Anyone have a kid that plays baseball?

[carey]

My son plays for his middle school team and it overlaps a little with playground ball (I took him out of travel baseball last year - it wasn't working for his development.) At school he catches some and plays a little 2B and LF. He's only a 4'10" and 75 lbs 12-year-old so the transition to the HS field has been a big leap for him. He throws hard for his size and a few weeks ago was complaining of elbow pain. I took him to the orthopedist and they found a tiny fracture. It is apparently a bone chip near his growth plate from overuse. Not big enough to cast but he has had to stop all baseball activity for a month - especially throwing. Has any of your sons had this issue? If so, how long did it take to heal? Can he actually start playing once the doctor clears him or will he have to work back into shape over time?

Thanks,
Carey

 

[Yuma]

Not specific to your case, but my son broke both arms at seperate occasions snow boarding. The doctor described them as "green" breaks because at their age with their bones still forming, the healing process is really fast. Old farts like me, it takes forever. Both of my son's breaks healed OK. At your son's age it will be OK. I broke a knuckle one time at a young age and played sports when I shouldn't and it still healed. The hardest part is keeping him from putting stress on it while it heals.

 

[AZCB34]

My son plays for his middle school team and it overlaps a little with playground ball (I took him out of travel baseball last year - it wasn't working for his development.) At school he catches some and plays a little 2B and LF. He's only a 4'10" and 75 lbs 12-year-old so the transition to the HS field has been a big leap for him. He throws hard for his size and a few weeks ago was complaining of elbow pain. I took him to the orthopedist and they found a tiny fracture. It is apparently a bone chip near his growth plate from overuse. Not big enough to cast but he has had to stop all baseball activity for a month - especially throwing. Has any of your sons had this issue? If so, how long did it take to heal? Can he actually start playing once the doctor clears him or will he have to work back into shape over time?

Thanks,
Carey

My son played year round ball for quite a few years and suffered from ailments as he grew. Once the doc cleared him he always got back into playing right away but we had conversations with coaches to ease him back in, especially during practices.

If it was me, I would green light him at 2B but ease back in to catching and OF. Most throws by a 2B aren't going to out much stress on him whereas catching is volume plus some longer throws and OF is exclusively long throws.

Best case scenario he takes the summer off and tries to strengthen up and be ready for whenever the next season starts. Have him do band work.

 

[AZCB34]

Do you live in AZ? If so, curious what club teams he played for?

 

[carey]

Do you live in AZ? If so, curious what club teams he played for?

I live in New Orleans. I moved back here in '04. So my time in AZ was from '92-'04. Thus I'm a big Suns and D'Backs fan.

I'm a bit bummed because we lost most of of not all his 12 year old season at the playground and we only have one year left. Most parks don't field teams after Dixie Youth which is 13U here.

 

[Brian]

Hey sorry, I meant to reply to this earlier/sooner.

The comparisons between your son and mine are eerily similar. Both are the same age and build. Mine plays 3 positions as well: Catcher, 2B, and LF....

Weird.

Anyway, the transition to the larger field is one of the HUGE changes that young players have to go through. Right about the time they become dominant on the smaller field and the younger kids are in awe of them, they jump up to the big-boy fields and half of them can't handle it. My older son had/has a cannon for an arm, is accurate, had/has phenomenal instincts both baserunning and defensively BUT his bat never translated. It's a tough time....but it can be overcome.

By FAR, the number one thing I would recommend is to begin your son on a long toss regimen. Right now his arm is being pushed to the max and it sounds like he is reaching his limit.

No other drill that I know of will strengthen his arm more than supervised sessions of throwing long toss. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on it. Watch them with your common sense filter turned up and he should have good results after a while. He needs to limit his other throwing though while he's in the program.

Perhaps @82CardsGrad can chime in also?

 

[AZCB34]

Hey sorry, I meant to reply to this earlier/sooner.

The comparisons between your son and mine are eerily similar. Both are the same age and build. Mine plays 3 positions as well: Catcher, 2B, and LF....

Weird.

Anyway, the transition to the larger field is one of the HUGE changes that young players have to go through. Right about the time they become dominant on the smaller field and the younger kids are in awe of them, they jump up to the big-boy fields and half of the can't handle it. My older son had/has a cannon for an arm, is accurate, had/has phenomenal instincts both baserunning and defensively BUT his bat never translated. It's a tough time....but it can be overcome.

