ASA being sued

[Joe]

I second the notion that the girl would have better luck filing suit against her parents.

I do however agree with the point that ASA and others need to look at setting an inning limit on pitchers.

Unfortunately I have yet to see a pitchers parents admit there DD is tired and could use a rest. I don’t know how many times I have heard some stupid pitchers parent talk about how there 10 12 or 14 year old is a warrior and can pitch 3 4 or even 5 games straight. And Yes!!! they all use the lame ass excuse that it’s an under hand pitch so it doesn’t wear the shoulder down. What Doctor told you 200 pitches a day from the time your DD is 10 is a good thing?? And what about the rest of the body??? UMMMM…. YOU’RE AN IDIOT!!!! I would love to see one of these dad’s living through their DD go throw 3 4 or 5 games straight. Coaches are at fault as well for many of them the W is more important then the safety of their players.

Don’t get me wrong I do not agree with the suit however at some point someone needs to protect these young girls from the people they trust most....

How do the parents get blamed when everyone they talk to from 8U to 14U tells them that throwing a softball is natural and their DD's can throw an unlimited amount of pitches. They are encouraged to have their kid practice every day of the week, throwing 100 pitches per day in order to stay competitive. Coaches destroy these kids with the help of ALL the organizing bodies (except Little League). We all laugh at the LL product, but the dirty little secret is that they got it right and have had it right for a while. Coaches have no problem throwing a kid out there to throw their 3rd game of the day in 90 degree heat.

The solution is easy. Don't throw your little girl any more than you would your son.

Sam, right on bro'

DD #1, pitcher through high school didn't play in college, now graduated from college w/knee and back issues, although seemingly minor now...at the ripe old age of 22 years!!! And yes, all the 'experts', pitching coaches, other pitchers said, "Oh hell yeah, no problem pitching 3-5 games in a day, 5-7 per weekend." Years later, I'm calling BULLSH#T! Through the years, I've met far too many who are suffering the consequences from those 30-40 inning weekends "that won't hurt you"!

[Tucson]

So, they aren't suing the HS or the travel coaches?

My DD had a shoulder injury, but who is to say that it wasn't caused by a combination of poor posture, poor nutrition, maturity, and a lot of gymnastics? I don't get the suing of the association. People are saying that the dad was the driving force behind the pitcher.

[jmo]

So, they aren't suing the HS or the travel coaches?

My DD had a shoulder injury, but who is to say that it wasn't caused by a combination of poor posture, poor nutrition, maturity, and a lot of gymnastics? I don't get the suing of the association. People are saying that the dad was the driving force behind the pitcher.

Sam - I know your daughter had shoulder problems. I also know that one of the times was when she dove and made a great catch against us in Las Vegas but separated her shoulder. She had previously had issues with her shoulder because of pitching. Was her issues overuse??

[Joe]

I don't get the suing of the association. People are saying that the dad was the driving force behind the pitcher.

Suing 101: Go after the folks who have some money...

...ASA!

[sofbal1234]

I don't get the suing of the association. People are saying that the dad was the driving force behind the pitcher.

Suing 101: Go after the folks who have some money...

...ASA!

You just pinned the tail on the donkey Joe!!!

[Sftball Junkie]

I second the notion that the girl would have better luck filing suit against her parents.

I do however agree with the point that ASA and others need to look at setting an inning limit on pitchers.

Unfortunately I have yet to see a pitchers parents admit there DD is tired and could use a rest. I don’t know how many times I have heard some stupid pitchers parent talk about how there 10 12 or 14 year old is a warrior and can pitch 3 4 or even 5 games straight. And Yes!!! they all use the lame ass excuse that it’s an under hand pitch so it doesn’t wear the shoulder down. What Doctor told you 200 pitches a day from the time your DD is 10 is a good thing?? And what about the rest of the body??? UMMMM…. YOU’RE AN IDIOT!!!! I would love to see one of these dad’s living through their DD go throw 3 4 or 5 games straight. Coaches are at fault as well for many of them the W is more important then the safety of their players.

Don’t get me wrong I do not agree with the suit however at some point someone needs to protect these young girls from the people they trust most....

