Proper Pitch Count Strategies For Youth Baseball Coaches

As you know, proper pitch counts are as much a part of the science of pitching as anything else. That's why when it comes to pitch counts I recommend what the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee advises. (I mean how can you argue with these guys :-)

Here's their pitch count suggestions (Updated May 2004). It's a super start to really address pitch counts for you... or the pitchers on your youth baseball team.

Pitch counts

Pitches are counted and monitored for professional, collegiate, and high school pitchers in order for them to reduce the risk of injury.

A 1996 survey conducted by the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee (USA Baseball News, 1996) showed that most experts believed pitch counts should be kept for youth pitchers as well.

In response to this charge, the committee sponsored an epidemiological study by the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) to look at this issue.

This study -- published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2002 -- showed a significant relationship between the number of pitches thrown and the risk of shoulder and elbow pain in youth baseball. It is the opinion of ASMI and the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee that joint pain indicates the early development of a potentially serious joint injury.

Thus pitch count limits are recommended for youth baseball.

If -- for some valid reason -- a league is unable or unwilling to enact pitch count limits, the league should limit the number of batters faced. Since 9 to 12 year-old baseball pitchers average about 5 pitches per batter, pitch count recommendations can be converted into batter limitations by dividing by 5.

However, pitch limitations are a better choice than batter limitations for accurately monitoring and controlling risk of overuse.

Pitch counts should be monitored and regulated in youth baseball.

Recommended limits for youth pitchers

• 9-10 year old pitchers: 50 pitches per game; 75 pitches per week; 1,000 pitches per season; 2,000 pitches per year
• 11-12 year old pitchers: 75 pitches per game; 100 pitches per week; 1,000 pitches per season; 3,000 pitches per year
• 13-14 year old pitchers: 75 pitches per game 125 pitches per week 1000 pitches per season 3000 pitches per year

Pitch count limits pertain to pitches thrown in games only. These limits do not include throws from other positions, instructional pitching during practice sessions, and throwing drills, which are important for the development of technique and strength.

References: Andrews JR, Chmielewski T, Escamilla RF, Fleisig GS, Wilk KE. Conditioning program for professional baseball pitchers. American Sports Medicine Institute, Birmingham, AL, 1997. Andrews JR, Fleisig GS. How many pitches should I allow my child to throw? USA Baseball News April, 1996 Fleisig GS, Barrentine SW, Zheng N, Escamilla RF, Andrews JR. Kinematic and kinetic comparison of baseball pitching among various levels of development. Journal of Biomechanics 32(12):1371-1375, 1999. Lyman S, Fleisig GS, Andrews JR, Osinski ED. Effect of pitch type, pitch count, and pitching mechanics on risk of elbow and shoulder pain in youth baseball pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 30(4):463-468, 2002.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher™
www.thecompletepitcher.com

The Toughest Pitching Location To Pitch To... And How You Can Get It There!

You may want to print this one off and keep it in your "baseball bag of tricks."

I want to take a closer look at a difficult location for pitchers to pitch to... and I want to give you a few solutions on how to get it there so you can be more successful on the bump.

The toughest spot any baseball pitcher's got to pitch to is a fastball on the low, outside corner of the strike zone. That spot forces a pitcher to make a pitch across his body and across the heart of the plate.

With that being the case, the same pitching mechanics that may work for a fastball middle to middle-in just won't work. The body's timing mechanism during the pitching delivery has got to adjust.

You see, to get outside part of the plate with that fastball, a pitcher's got to get his upper body turned a little more quickly than that pitch middle to middle-in. That way (because the trunk is rotated more) the actual release point of the pitch itself can be slightly farther out in front of the body -- which makes it easier to hit the outside corner of the plate.

A lot of pitchers I work with, who have trouble making that pitch, tend to rotate slowly and drag their hand. Now a lot of pitchers I work with don't rotate their trunk properly as it is, but the mechanical flaw is more prominent on pitches to the outside part of the plate where the trunk needs to rotate quicker.

If you want to pitch to the outside part of the plate, you really have to get your trunk rotated.

So look: when throwing practice bullpens, work on getting that trunk rotated more quickly on fastballs to the outside part of the plate. I guarantee you'll be pleased with the better strike-results.

One final thought...

As you practice this, you may become frustrated that you're not able to get the timing down on the first couple of sessions you work on it.

That's OK and certainly part of the learning process.

However, if you're making a pitch to the outside part of the plate and miss, you should be missing outside -- not middle or middle-in (this goes for game situations, too!). Middle and middle-in means your trunk isn't getting around.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher, Inc.
www.thecompletepitcher.com

What Kind Of Running Should Baseball Pitchers Perform?

I received two e-mails this week about running programs for baseball pitchers -- and the types of running I recommend that pitchers do. Here's an article that ran a few months ago on my blog that tackles the question of long-distance running, short-distance sprints and the types of running pitchers should be concerned with.

Coach Ellis,

I run a lot of long distance, at least a mile every day. One of my coaches said that by running after you throw, it helps your arm to drain the fluids that build up after you throw. So, my question is: does long distance running have more benefits than short sprints?

Thanks again,

Patrick Timmerman

It's all a matter of timing. While it's true, an emphasis on long distance running for training is not the very best plan for developing fast-twitch, explosive power and pitching strength, long distance running can be beneficial if performed after a pitching workout to "flush" the system of the lactic acid that builds in your throwing shoulder and arm.

In the Chicago Cubs organization, pitchers performed a weekly sequence of short-, medium-, long-sprints, and ladder agility drills to emphasize quick-feet, proper balance and body alignment. Then, one day a week (for starting pitchers, it was the day after they pitched) we would perform a 20-25 minute distance run to "flush" the system.

So, is long distance running bad for pitchers? No. But it's just a matter of timing. Do it after you pitch, and use shorter sprints and agility drills to prepare for the big game throughout the rest of the week.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher, Inc.
www.thecompletepitcher.com