The only feeling better than blowing a fastball by a batter is fooling him with an off-speed pitch. Every pitcher knows that to be successful they need a few different pitches in the arsenal. But the question is, when should kids be learning to throw off-speed pitches?
In Little League, the kids start pitching around seven or eight years old. By eleven or twelve kids are throwing the ball hard and many have developed a change-up or even a curveball. If you’ve ever watched the Little League World Series, then you know that kids all over the world are learning advanced pitching techniques from an early age.
However, there are a few reasons that it is not recommended for kids under the age of fourteen years old to throw anything but a fastball.
Why Wait to Learn Off-Speed Pitches?
The first thing is the complex nature of the throwing motion. When you throw a baseball your arm is moving very fast so it can be hard to know precisely what you are doing. Even for the onlooker, it may just look like a blur. And after a while, our throwing motions become instinctual and very difficult to change. So it’s important to learn the correct way to throw from the very beginning.
When I learned to throw a baseball, I paid very close attention to the mechanics of it and practiced daily to where I thought I had it down perfectly. I could throw the ball harder and with more accuracy than practically anybody I knew. But, I was doing it wrong. Instead of snapping my wrist straight down at the end of my throwing motion I was doing it at a three-quarter angle. This was unintentional. I was trying to do it the right way and snap my wrist straight. It took a long time to realize what I was doing.
Of course, I got injured. The angle of my wrist put a lot of stress on my elbow, and I played so much that my young arm could not take it. Eventually, I had to stop playing baseball altogether.
So before you start trying to throw other pitches, you need to make sure you are throwing correctly in the first place. Things get more complicated when you are intentionally releasing a ball differently, like snapping your wrist sideways to throw a curveball, so it’s important to have a good grasp of the basics first.
When Should You Start With Off-Speed Pitches?
Many kids will start younger but I would not advice throwing anything but a fastball before high school. The reason is that bones of your forearm and upper arm are still going through quite a lot of development before the age of fourteen. In fact, your bones are not fully fused into an adult joint until around age fourteen.
Throwing a baseball inherently puts stress on your joints. Throwing curve balls and sliders put even more stress on your elbow and should. So if your bones are not ready, you risk injury. Of course, adults get injuries from pitching as well, but their bodies are better able to handle the stress of throwing the ball.
Monitoring Pain and Muscle Building
Of course, if you feel any pain, you should stop pitching immediately. Pitching is incredibly repetitive so an injury will only get worse. It’s also important to make sure you know the difference between pain and soreness, when to put ice on your arm and when to use heat.
The older you get, the more you will build up your muscles. Because pitching puts a great amount of stress on your arm, you will need to be strong to handle it. It’s not a bad idea to do light forearm exercises and remember always to stay stretched-out and limber.
Conclusion
Every kid who loves baseball goes out into the yard or street and tries to throw a knuckleball or practices a crazy herky-jerky motion for fun. That’s all well and good until it becomes serious. Throwing a baseball repetitively is no light workout. It’s full body workout that combines strength and finesse and comprehensive knowledge of mechanics. Throwing a baseball in the wrong way can have long-term consequences.
I was a big Little League star but didn’t make it much further than that because of injury. Because I was throwing the ball incorrectly, I’ve had to deal with elbow pain for the last fourteen years. Pay attention to how your coaches teach you to throw the ball. And if your coaches don’t know then find someone who does. You don’t need to be in any rush to be a junk-ball pitcher. You have your whole life to learn how to throw a screwball. If you get your mechanics right, you’ll have a good foundation for when you’re older, and your body is ready for more complicated pitches.
