Growth plates in young pitchers' shoulders absorb forces that would injure adult tendons, creating invisible damage that accumulates with every throw. Most parents miss the behavioral signs until career-threatening problems develop. Here's what doctors see that coaches don't. Learn more: https://www.veloreset.com/
Youth pitcher shoulder pain affects way more kids than most parents realize, but here's what makes it especially tricky—the damage happens where you can't see it, deep inside the bones where growth plates are quietly taking a beating. If your young athlete pitches and you've noticed them rubbing their shoulder after games or throwing with less zip than usual, you're probably wondering if it's just normal soreness or something that needs attention. The answer matters more than you think because what starts as minor discomfort can turn into permanent damage that ends baseball careers before high school even starts. So let's talk about what's really happening inside a young pitcher's shoulder when they throw and why ignoring early warning signs creates problems that surgery might not even fix later on. Growth plates are these soft cartilage areas near the ends of developing bones, and in kids, they're actually weaker than the muscles and ligaments surrounding them. When your child throws a baseball, their shoulder experiences forces that would normally stress tendons in adults, but in young athletes, those forces get absorbed by the growth plate instead. Throw too often without proper rest, and that growth plate starts breaking down in ways that don't heal on their own. Doctors have a fancy name for this—it's called Little League shoulder, and it happens when repetitive throwing creates tiny fractures in the growth plate near the top of the arm bone. These micro-fractures accumulate over time, and if your child keeps pitching through the pain, the growth plate can actually widen, become inflamed, and eventually break down completely. The scary part is how slowly this develops, which means parents and coaches often miss the warning signs until the damage gets serious enough to require months away from the mound. Here's what you need to watch for because your kid probably won't tell you their shoulder hurts until it's really bad. Most young pitchers feel pain in the upper arm during throwing, and they'll often notice their velocity dropping or their control getting worse, even though they're trying just as hard. Unlike elbow injuries that cause obvious swelling, shoulder problems in young pitchers usually just cause pain without much visible change. Your child might start avoiding conversations about how their arm feels, or you might catch them reaching for their shoulder at home when they think nobody's looking. Some kids become hesitant when coaches ask them to pitch, or they'll make casual comments about their arm being tired more often than usual. The root cause boils down to one simple problem that nobody wants to admit—we're making kids throw too much. Year-round baseball has become normal in youth sports, and playing for multiple teams means arms never get the three to four months of complete rest they desperately need. Every pitch stresses the growth plate in the shoulder slightly, and when damage piles up faster than the body can repair it, inflammation and injury become inevitable. Poor throwing mechanics make everything worse because kids who try generating velocity before their bodies are ready put even more strain on vulnerable growth plates. What really multiplies the risk is when young pitchers also play catcher or participate in multiple leagues where coaches aren't coordinating to track total throwing volume. Studies show that every 10 extra pitches beyond recommended limits increases injury risk by about 6%, and kids who pitch more than eight months per year face dramatically higher rates of shoulder problems requiring surgery. Breaking pitches like curveballs add another layer of risk before proper mechanics are mastered, though the bigger issue is simply throwing too much too often without adequate recovery time. Major League Baseball and USA Baseball created pitch count guidelines to protect young arms, but compliance remains shockingly low across youth leagues. Kids ages 7-8 shouldn't throw more than 50 pitches per game, while 9-10 year olds max out at 75. Ages 11-12 can handle 85 pitches, and 13-14 year olds shouldn't exceed 95. Required rest ranges from zero days after fewer than 20 pitches to four full days after 61 or more, and pitchers should never throw on consecutive days, regardless of how few pitches they threw. Beyond weekly limits, every young pitcher needs three to four months completely away from competitive throwing each year to allow full recovery. When shoulder pain lasts more than a few days despite rest, sports medicine doctors start with questions about throwing history and physical exams that compare the range of motion between both shoulders. X-rays can show growth plate widening or damage, though sometimes they look normal even when injury exists, which means doctors might order MRI scans to catch subtle problems that standard imaging misses. Treatment almost always starts with complete rest from throwing for 6-12 weeks minimum, along with ice application and physical therapy once acute pain subsides. Surgery becomes necessary only in rare cases where growth plates separate or when conservative treatment fails, but even then, recovery takes months, and there's no guarantee of full return to previous performance levels. The most important thing parents can do is track total pitch counts across every team and activity their child participates in, then communicate with all coaches about the total throwing workload. You need to watch for signs that your kid is hiding pain to protect their roster spot, and you need to enforce rest periods even when coaches or leagues don't. Many injuries happen when well-meaning coaches follow pitch count rules during their games without realizing that players threw 50 pitches for another team the day before. Click on the link in the description for more detailed information about protecting your young pitcher's arm and recognizing warning signs before minor problems become career-ending injuries. Remember that rushing back to throwing or ignoring pain signals creates permanent damage that even the best treatment approaches might not fully reverse later on.
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