lynn
Newbie
Posts: 2
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Post by lynn on Mar 22, 2010 11:39:36 GMT -8
Can anyone direct me to a good site that discusses pitch count and the limits that should be imposed on teenagers?
Basically I would like to know the maximum number of pitches a 13-14 yr old should be pitching during a weekend tournament. Thanks in advance for any information that you can provide.
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Post by Chris on Mar 22, 2010 12:06:57 GMT -8
Lynn - I think this is pretty good site. There are so many things to worry about not just the total number of pitches. The type of pitches being thrown also should be considered. www.asmi.org/asmiweb/usabaseball.htm
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Post by crash23 on Mar 22, 2010 14:35:48 GMT -8
As a rule of thumb I'd limit it to 75 - 85, assuming he's game ready. Of course every pitcher's different and some can't go that many, a few can go more but probably shouldn't. I've seen too many coaches abuse their pitchers. My general rule of thumb is that if a kid threw more than 40 on Saturday he was done for the weekend. I think two days of 40 - 45 pitches is more harmful than one day of 80 - 85. Just an opinion...
In order for a pitcher to throw 85 pitches on the weekend he needs to get ample throwing during the week. If they pitch on the weekend I like to have them play light catch and easy long toss on Monday, expand it a little on Tuesday, pin Wed @ about 70% focusing on mechanics for 15 - 20 pitches, then go 70-80 percent on Thursday and about 90% on Friday. There's always variables and depends on how or if his arm is tender on Monday and how much he has to throw from his other positions at practice. Our normal routine was to warm-up then half the kids would pitch to the other half then after their 15 - 20 pitches they'd switch... then we'd move on to regular practice. I can't speak for others but it worked for my teams. Last key factor is making sure kids are throwing off-speed pitches correctly - and no knuckle balls.
Many years ago I heard Bob Feller say that the problem with kids today was that they didn't throw enough... not pitching, just throwing. I agree. It seems to me like the kids that threw outside of practice, at the park in those all day long baseball games, were the ones who never had arm problems... Kinda interesting how Nolan Ryan, Fergie Jenkins, Tom Seaver, Juan Marichal, and all those other work horses never had arm problems and could throw CGs. They also grew up in the era were they played ball from sunrise to sunset growing up.
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Post by Randy Edwards on Mar 22, 2010 14:56:19 GMT -8
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Post by Mark on Mar 22, 2010 19:41:02 GMT -8
not all pitches are the same...............high counts in two innings are worse than normal counts in 5 innings..........
50 pitches with runner on and in high stress situations is the equivilant of around 80 pitches........
its hard to generalize and its really best to come to a conclusion while watching/........hard to make staements from a computer without knowing the basic when, where, how, who, that are part of the game............
all the above posts are bits and pieces.........put them together and hopefully you can get a better feel of the game..........
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Post by crash23 on Mar 22, 2010 21:52:24 GMT -8
"feel for the game" = rules to live by!
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lynn
Newbie
Posts: 2
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Post by lynn on Mar 23, 2010 7:26:45 GMT -8
Thank you all for your input. It's much appreciated.
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