ATTENTION COACHES & PARENTS

Hello everyone, this is Jason Tyner with the Southeast Texas Baseball Academy.  I'm Morgan Walker’s business partner and currently play for the Minnesota Twins.  After coming home to our AA World Series over the All-Star break and watching the Little League W.S., I have noticed a lot of Pitching abuse.

Kids should not be throwing any version of curve balls at this age and they should not be throwing over 85 pitches in a week.  I know some coaches are teaching curve balls they say don't hurt your elbow.  That is false, kids should not ever throw a curveball until at least high school (and then very few).  Curve balls put to much strain on the elbow ligament which will cause tendonitis, fatigue and then possibly ligament replacement surgery (Tommy John surgery).

My next major concern is the number of pitches being thrown.  Most tournaments keep track of the number of innings, but the number of pitches thrown is more important.  Major League starting pitchers throw around 100 pitches a week, and they train all week to be able to do that.  No kid should ever throw over 85 pitches in a week.  Throwing to much weakens the arm and can eventually damage their growth plates.  Their arms are not strong enough to take that kind of strain and abuse. Absolutely no weighted practice balls at any age, that is way to much strain on the muscles and ligaments. Also, many kids play in little league, as well as select ball, parents should monitor their combined pitch count.

Teach the kids how to throw a changeup.  It is the same as the fastball with a slightly different grip & achieves the same results as the curveball.  Kids don’t swing and miss curveballs because of the break, its because of the velocity change. You can achieve the same result with the changeup without putting the strain on their elbows.

I realize there is a lot of pressure to win, but its not worth it at the expense of their arms.  You only have so many bullets in your arm & it would be a shame to waste them when you are a kid. All the kids that threw hard when I was growing up had nothing left when they got to high school.  You want that arm strength when it counts, when you have a chance at scholarships or getting drafted.

Any coach that thinks you should be throwing curveballs at this age, does not have the best interest of the players in mind and should not be coaching youth baseball. If anyone has any questions or comments, please email me at tyner@setexasbaseballacademy.com .

Thanks & good luck.
Jason Tyner