How much is your son’s arm worth? An easily asked question, but one that’s not answered easily by youth parents and coaches.
Parents invest 40 dollars for batting gloves, 150 dollars for a fielder’s glove that is custom made with an iPod in the thumb, a cell phone in the pocket and a GPS unit in the last finger so in case your son loses his glove at the field he can track it’s whereabouts on his PC.
Before the season begins, dad’s get their little slugger his stealth titanium nitroglycerin bazooka bat, valued at 359 dollars, that hits line drives through the infield at the speed of sound and causes a sonic boom as it hits the left field fence.
If you’re a typical parent, you’ve probably bought and eaten 52 candy bars each year rather than pestering your fellow employees to contribute toward another fundraiser. Most likely, I’ve personally consumed over 675 Snickers bars over the last eight years.
When the regular season ends and travel baseball kicks in, you’ve traded in your Suburban to purchase a Yugo so you can finance trips to Disney World, Cooperstown and the specially priced Carnival Cruise Line trip to Australia where your team will play 25 games in 10 days before embarking for Tahiti on the way home.
There’s no question that parents economically invest and sacrifice a great deal when it comes down to giving their son every opportunity to play.
But, what is your son’s arm worth? What is the investment of keeping it healthy? And how can you achieve it on a year -round basis?
In the 2005 Little League World Series, two pitchers, whose team reached Williamsport, pitched with broken bones in their arms. Neither knew it until after the series concluded. In the 2006 Little League Regionals, one pitcher threw over 500 innings in five games prior to the series, and then pitched in the series.
An orthopedic surgeon in one Midwest city performed over 50 Tommy John surgeries in 2005 –on kids under 12 years of age. Recent studies by the American Sports Medical Institute uncovered that sixty seven percent of the kids they studied had sore arms before, during or after the season. Most of them were pitchers.
Obviously, overuse of the arm, improper throwing and pitching mechanics, not warming up or cooling down correctly and throwing curveballs before your son’s body is mature enough to handle the stress and torque are all causes of soreness and arm pain.
Overzealous parents and ego driven coaches can also lead to problems. Take for example that same Little League World series in 2005 and 2006.
One of the coaches was reluctant in having his players throw so many curveballs, but did so on the insistence from the parents because they said, “we want to win.” Another manager stated that he threw his main pitcher so frequently because this was “his only chance to get to Williamsport.”
His? I thought the game was for the kids.
So, what is your son’s arm worth? What can you do to protect that investment?
There are quite a few solutions that come to mind that will insure the health of your son’s arm. The ASMI recommends 60-90 days of rest for your arm every year, especially if you’re a pitcher and more importantly, if you play year-round.
That rest doesn’t need to come all at once but should be adhered to. After that, extended rest and before the next season begins, the arm needs to be built up again by either resistance band exercises or long toss or both.
Just resting and not building means you’re tearing down your arm over and over without getting it stronger. This leads to soreness, pain and sometimes injury.
Develop correct throwing and pitching mechanics. Throwing a baseball with the elbow below the shoulder, short arming, and rushing your pitching motion can all add up to stress on the elbow and shoulder.
Ice your arm after pitching or throwing extensively, especially if you’ve played in one or more games on the same day.
In turn, listen to your son if his arm hurts. Don’t force the issue. It may be more serious than you think.
Players should also do post game and post practice resistance band exercises, arm circles and some type of running to get the blood and oxygen flowing back into the arm. Getting your arm game ready takes some extra time and good work ethic. However, it will pay great dividends in the long run.
Your son’s arm is worth his future. Make the investment today so you can cash in on it tomorrow.
