Should DD play Travel & League?

[Izzy's Dad]

I would cut her pitches down....to about half of what she is doing. If she wants to play both, limit her to 6-7 innings a week. Just my opinion.

Sam,
Cut her pitches down based on what info? Her pitching coach has been teaching for 20+ years, has 9 DIV I, and countless Div II pitchers right now. No advertising, no website. 60+ girls he teaches, and 22 waiting to get in. He monitors her pitch count and mechanics. She is doing fine. I'm not saying my DD will be Div I, or even is gonna pitch in college. But, I do have the evidence right in front of me, and I have talked to some of the college girls, high school girls, and had 1 college coach visiting the instructor at DD's lesson. And she watched DD for about 60 pitches. Her pitch count is fine.

A statement heard many times until "She isn't doing fine anymore".....At 12u, it seems like way too much work....Sam is right, I would cut her pitches down.....Be carefull confusing your daughter with Superwoman....One day it may catch up to her.....Maybe it won't but maybe it will.....Why not play it safe????

So, practicing at home, 75 pitches x 4 nights is too much? Then 150 at lessons? After warming up your arm properly with overhand and drills, you have to throw 25 to 30 before you can really even start pitching.

[hotwheels]

WK... whats up

PM me!

Hey Bonez,
Who are you?

[Sam]

Izzy,

Did you read the thread?

[Izzy's Dad]

Izzy,

Did you read the thread?

Which one? There are 1641 threads under this discussion.

[dustyshoes]

Izzy's Dad,

On the bottom of the 2nd page of this thread, Sam copied a link to the thread he started and is refering to. Bottom line is that you can't count on proper mechanics alone to prevent overuse injuries. Here's a article from pitching guru Bill Hillhouse describing his own overuse injuries, I'm sure few people would find fault with his mechanics.

http://www.houseofpitching.com/article38.html

On your original topic, I would discourage playing rec and travel at the same time since your daughter is already playing travel. Unless she doesn't get to pitch much for her travel team, the extra circle time in rec is going to be spent facing weak hitters and umpires calling a generous strike zone she's unlikely to get in travel. Same issue in regard to batting in rec vs. travel. There's also the potential issue of your dd being pulled in two different directions and neither the travel or rec coach feeling like they've got a full commitment from her.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

[Izzy's Dad]

Izzy's Dad,

On the bottom of the 2nd page of this thread, Sam copied a link to the thread he started and is refering to. Bottom line is that you can't count on proper mechanics alone to prevent overuse injuries. Here's a article from pitching guru Bill Hillhouse describing his own overuse injuries, I'm sure few people would find fault with his mechanics.

http://www.houseofpitching.com/article38.html

On your original topic, I would discourage playing rec and travel at the same time since your daughter is already playing travel. Unless she doesn't get to pitch much for her travel team, the extra circle time in rec is going to be spent facing weak hitters and umpires calling a generous strike zone she's unlikely to get in travel. Same issue in regard to batting in rec vs. travel. There's also the potential issue of your dd being pulled in two different directions and neither the travel or rec coach feeling like they've got a full commitment from her.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

Good article from Bill. Question...how many pitches is overuse? No where in the article does it say anything about number of pitches. Does anyone have an idea to the number?

[Tucson]

I think it will hurt her batting in TB. But there is a lot to say about playing with your friends.

[dustyshoes]

Good article from Bill. Question...how many pitches is overuse? No where in the article does it say anything about number of pitches. Does anyone have an idea to the number?

No two kids are the same so the exact number would vary, here's something someone posted from Sam's thread:

http://www.training-conditioning.com/20 ... dmill.html

[Joe Dirt]

Izzy's Dad - It seems like you have already decided what to do and are looking for approval. Sam speaks from experience. It has always seemed to me that there must be some limit to the number of pitches a kid can throw. I have always heard the same thing, natural motion, blah blah blah... Sam's post really hit home with me. The bottom line is I am going to err on the side of caution. I love my dd's and I will not contribute to something that may hurt them in the long run, whether they want to or not. Although it may not hurt them, you will not know that for a very long time. I will say that may be the one thing that Little League got right.

[ECSB]

My kid plays travel and town summer league in the summer, as do many travel kids in this area. There is a lot of pressure to play for the town and with the rest of the h.s. team. She does it, but it isn't easy - she plays travel weekends, summer league two times per week and travel practice two times per week - the only night she doesn't play or practice is friday, and we may be traveling that day. By the end of the season she is wiped and between h.s., travel and summer league, she has played 70-80 games from April to August. She is not a pitcher, however, so we don't have as many overuse issues.