How do the parents get blamed when everyone they talk to from 8U to 14U tells them that throwing a softball is natural and their DD's can throw an unlimited amount of pitches. They are encouraged to have their kid practice every day of the week, throwing 100 pitches per day in order to stay competitive. Coaches destroy these kids with the help of ALL the organizing bodies (except Little League). We all laugh at the LL product, but the dirty little secret is that they got it right and have had it right for a while. Coaches have no problem throwing a kid out there to throw their 3rd game of the day in 90 degree heat.

The solution is easy. Don't throw your little girl any more than you would your son.

The parents get blamed for one simple reason. It is our responsibility to protect our kids from stupid people. Someone tells me it’s ok for my DD to go to the local river and bridge jump. Its deep water and no one ever gets hurt. As a parent I say ok she can go. If she gets hurt it’s my fault for not doing my research to make sure this was safe.

Like stated coaches and organizations are giving the advice, why are we not checking on the advice they are giving? My bet for most (Not all but most) their DD is the stud of the team and their pride blinds them into not saying anything. None of us want to be the one to pull their own kid. It starts at 8 with a few more innings and builds to 16’s and 18’s with a few more games

[Goldcoloredglasses]

Hmm...Hey folks...pitching limits never hurt the kid....it's mom and dad and coach that send them out there inning after inning. Get real fastpitch softball world and let your kid play and have fun. Playing college ball is not all peaches and cream. Many try and many fail it is not for everyone!
What ever happened to playing the game for fun....no matter what level?

Forget the freaking college coaches and play because you love it.
You are not going to get rich playing professional softball..

At least get a degree
College Coach only gives a crap about winning...bottom line

Look out for yourself...

[CheckWriter]

Hopefully the suit will at least get enough attention to wake people up.

There have been plenty of biomechanics studies that show some stresses to the shoulder and various tendons are subjected to even higher forces (and therefore potential damage) with the windmill than overhead throwing.

I believe it was an attorney that filed suit against Nabisco about the white stuff in Oreos. Once it was splashed on every newspaper and news cast, he said: "Just kidding!" ... it was his way of getting the word out that this stuff is a heart attack in a cookie.

[AM Softball]

Can you say "FRIVOLOUS", if the court system allows this then every kid and their parent will sue every sports organization they played in. It's part of the game and we all know it. Maybe we will have to start signing injury waivers upon making a TB team.

Maybe they can go back and use the ASA insurance to get the medical treatment she has received.

Frivolous? Really? The can point to at least one other national softball organization that has maximum pitch counts. They can certainly claim that ASA should know about the dangers of overuse injuries and that overuse injuries to pitchers account for nearly all the overuse injuries in the sport. They can claim that all the ASA certified coaches told them that girls softball is different than boys baseball....girls can pitch an unlimited number of innings.

Maybe ASA will do something about it. Premier could take the lead here. These kids get to college and their arms are junk....if they make it that long.

The parents won't do it voluntarily and the coaches won't limit the pitchers' innings unilaterally.

I hope these people win their case.

These softball organizations could also point to numerous athletes, like myself, that pitched every weekend, HS, TB, heck I even pitched 5 full 7 inning games in one day with the 5th game going 13 innings and NEVER had any injuries. Maybe they should blame the instructors that obviously didn't teach them very good mechanics too. smh

This is ridiculous and I'm pretty much on the players side 99.9% of the time. Ridiculous! I hope they spend tons of money to get told the same thing. "You are ridiculous."

BTW, I didn't have a pitching coach until 16 so basically, my Dad said well, we'll just throw 200 pitches a day (we didn't know any better) and I did that pretty much from 12 until college. EVERY player is different. You cannot say pitching that much hurts all of these kids because for every case of one being hurt, you have ten cases of not being hurt...

What they should do is make "dead periods." My daughter does not pick up a softball from Aug to September and takes 4-5 weeks off at Christmas. It is even a team rule and parents fight me on it year after year. Parents control what happens to their kids so take your own precautions.

[SoftballSoccerDad]

An orthopedist told us overhand athletes (baseball, softball, volleyball, water polo) shouldn't lift any weights over their heads (e.g. military press) due to the risk of shoulder injury. He is the team doctor for a couple SoCal colleges.

Regardless of his employment credentials, his advice should've been summarily dismissed.

While I do believe that heavy overhead lifts during the season would be counter-productive and potentially dangerous for those athletes, light-to-moderate resistance might very well be rather beneficial. Lifting heavier in the off-season, however, would pay dividends later, as the stronger muscle tissue which resulted would actually be less susceptible to injury during the primary activity.