Young Pitchers. Old Arms

In a recent article by the New York Times, there have been studies conducted that show that kids throwing curveballs is not as stressful on the arm as thought. Since at least the 1950s, orthopedic surgeons have doomed curveballs as murderous to a young arm because the their elbows and joints are still developing. The quirky, violent motion that the elbow,wrist, and shoulder go through when thrown do put a strain on those young arms-obviously. But the reason why,now, kids are getting ligament removing surgery that used to be operated only on professional athletes is because the pitch count that is being run up on their arms. In their critical growing years, kids aren't supposed to be throwing for long amounts of time. From their parents to coaches and peers, young athletes in general are being pressured to play at an elite level, earlier. Kids are being pressured to be the best and to do whatever it takes to get better, which includes throwing harder and longer. Athletes in the Little League World Series are pitching complete games and leaving the field completely drained. Pitching at that high of a level doesn't give their arm a chance to grow or heal and what end up happening is you have a whole breeding of young pitchers who were fire-ballers in youth leagues and high school but come to the league with shredded arms.