Baseball question?

Question:Ok, so i am a 12 year old boy that is a baseball pitcher. A day or 2 after i pitch, (i am a relief pitcher) i "pull" a chest muscle. I know it is my pitching because it only happens after i pitch. It will stay for a day or two then when i rest, it goes away. Is threre something that i can do that will help me with my chest muscle? I throw 3 pitches, 4 seam fastball, slider,and circle change up. I am pretty sure i am throwing them right.Can throwing a pitch the wrong way (like gripping a slider wrong) cause this? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answers:

Finger and baseball help?

Idk about your chest muscle but you should really stop throwing that slider, when you throw a slider it pulls on a very weak tendon in your arm. It stretches the tendon and since you are only 12 years old it has a much better chance of tearing. When you tear a tendon it requires surgery which can be painful and since you're still very young it could end your ability to pitch at all. I would not reccomend throwing a breaking ball at all just stick with the fastball and changeup, if you really think you need to throw a breaking ball throw a curveball. When you throw a curveball it stretches a much stronger tendon so it's not to bad for you, but you should still only throw 1 curveball and inning.

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At 12 years old you probably shouldnt throw a slider. Im 18 years old and one of my old teammates had elbow surgery 2 years agi because he was throwing a curveball when we were that age. You might also want to make sure that you stretch properly before coming into the game to pitch. But you really might want to think about dropping the slider for now until you arm fully develops, stick with the fastball and change up

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I really don't understand how anyone who calls themself a coach would even let a 12 year old throw anything BUT a fastball and change-up. I know it is cool to throw as many pitches as possible when you are young but it won't be cool when you are 16-17 and can't ever pitch again. Be smart with it.

If you are having problems with your chest muscle it can be one of two things. Either you are not stetching correctly before you warm up or your elbow is already starting to give and your arm is trying to compensate your "new" delivery and turning it into you "old" way you used to pitch. Which in turn is using muscles you normally do not use.

To help with strectching take a good 5-10 minutes before you even throw before the game and stretch your arm, back and shoulder as much as possible. Before you actually are about to go into the game and warm-up take a few minutes and do some quick stretches again. Whether you were sitting all game before you warm-up or playing that arm will still be a little tight, so stretch it out before you warm up.

Good Luck and keep that slider on the back burner for a few years. Master the fastball and change-up and you will be fine.

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