For the parents

I think you left your van running...

I agree completely. I was taught growing up the "greg maddux" sort of pitching style. Locate, and use speed changing effectively and you'll be way better in the long haul. I never threw a curve ball (stopped playing at 17 due to having to work, go to college, etc.) and I was pretty effective as a pitcher. I did cheat and throw a slider near the end of my pitching career.

My brother on the other hand was throwing a curve ball from the age of 11. He can no longer throw a baseball for more than 10 minutes because his arm will be in excruciating pain for the next few days...he's only 30.

Good points.  I coached my 2 sons from t-ball all the way thru varsity.  They both played college ball.  I coached my daughter in softball, I used to pitch fastpitch in men's leagues, from little league thru high school. She currently plays JUCO ball.  I would never allow my younger pitchers to throw curveballs much to many father's dismay.  Yes, a 12- year-old whom can throw a curve ball can be dominant, but he may also not have an arm left by the time he reaches the varsity level.  Something else to add to this, it is not a good idea to allow kids to throw sidearm.  They may like to emulate what they see on t.v. but this will surely injure there elbow.  Finally, you do not want to teach a pitcher to throw directly over the top.  This is not natural and will cuase shoulder problems.  We always taught them to throw "in the slot."  In other words imagine a clock-the pitcher wants their arm to come thru at about 2:00 NOT 12:00.

You're absolutely right.  I just got done coaching Little League (12-14 year olds.)  And 3 of our pitchers all had arm issues at some point in the season.  One kid went down with a torn ligament in the elbow (they were concerned it was a broken growth plate.)  One kid pitched for two teams (and relied entirely TOO much on his curveball.)  It's really important to make sure you know the kid's pitching schedule, and that you involve the parents so the kid doesn't lie to you, thinking they're doing the coach a favor.

One of our players had an absolute rocket, but threw submarine style.  When I asked him why, he told me it was because the year prior he didn't play on 90 foot bases, and he was significantly taller than any of his targets, so he adjusted his throwing motion.

Supposedly one of the kids in the league had Tommy Johns and he was 14.  I was baffled!

Parents and coaches alike need to be fully aware of what their players/kids mechanics are like, what types of pitches they throw, and how many pitches they throw.  Even in practice, I had to yell at even the best players on our team, because they threw incorrectly (partially bad mechanics, partially playing around too much.)  I told them messing with throwing motion will throw off their muscle memory, and could lead to long term problems.  Hopefully they listen in the future.

Sixteen may be a bit too far when saying wait on curveballs. I would suggest trying to master the fastball and change up at least through 10 year olds. When it's the off season, I'm a big proponent of just fastball change up no matter what age of youth ball, even into early stages of high school. There are some of the better coaches in the Houston area that "suggest"* their freshmen and sophomore Mickey Mantle teams throw just that, and maybe a splitter/knuckle if they have it. They specifically ask their kids not to throw curves and sliders, rather just work on control of the rest of their pitches and build up arm strength.

Long toss is also a great suggestion. I'm a big fan of coaches that break down warming up into 4 phases. The first phase has the players about 10-15 feet apart, and all they do is wrist flicks. You want a four seam grip and rotation, working just on flipping the wrist to produce a straight ball. The next step is about 20-30 feet back, feet spread about the shoulders and stationary. They turn the upper body, check to make sure the throwing elbow is at 90 degrees and the throwing hand holds the ball facing away from them, then they throw.

For example:

In that picture, you can see the ball faces away from his body at full extension. As the upper body turns, the ball will come back to the front.

Step three is normal throwing to about 120 feet. Several coaches prefer their players do this with footwork of glove side, behind with throwing hand side, back to glove side as their step into the throw. So a right hander would step left, right foot behind the left foot, right foot while throwing. I'm not sure why that's a common footwork, but I've seen several teams use it.

Last step would be long toss. If you watched UCLA and Trevor Bauer, the guy was doing  extreme long toss. He would throw from foul poll to foul poll. That's probably a bit extreme for most other players, but he has extreme longevity on his fastball. He continues to hit 90/91 on the radar gun all the way through 8+ innings. He's also a great example of keeping stretched out. While he may have come off a bit quirky, because he is, he made sure to use the stretching bands and javelin throughout the game to keep his shoulder loose.

And that brings up another good point, if your child isn't stretching before games, get them used to it early. Hell, even you as a parent need to stretch. It'll make you healthier. It takes care of your muscles even if you're not working out. For baseball players, make sure you stretch the rotator cuff out. Stick the elbow out to shoulder height and bend it at a 90 degree angle to the sky. Have someone hold your elbow in place while lightly pulling back on the wrist. Then flip and have the elbow bend so the forearm goes straight down. Do the same thing with someone pulling the wrist back while holding the elbow. It feels great.

