Throwing ( don't over do it !!! )

I'm guessing our disagreement is really only a matter of semantics. No doctor in the world would tell anyone that continued physical exertion of any kind over a long period of time won't cause any irreversible damage. But there is a trade off.

Physical exertion of any kind has great benefit to the cardiovascular system, but there is a price to pay. Many, not all, but many runners end up with severe lower body joint problems from the constant banging. But smart runners will take precautions like wearing the proper shoes or running on the proper surfaces to mitigate the punishment the body takes. But of course the most important thing is to work up to the point they want to be and then to continue working to stay at that level.

But although throwing a baseball is really nothing more than another physical activity, I really can't think of any other physical activity that puts so much stress on one concentrated part of the body.

Take a look at http://infosports.com/scorekeeper/ and look at Pitching Paper. Although it was written 3 years ago, there are some interesting things in it. one thing that always impressed me was what is said about the rotational forces trying to pull your arm off. I haven't seen the computation, but if as the paper suggests, that force is probably the same as the pitcher's own body weight, that's one heck of a lot of stress on any arm, let alone a young and undeveloped one.

Since there is no such thing as perpetual motion, yet, as far as I know, anything that moves is creating friction and sooner or later, where that friction occurs, something will wear out. a pitcher's arm is no different. There are things like exercises and proper eating that can be done to make the effect of friction less and thus extend the life of the arm, but it will wear out!

That's the sense that I meant there are only so many throws in an arm, and every arm will be different. I'm fully convinced that the toll is much higher in a kid who isn't fully developed, and to me it doesn't matter that a given 10YO is more developed or has perfect mechanics or has the best doctors and coaches money can buy, there's no good reason to risk a young arm for the sake of a blazing fast ball!

When my son started pitching, I told him never to throw as hard as he could. Then, as now, I don't believe any human being can control all of the actions he needs to when he's throwing at 100%, but more importantly, those much wiser than I said the velocity would come with growth as long as the mechanics were there.

As he got older, the main priority we had was control. I never kidded myself that he would be able to "paint the black" or hit spots. Common sense told me that, and experience has proven to me that doing those things is more of a pipe dream than a reality. But, throwing strikes is something else again, so that's what he concentrated on.

Guess what? What those people told me has come to be. He still doesn't throw hard enough yet to be considered elite, but as God is my witness, there isn't one kid in our entire area who threw harder than him before he was 13 that still does. Most have quit, some have had arm problems and some have gone to different positions. There are kids who throw harder than he does now, but almost every one didn't pitch until a couple of years ago. Of those that have pitched as long as he has and throw harder now, most were like him, scrawny little rag arms that the coach let throw when the studs couldn't go.

I'm guessing that's the true tale in most places too. There's a changing of the guard that's inevitable, and the only ones that make it past that change are the ones who really work at it. From the look of things, there's gonna be another change coming real soon too. That one's gonna be the pitchers who can make it through all of the trials and tribulations of playing HS ball!

By that time, the one's with poor self motivation, weak mechanics, sore arms and poor control get pretty much weeded out and probably only one or two pitchers from any HS team go on and the competition gets that much tougher.

If a kid is put on a good program similar to what you described, I'm all for it. But the truth is, most kids won't be monitored well enough to make it something I want to see every kid do, so other than to just keep the baseball muscles in tune over the winter, lots of throwing is out in my book.