Don’t let young baseball pitchers throw more than 100 innings per year
Dr. David Geier is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Charleston, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. He helps athletes and active people feel and perform their best, regardless of age, injuries and medical history. He has been featured in major media publications and shows over 2,500 times throughout his career.
It is really sad as an orthopedic surgeon to see a young athlete in my office with an injury that was completely preventable. Now I’m not talking about not playing sports at all. Quite the opposite. But I think if there are steps that we can take to lower a kid’s risk of a serious injury, we should do that. One of those steps is to limit pitching to 100 innings per year.
In this tip, we are going to talk about a major step to decrease injuries in youth baseball.
I could talk about not throwing all year or playing for more than one team in a season. Those efforts would be helpful.
A simpler strategy to prevent overuse shoulder and elbow throwing injuries might be to set a limit on the number of innings a kid can pitch over the course of an entire year.
Pitching too many innings doesn’t increase a kid’s risk of a few days of shoulder soreness or elbow tightness. They are more likely to suffer injuries that require surgery or end their playing careers.
Over 50 tips that can help every athlete, from adults to kids and from the professional to the weekend warrior to help you stay healthy and perform your best!
Understand your injury or the injury your family member is suffering so you can confidently return to sports, exercise, and work and stay healthy and active!
Through the stories of a dozen athletes whose injuries and recovery advanced the field (including Joan Benoit, Michael Jordan, Brandi Chastain, and Tommy John), Dr. Geier explains how sports medicine makes sports safer for the pros, amateurs, student-athletes, and weekend warriors alike.