By FAR, the number one thing I would recommend is to begin your son on a long toss regimen. Right now his arm is being pushed to the max and it sounds like he is reaching his limit.

No other drill that I know of will strengthen his arm more than supervised sessions of throwing long toss. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on it. Watch them with your common sense filter turned up and he should have good results after a while. He needs to limit his other throwing though while he's in the program.

Perhaps @82CardsGrad can chime in also?

This. I shouldn't have assumed he was playing long toss but I did make that assumption. Long toss its a wise exercise and I would add in band work as well. That is the longer term play. Make sure he is healed from the fracture.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Hey sorry, I meant to reply to this earlier/sooner.

The comparisons between your son and mine are eerily similar. Both are the same age and build. Mine plays 3 positions as well: Catcher, 2B, and LF....

Weird.

Anyway, the transition to the larger field is one of the HUGE changes that young players have to go through. Right about the time they become dominant on the smaller field and the younger kids are in awe of them, they jump up to the big-boy fields and half of the can't handle it. My older son had/has a cannon for an arm, is accurate, had/has phenomenal instincts both baserunning and defensively BUT his bat never translated. It's a tough time....but it can be overcome.

By FAR, the number one thing I would recommend is to begin your son on a long toss regimen. Right now his arm is being pushed to the max and it sounds like he is reaching his limit.

No other drill that I know of will strengthen his arm more than supervised sessions of throwing long toss. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on it. Watch them with your common sense filter turned up and he should have good results after a while. He needs to limit his other throwing though while he's in the program.

Perhaps @82CardsGrad can chime in also?

You're pretty much spot-on with suggesting supervised long-toss Brian. One of the biggest issues for youngsters as they transition into middle and high school years, is their throwing mechanics are almost always horrendous, and therefore place massive strain on the elbow. It's truly a miracle more kids don't end up with some type of injury or tendonitis.
Trying to get young kids to understand, practice and the consistently execute proper throwing mechanics is a real challenge. I've had much greater success with high schoolers and particularly, juniors and seniors (16 -18 year olds).

Carey, I would definitely go slow and not rush your son back onto the field... the injury your son has is quite common, however, if you don't give it the full compliment of time it needs (every kid is different by the way) to heal and recover, he can suffer ill-effects for many years to come. In particular, youngsters don't always know when "something isn't right." And an injury like this can heal enough, quickly enough to have your son believe all is 100% OK... however, if the needed time to fully/completely heal hasn't occurred, kids will often not say anything when they feel the slight twinge of weirdness or slight pain when they throw...consequently, they begin to compensate and when that happens, all sorts of other issues can begin to flare up.
At 12 years old, he's right on the fringe of getting him on light weight training designed to strengthen his shoulder and forearm. At a minimum though, range of motion and flexibility exercises should be strongly considered, along with the supervised long-toss ONLY when the full proper recovery time has elapsed.

Hope all this helps and best of luck!

 

[carey]

You're pretty much spot-on with suggesting supervised long-toss Brian. One of the biggest issues for youngsters as they transition into middle and high school years, is their throwing mechanics are almost always horrendous, and therefore place massive strain on the elbow. It's truly a miracle more kids don't end up with some type of injury or tendonitis.
Trying to get young kids to understand, practice and the consistently execute proper throwing mechanics is a real challenge. I've had much greater success with high schoolers and particularly, juniors and seniors (16 -18 year olds).

Carey, I would definitely go slow and not rush your son back onto the field... the injury your son has is quite common, however, if you don't give it the full compliment of time it needs (every kid is different by the way) to heal and recover, he can suffer ill-effects for many years to come. In particular, youngsters don't always know when "something isn't right." And an injury like this can heal enough, quickly enough to have your son believe all is 100% OK... however, if the needed time to fully/completely heal hasn't occurred, kids will often not say anything when they feel the slight twinge of weirdness or slight pain when they throw...consequently, they begin to compensate and when that happens, all sorts of other issues can begin to flare up.
At 12 years old, he's right on the fringe of getting him on light weight training designed to strengthen his shoulder and forearm. At a minimum though, range of motion and flexibility exercises should be strongly considered, along with the supervised long-toss ONLY when the full proper recovery time has elapsed.

Hope all this helps and best of luck!

Where can I get info on the long toss program? I don't mind going out there and working with him but it sounds like I should have a coach do it?

He has not thrown in 4 weeks. He said he feels great. I was thinking about letting him hit Friday and Monday. Then we get x-rays on Tuesday.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Where can I get info on the long toss program? I don't mind going out there and working with him but it sounds like I should have a coach do it?

