Open Letter to Pitchers' Parents

[DonnieS]

Has anyone tried this product?

http://www.cheapbats.com/shop/product_i ... cts_id=317

And does it seem to work fairly well, or is there something else better that you can suggest?

TIA

Jofus, that looks like the one we use, but we got ours from SkyMall.com, we have two of these that stay in the freezer all the time, and we pull them out after games, she wears them for 22 minutes, doesnt complain, she knows how important they are.

http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail. ... 65&c=10645

[DonnieS]

We are probably on our third or fourth set of those. They work well. The only problem is the cold pack portion is made up of a sheet of many small compartments that hold the liquid. Over time they puncture and drain out so you are left with dead spots in the pack. Also, it is hard to keep them frozen after a day on the field in an ice chest. We use them at home but on the field we have gone back to an using an oversize ziplock bag and stretch wrap.

Hey Donnie, do you travel with those gel packs and if so is an ice chest good enough to keep them cold? I looked into those a while back through my chiropractor.

No, I should have mentioned that. We use the gel packs at home, the only way to keep them cold enough is keeping dry ice in an ice chest. Dry ice and 13 high school girls together thinking up stuff to do to me scares me. So we carry an box of 2 1/2 gallon zip lock freezer bags in the truck and at the end of the day, when we stop at a convenience store for drinks, we get a bag of ice, one for our pitching daughter's shoulder and one for whatever my older daughter has done that day. The older daughter took a ball between the eyes yesterday, she claims a bird flew by and distracted her when she was catching for the guy doing fielding work. I think something that starts with a "b" walked by and distracted her.

[Kat]

WE have that ice pack you mentioned its in my freezer. After going to physical therapy my daughter prefers the ice cup, shorter time and it gets right to the injury or sore spot, nothing else gets cold. She took some dixie cups to the school and froze several so all she has to do is grab one right after practice and then again that night. IF its the weekend, she grabs an ice cup or two out of the freezer puts it in a thermos and away we go.

[Sftbll4ever]

Hey Donnie, one thing to remember with the pitchers you speak of from the 70's, they pitched sling shot back than.

[DonnieS]

Hey Donnie, one thing to remember with the pitchers you speak of from the 70's, they pitched sling shot back than.

Good point, and it was not the 70's. My uncle and one of my aunts were doing this back in the 40's. One uncle started pitching on one of the South Pacific islands, the way he told the stories, was after they would kill the japs, they would build 1) an airstrip, and 2) baseball and softball fields, and then start playing. When he came home, he did a lot of pitching for $5 a game in the 40's, then he got a very good job at a refinery so he could pitch for the refinery team.

[Sftbll4ever]

Hey Donnie, one thing to remember with the pitchers you speak of from the 70's, they pitched sling shot back than.

Good point, and it was not the 70's. My uncle and one of my aunts were doing this back in the 40's. One uncle started pitching on one of the South Pacific islands, the way he told the stories, was after they would kill the japs, they would build 1) an airstrip, and 2) baseball and softball fields, and then start playing. When he came home, he did a lot of pitching for $5 a game in the 40's, then he got a very good job at a refinery so he could pitch for the refinery team.

That is a great story!!! After I read it again, I saw where my mistake was. DUH!!!

[fpsbmom]

I didn't even know this site existed until a friend told me there were folks on here talking about my daughter and her team in an open forum. I have read every posting, and now, as the mother of "that pitcher", I would like to set the record straight so we can all give it a rest. Although I don't owe an explanation to complete strangers, there are some things I can add that will hopefully be beneficial. My daughter did, in fact, pitch 4 games that day. All were 4.5 - 5 inning games. Two were no -hitters...very low pitch count. Was it still too much? Perhaps. Will she be scarred for life? I doubt it. Does it happen regularly? Absolutely not! This child is a rec ball pitcher. During the season she pitches 8 innings a WEEK. On alternate days she practices by throwing a max of 50 pitches per session. We're doing travel ball during the off season to keep her active. OC Fierce has only played 3 tourneys since Aug 1st, and this was the only time she pitched more than 2 games in a day. Overuse? I think not. Those of you who have questioned our parenting skills and suggested we trot our daughter out "like a show dog" are ignorant and misinformed.

Now, some of you have cited Dr. Werner's findings on softball injuries, but are taking out bits and pieces to make your argument. But let me also add that she says that overuse is does cause some shoulder injuries, the MAJORITY of injuries are caused by poor mechanics. She also states that, in tournament situations, pitching multiple games, and I quote, "is fine, but it can't happen every weekend." She further states that what may be extreme for one girl may be perfectly fine for another.

As parents, we all must be careful, informed and educated about our daughter's pitching, which leads me to my final comment. Make certain that your daughter have professional, quality coaching. Just because your neighbor's girl pitched varsity, doesn't mean she's equipped to teach your daughter. Make sure that not only does her coach teach her how to throw a wicked change-up, but that he/she teach your daughter and YOU proper mechanics and safety techniques so she can avoid injury. For those of you who have daughters injured, by heart goes out to you and your girls. Sincerely. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us so hopefully it may prevent other from the same unhappy ending.

As with anything else in life, let's keep things in perspective...

[Tucson]

Slingshot is easier on the shoulder and I think some girls should try it. It really isn' t that much slower than windmill.

The girls that I see that are heading for problems are the ones that are pitching without professional instruction - and that may be most. We have a very large rec league here and there are a lot of girls pitching, if you can call it that.

One of the best programs I have seen was in Casey, IL. where the (then) HS coach didn't let his students pitch rec, until they had finished 2 years of lessons. He has never lost a girl to a shoulder injury and I guess that some of them are well into their 30s by now.

Also, I have girls come to me that have had many lessons else where and they have never been told to ice. These girls are already 12 YO.

One style of pitching that I see that could cause problems is when the pitcher takes both hands way above her head and hyper extends her shoulders. Then, the arms come down, hands separate and she windmills. She is working her shoulder twice on one pitch. I don't know if I am explaining that right, but I prefer only a slight pre- motion as opposed to both arms high in the air.

There are also the girls that step straight forward and don't hit the power line or the girls that give a great big shoulder shrug upon release of the ball. It makes my arm hurt just watching some of these pitchers.

I am wondering if the problems in later years don't come from the innings pitched in rec - or without proper instruction.

We must be the only sport that would put a girl in a position to lead the team and they barely know what to do.

[Demonboy]

Now quit whining Spazdad because you lost.......!

I didn't know this was a contest.

Have you read any of this thread or are you just a newbie jumping in to support your team?
I will stand by my statement though that 4 games in a row is over-use. I don't care about the circumstances or the monitoring that was going on. Maybe you should do some more research into the escalating number of female athletes that are suffering from over-use injuries in sports. Check around some college rosters and see how many of their players have either injured or are playing with injured shoulders, and not just pitchers but injuries from overhand throwing as well.
Instead of jumping in and letting all of us know that "not all pitchers are created equally" maybe you could just take the advice from the posters here that have worlds more experience than you or I and try and learn from it.

And finally, if you are going to call me out by name at least get my name correct
SPAZSDAD

Spazdad,

People will believe what suits them so they can rationalize their stupid deeds.

It's a bit like smoking or riding without a seatbelt. Millions have gotten away with it with no consequences but that doesn't make their NEEDLESS risky actions any less ridiculous.

Let these geniuses play Russian roulette with their daughters arms. Frankly, I couldn't care less at this point.

[anonlooker]

Geez!!

SpazSdad.

He ain't the spaz, he's the dad!

Get it right, dammit!