Pitching Arm Care

By Coach Todd Williams for PitchingTips.com

For youth pitchers ages 8, 9 10 and 11, many parents and coaches want to know what is the appropriate arm care method after competitive pitching, and does it matter whether the arm is aching or not?

What is best to properly care for youth arms and avoid arm injury?

Following these baseball pitching arm care guidelines and techniques can help point you in the right direction - one that allows youth pitchers to pitch healthy and be successful.

• Make sure you spend enough time and effort warming up and stretching out before pitching.
• Learn the fundamentals of throwing early and remind yourself of them often.
• Know your limitations and be patient about working within them.
• Know the difference between a sore pitching arm and a hurt pitching arm.
• Many different methods exist for recouping your muscles after they have been torn down from practice or from an outing on the mound in a game. The most effective treatments for repairing your torn down muscles including have your arm massaged, treating it with alternating heat and ice, going for a light jog, performing lightweight shoulder exercises, using tubing exercises, throwers 10 exercises, and even vibration. Just make sure you are doing one of those treatments to repair your throwing arm after a day at the park.
• Pitching arm injuries can come from a variety of causes, from throwing too much to throwing the wrong way, to throwing too little in preparation for the season. Let your arm tell you when it needs rest or adjustment. That big game for which you are supposed to pitch six innings won't seem so big in a few years when you can't use your pitching arm without pain.
• If your arm needs need rest, let your baseball coach or pitching coach know right away.

These are a few simple but effective guidelines for pitching arm care that can help you to reach your full potential with a strong, healthy pitching arm.

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