He has not thrown in 4 weeks. He said he feels great. I was thinking about letting him hit Friday and Monday. Then we get x-rays on Tuesday.

There are a ton of long toss program available on You Tube and the internet... Here is one that a buddy of mine referred me to a few years ago: http://www.youthpitching.com/throwing.html.

I strongly encourage you and your son to invest loads of time on mechanics and mastering the proper throwing motion, as well as proper stretching to maximize range of motion - on top of the drills noted in the link I just shared.

And, if it were me, I wouldn’t have your kid doing anything until you get that X-ray on Tuesday...

 

[carey]

I strongly encourage you and your son to invest loads of time on mechanics and mastering the proper throwing motion, as well as proper stretching to maximize range of motion - on top of the drills noted in the link I just shared.

And, if it were me, I wouldn’t have your kid doing anything until you get that X-ray on Tuesday...

I probably shouldn't have let him go to the beach then either. But it's Summer break and school just let out you know? Thanks for the link.

 

[carey]

I really do appreciate all the responses. My kid isn't a star player. He is under weight and had to work really hard for his spot on the school team (they went undefeated this year and have several kids that play at a Major's level in travel.) I have told him since a young age he missed out on the genetic lottery but since he throws so hard with nothing behind it imagine what will happen if he works hard and eats right. There's so much conflicting info tho. At times I wonder if I worked him too hard but then I read that guide and I feel like maybe we didn't do enough. You know? One of my great joys in life has been playing baseball with him so it's possible I lack proper perspective on this stuff. Thanks for your help.

 

[Azjose86]

Not my son. But my nephew as well. Same similar scenario to yours. He's going from 8th grade to high school. But he's a big boy, he's about 5'11" and and 180lbs. He played lots of travel team and that took a toll on his body. He ended up with a small crack , but on his shoulder. Doctors said with him growing and the stress of constant throwing causes that. He recommended he stays away from travel teams for about 8 months and allow the rest to have his body heal and grow. He can resume play once he goes into his freshman year of high school.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I probably shouldn't have let him go to the beach then either. But it's Summer break and school just let out you know? Thanks for the link.

Let him have fun!

 

[82CardsGrad]

I really do appreciate all the responses. My kid isn't a star player. He is under weight and had to work really hard for his spot on the school team (they went undefeated this year and have several kids that play at a Major's level in travel.) I have told him since a young age he missed out on the genetic lottery but since he throws so hard with nothing behind it imagine what will happen if he works hard and eats right. There's so much conflicting info tho. At times I wonder if I worked him too hard but then I read that guide and I feel like maybe we didn't do enough. You know? One of my great joys in life has been playing baseball with him so it's possible I lack proper perspective on this stuff. Thanks for your help.

I have been involved in baseball as a player, coach and mentor for the vast majority of my life (just turned 55). I have friends who have played throughout the professional ranks, including the majors... And I know a few coaches who have and still coach in the major leagues.
I can say with 100% confidence that there isn't one path to health and success in the game of baseball... By far, genetics and God-gifted ability (physical, mental/emotional) have the biggest impact. That said, there are things kids can do to increase their chance for health and success. The link I gave you provides a philosophy that most (not all) of the people I know endorse. One of the big misconceptions out there today is the idea of "specialized" focus, where a kid can ONLY play baseball and ONLY during baseball season. More and more studies seem to confirm that kids can and should remain physically active, at least 8 - 10 months out of the year. And, throwing a baseball (not pitching and not in a game... just throwing), throughout the year is supportive of health and success! But again, proper mechanics is really key.

Good luck with your boy and who knows, maybe a growth-spurt is coming soon!

 

[Dback Jon]

82 forgot the most important piece of advice - never, ever let a ballplayer shake hands with him...

 

[82CardsGrad]

82 forgot the most important piece of advice - never, ever let a ballplayer shake hands with him...

You can rest comfortably knowing that I have taken every measure not to shake hands with any players over the past few years... though, given the results, I'm starting to think I should!

 

[Dback Jon]

You can rest comfortably knowing that I have taken every measure not to shake hands with any players over the past few years... though, given the results, I'm starting to think I should!

You haven't run into Peralta/Weaver/Flores recently did you?

 

[82CardsGrad]

You haven't run into Peralta/Weaver/Flores recently did you?

Archie... Ugh.