The one thing I do offer though, is make sure you balance mechanics with raw energy. I see a lot of kids these days pitching purely how the pitching coach says and not letting a couple pitches go. I remember back when I played, we had kids unloaded fast fastballs. Today, a lot of kids throw soft. I somewhat feel like that's a disservice to the game. Let the kids get emotional and unload a fastball sometimes.

*suggest meaning that the kids are all but required to play on the teams, it's just not their coach that is managing them. They have parents that they ask to enforce the fastball/change up rule.

I pitched and was allowed to throw 10-12 curveballs a game. I was a big kid and the stress on my arm was minimal. I believe I could have thrown twice as many breaking pitches as allowed but never questioned this quota. A coach needs to evaluate each pitcher to determine what they are capable of.

how about if you play hockey and you have pins in your shoulder holding it together cause some kid paul bunyan'd my shoulder with his stick. Think thats anygood for throwing a baseball. Im gonna hate having kids i can hardly throw a baseball without feeling a lot of pain. On second thought yes, i wish parents knew the dangers of this two of my good friends had to call it quits in college because they didnt throw properally.

when the future is so bright.

Best Regards,

wishitwasSeptember.

Speaking of being a parent, I became a Dad this past Monday.  Not related at all to this thread, but I needed to brag a little.  His name is Charles. 

Everyone should listen to this. I am 16 years old and I always threw from a 3/4 arm slot since I can remember. It always worked though. I was consistently one of the better pitchers in the league in little league and one of the best pitchers in the Shelby County. I can no longer throw at all though. My second position was third base, and I am now only a first baseman because I cannot bare to throw anymore. It hurts my arm too bad. I dont care how good your little pitcher is pitching you need to teach him to throw the right way, even if he does not get as good results. I can no longer play my favorite position (third) because I cant throw anymore.

kids would realize that you can be a good pitcher just by changing up between a 4 seam and 2 seam. When I pitched, I didn't throw amazingly hard, but I had a ton of movement on my 2 seam. A 2 seam, 4 seam, and a change up will carry you pretty far. I also started throwing a slider in travel ball which was pretty effective.

Another thing that can help is using weights. Even if its low weight dumbbells or tying a 5 or 10 lb plate to a pvc pipe for wrist/forearm work. I see way too many kids not live up to their full potential because they don't believe weightlifting is required for baseball.

I have heard it said, but I have no idea where, or if it's true, that a submarine pitcher, though rare, is much less likely to suffer a catastrophic arm injury.

Does anyone know if this is true, and if one should encourage this tendency in their children if they see hints of it?

I pitched throughout little league, and dropped baseball at about 14. I wasn't allowed to throw a curveball, and the general rule of thumb that I have heard with a curveball is the "starting puberty" thing. As in if you're not developed enough to actually lift weights, you shouldnt be throwing curves. Obviously this age varies for a lot of different people, but it's roughly 12-16. 

I think that there are quite a few different pitches you can teach kids to not have them messing up their arms with curveballs. Someone above mentioned a 4 seam, 2 seam, and change. Those are ALL pitches you are supposed to throw the exact same way. Another one I'd recommend would be the splitfinger - if only in practice. It'll keep the pitcher happy to learn another pitch, and you throw it just like a fastball. I had "Puppy" hands and feet (they were full size, I was not... I wore a size 12 as a 5' 3" 6th grader) and I could throw a pretty good splitfinger fastball - looks just like a fastball, but dives. Just grip the ball slightly different, and throw it the same

The other pitch I learned that I actually threw in a game once (My dad always tried to get me to throw it, i finally did 0-2, 2 outs, nobody on. Right down the pipe, danced like crazy, and everyone was confused. the ump called it a ball. I'm still pissed 10 years later) was the Knuckleball. This was a lot of fun to throw around either just playing catch or in practice, you throw it slightly differently - you dont snap your wrist as much, but if you're looking to kill an hour at practice/not have your pitcher destroy his arm, teach the kids a K-ball.

(I throw it like this, but i grip with the thumbnail not the thumb)

Right there I've listed 5 pitches you can teach your pitcher - 4 that you throw the exact same, just with different grips. And none of those pitches will mess with underdeveloped arms if thrown correctly

Good lord this thread makes me hate my dad. JK. But really, I threw so many curveballs as a kid, was never taught proper mechanics until high school and by then I couldn't pick them up. I did not feel at all comfortable unless I threw my way which was basically "RAGE THROW." I've always had a pretty good arm but i dont think I reached my potential due to lack of proper teaching. I always wondered why I couldnt throw in the 80's because I had by far the best arm on the team, yet not even the fastest fastball (mid 70's). I also had a lot of shoulder issues where when I pitched sometimes I would feel it slip out and back into place. Still happens when I play sports now and then. Very painful.

I never tried to master a changeup but I will definitly teach that to my children in the future. And no freakin curveballs till highschool. ( they are the most fun, but not worth it).