Little League Elbow: To throw the curve or not...
Saugus (MA) - As I was simultaneously watching Saugus American little league suffer an extreme 180 turn in momentum, then turn it around again an inning later (they beat Texas in a wild game), and reading a Boston Globe article on little league elbow I realized three things:
1) Don't mess with Texas,
2) Don't mess with Mass 
3) The issue of "to throw the curve or not throw the curve" in youth baseball will never go away.

Before I go head first into the curveball issue, let me give props to these little leaguers. Most impressive was the fielding across the board! Great field awareness, soft hands, smooth double plays, you name it. Amazing level of fundamentals on display. Now on to the curveball argument.

Most sports medicine professionals and big league coaches will tell you the same thing - wait until at least 14 (some say 16-18) to throw the breaking ball. The main reasons are :
1.) Curveballs (and sliders) create a lot of torque on ligaments, tendons and joints.  This is true at any age, but far more stressful in arms that have not matured and are still growing. Growth plates can be harmed.

2.) The mechanics for these pitches are complex and must be perfect to avoid arm injury, mature or still growing, it does not matter. Combine the growth plate, immature tissue factor with the less than perfect form most kids have (and coaches teach) and injury is likely; sometimes permanent.

Not only is injury a risk, but development as a pitcher is limited when you do not develop a fastball as the foundation of your pitching. Tigers roving minor league instructor Jon Matlack (NY Mets), says that a pitcher should not attempt to learn breaking ball until he develops full command of a fastball. "If he has command of a fastball, I can teach a breaking ball in 6 weeks."  Throwing fastballs also develops arm strength more than breaking balls.

Dave Jauss, an advance scout for the Red Sox has a 9th grade age son with a good fastball!  And that is what he will throw, along with a change up until he is at least 16. Even then Jauss is going to have a professional pitching coach teach him the mechanics (Personal Conversation, 2003).

The Globe article cites noted youth sports medicine expert Dr. Lyle Micheli of Children's Hospital, Boston, as stating "Children should not throw curveballs until their bones mature at age 14 on average. The kids do have softer tissue in their elbows that damages more easily."  Ok, simply stated by an expert. Why the controversy?

Parents. 

There are a million reasons why a parent will teach their child a curveball at an early age, say 10-11-12 years old, so lets not dwell that it happens.  The issue I have is that the average, almost all in fact, parent or youth coach is not knowledgeable in pitching mechanics to monitor the learning process of their child.  My advice to those insist that teaching Jr a curve in Little League is a smart idea:

1. Think twice about it.
2. Teach a change up to compliment the fastball and educate the player on the benefits of changing pitch speeds.
3. Educate yourself with books and videos so that you can throw the pitch before you try to teach your son or daughter. If you can't train yourself, will you be effective with others?
4.  Go to a private instructor and let a pro handle it.  More times than not they will try to talk you out of it, but if you insist, your child will at least have the benefit of quality instruction who can monitor the all important mechanics of throwing a breaking ball.
5. Use it vary sparingly - once your child has the pitch mastered to the point where it is game ready, cap the number of times it is thrown. 

A few years ago, Wellington High School (FL) pitcher Bobby Bradley had one of the best curveballs scouts had seen in years, in fact it was rated a major league pitch when he was still in high school. The Pirates drafted him in the first round that year with high hopes, but a cautious eye.  More than one one GM was suspect of how many pitches a southern curveball pitcher had in the tank.  Today, Bradley is still pitching in the minors, but has had at least one major surgery and is likely not going to be #1 rated pitcher for anyone.

Little league is it's own special world. The stars of today rarely go on to fame and fortune (there are some who do - Gary Sheffield, Shawn Burroughs) and the kids who didn't make the all-star team bloom later and get drafted.  Every kid lives for today, I understand that. But my view is that curveballs in little league usually means less 'todays' in the future.

Posted August, 2003.



Ray Lauenstein is the author of Baseball: Playing Outside the Lines and The Making of a Student Athlete. If you would like him to speak to your team, booster club or other group please contact him via the online form or call 1-617-835-1836.