following ice/heat packs:

Just make sure that you should apply hot OR cold 20 minutes at a time, followed by 20 minutes non-treatment/wrap. It’s counterproductive to constantly apply heat or cold in excess of 20 minutes and it can actually be damaging to your child’s tissues/muscles/joints.

Takeaways

The bottom line is that as a parent, you need to keep a close track of your child’s pitch count, especially if your child is also a primary catcher. Do not leave that responsibility with their team manager or coach.

The easiest way to do that is to get yourself familiarized with whatever score keeping system your team uses during the game.

In most cases, you will need to purchase a monthly membership which will allow you to see the game stats (Game Changer membership costs around 8 bucks a month).

Reference Links