Expert: John Priest - 9/13/2010

Question
Good morning,
I have a son who turned 10 at the end of August. He is left handed and really would like to learn to pitch. Even though the coaches in South Africa say that he has  a 'good arm' they are also say he is too young to start pitching as it may damage his arm and he may never be able to play baseball again.  How true is this. Due to his baseball skills the club has also entered him into a baseball clinic but for catching only. Please advise? Many Thanks Di

Answer
Diane,
Sorry for the late reply.  You are correct you can damage your arm and never play again, but you can do this from any position not just from pitching.  Injuries come from back throwing mechanics and/or too much throwing.  Catcher is a great position (I was a catcher) and your coaches are correct with putting your son in to a catching clinic because he has a great arm.  However the catcher throws as many times as the pitcher through the coarse of the game just maybe without the velocity.  If you have poor mechanics you will injure your arm being a catcher because of the constant repetition.  If the mechanics are not corrected and then your coaches want you to pitch you will only see more problems.  
In my opinion it is never too early to learn correct throwing mechanics (pitcher or not).  What does need to be monitored is the number of pitches per game/day.  

Good Luck,
John Priest