Written By Chad Schumacher
Being a former pitcher, I wish I knew more about taking care of my arm when I was younger, and I certainly wish my coaches did too. I was always the kid who would pitch every other game in Little League and I would pitch the entire game….every…single….time. I didn’t have an off-season regime to strengthen and condition my arm and there wasn’t even a slow build up once the new season started. It was always zero to 100% on day one for me and at the end of my playing career, I no longer enjoyed playing because of the pain I had in my arm after each outing on the mound.
This is why I value arm care for all our players. Every player on our team is on a structured schedule that includes arm exercises with training bands, long toss, and weekly bullpens for pitchers. We also make sure to slowly ramp up our players pitch count totals throughout the season to ensure they’re not over using their arms too early. The goal is to not only take care of the players arms while they play for us, but to also teach them about the long-term benefits of taking care of their arms and hopefully they will continue these arm care practices throughout their entire playing careers. I want all the players I coach to be able to stop playing when they decide it’s time and not because of an arm injury.
