What’s Wrong With Little League Baseball
As another exciting year comes to a close, I’d first and foremost like to congratulate the team from New York, the 2016 Little League World Series Champions. I’m sure there have been memories and new friendships made both on and off the field that will last a lifetime. With that said, I’ve always found it difficult to watch and this year was no exception. Little League Baseball, as an organization, has implemented and actively enforced certain safeguards and rules that are designed to protect players’ safety such as: age specific pitch counts, and mandatory amount of days’ rest. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement and I hope, as a parent first and a coach second, that Little League Baseball will revisit their pitching guidelines and make changes that reflect the recommendations made by ASMI (American Sports Medicine Institute) and USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee among others dating as far back as 2007.
The conversation concerning the current pitching rules needs to happen now more than ever. Statistics show that major surgeries on damaged arms of young pitchers have increased steadily over the years. In 2007, during the Little League International Congress in Houston, Texas, Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Glenn Fleisig made an hour-long presentation that addressed pitching injuries, pitching mechanics, and recommendations for future concerns surrounding overuse pitching injuries. From 1995 – 1998, an average of 9 out of the 100+ total surgeries were on the UCL which stands for ulnar collateral ligament, better known as “Tommy John Surgery” on high school aged athletes. From 1999 – 2002, the number of high school aged patients went up to 61 out the 350+ total surgeries and from 2003 – 2006, that number rose to 148 out of the 610+ UCL surgeries performed. Let’s also understand that Injuries to pitchers are not limited to the elbow. Throwing shoulder injuries and resulting surgeries have also been on a steady increase. From 1995 – 1999, there was an average of 43 surgeries on the shoulders of high school aged athletes. The total number of surgeries in that time period was approximately 1600 and includes athletes younger as well as older than high school age. The statistics from 2000 – 2004 increased by 600% with 259 surgeries being performed on high school aged athletes with a total number of surgeries being in the area of 2100. These statistics are 10 – 20 years old but are still relevant because not much if anything has changed in the rules to protect the arms of these athletes.
I am also curious just how Little League Baseball can be listed as a “Fully Compliant Pitch Smart Organization” (As of May 24, 2016). Pitch Smart is “a series of age appropriate guidelines to help parents, players and coaches avoid overuse injuries and foster long, healthy careers for youth pitchers.” Pitch Smart Compliance program has been developed to assist the public in identifying the organizations that have adopted Pitch Smart guidelines and principles.
In 2006, USA Baseball Guidelines and more recently MLB.com/PitchSmart recommended a pitch limit for athlete’s age 11-12 years old be 75 pitches per game and a pitch limit of 100 pitches in a week. Currently, Little League Baseball rules show a pitch limit of 85 pitches per game and would allow a pitcher to throw up to 170 pitches in a week. Clearly these numbers are not “Fully Compliant” to the guidelines set forth by MLB.com/Pitch Smart.
The overwhelmingly most popular subject when discussing the safety of the arms of young pitchers, myself included, is that of the curveball. I was certain that when I researched the subject I would find that yes, the curveball is the reason young pitchers suffer arm injuries. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I found that after clinical research and testing were performed by several reputable organizations, there is no direct correlation specifically between throwing a curveball and arm injuries. The research instead says that it is not the curveball itself that causes the injury, rather it is incomplete physical development, neuromuscular control, poor technique, and poor body mechanics which in turn are all contributing factors to arm fatigue. So it isn’t the curveball per se, rather the fatigue and a young pitcher overcompensating from that arm fatigue which causes injury. There is also the fact whether we want to admit it or not, with all due respect to EVERY coach and volunteer coach, not every coach is qualified to teach proper technique, proper mechanics necessary to throw a curveball safely. For the most part we are just average Dads giving of our time and knowledge to the future young men and women of our community. I encourage anyone who wants to make a difference, BE the difference and “Check The Box”; the box that reads “Volunteer Coach”. USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee also recommended in 2007 that pitchers wait until the age of 14 before learning to throw a curveball. The problem is when you turn on The Little League Baseball World Series, you have former big league ball players in the announcer’s booth praising the type of breaking ball the 12 year old pitcher is throwing. The other issue I have is the way they convert pitch speed from Little League to Major League pitch speed. Among the recommendations made to Little League Baseball again by ASMI this time in 2013 says: The first steps should be to learn, in order:
• Learn good throwing mechanics as soon as possible.
1) Basic throwing
2) Fastball pitching
3) Change-up pitching
• Avoid using radar guns
I was pleased when our local youth baseball league (not affiliated with Little League Baseball) made curveballs illegal for all pitchers age 9 - 12 from the 45’ mound. I was able to concentrate on developing fundamentals in the young athletes which included body mechanics, location and speed control, as well as proper rest in between practices and/or games through consistent communication with our coaches and parents. It is not uncommon these days to have players that play on multiple teams in multiple leagues within the same season, sometimes without the coach of either team knowing he plays on another. Therefore, just as it is important for coaches to act in a manner that best serves the athlete’s well-being, it is imperative that parents work closely and, more importantly, honestly with the coaches on any team to limit the amount of pitching their athlete does as fatigue is a major contributor to arm injuries.
Let me be very clear, Little League Baseball is an outstanding organization that, in my opinion, needs to tweak a few rules to help safeguard the well-being of our young athletes and make the game better. But Hey, That’s Me……
Sources:http://www.littleleague.org/learn/rules/pitchpresentation.htm
American Sports Medicine Institute (AMSI), Dr. James Andrews, Dr. Glenn Fleisig, 2007
MLB.com/PitchSmart
