SectionsPitching pains
Growing college pitchers face strain of sport
Kevin Agee
Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Sports
How would you handle the responsibility of owning what could be a multimillion-dollar investment in the future?
You'd probably nurture your investment and hope it reaches its maximum value down the road. However, thanks to market pressure, you might be tempted to cash it in before the maturity date.
Unfortunately, there isn't much research about these investments to guide you, so you only have a vague idea of the right and wrong things to do.
College baseball coaches especially face this issue with college pitchers, who whip their arms forward repeatedly during games. The stress on pitchers' arms can be problematic for players who are still growing.
The question coaches and baseball researchers face is how college pitchers can be kept on the mound and away from the operating room. That research is still lacking, said Kyle Boddy, the owner of Driveline Baseball, a baseball training facility in Seattle.
"There's not a lot of good research on college baseball in general," Boddy said. "Decent research is coming out, but with so many teams and so many divisions, it's hard to focus on everything.
"The whole college game needs to be explained a lot more, especially with pitching."
Additionally, professional teams view college pitching as a commodity. Major League Baseball teams are willing to draft collegiate arms and sign them to multimillion-dollar contracts.
There lies the quandary. Missouri State pitching coach Paul Evans said the Bears' coaching staff is under pressure to win games while trying to protect pitchers' arms at the same time.
In general, pitchers suffer injuries more often than position players. Pitchers comprise 49 percent of the players in Major League Baseball but spend 68 percent of the time on the disabled list, according to 2008 research by the American Sports Medicine Institute.
However, pitchers can stay healthy if coaches and trainers work together with them, Boddy said. The key to keeping a valued right or left arm on the field is multi-faceted.
You'd probably nurture your investment and hope it reaches its maximum value down the road. However, thanks to market pressure, you might be tempted to cash it in before the maturity date.
Unfortunately, there isn't much research about these investments to guide you, so you only have a vague idea of the right and wrong things to do.
College baseball coaches especially face this issue with college pitchers, who whip their arms forward repeatedly during games. The stress on pitchers' arms can be problematic for players who are still growing.
The question coaches and baseball researchers face is how college pitchers can be kept on the mound and away from the operating room. That research is still lacking, said Kyle Boddy, the owner of Driveline Baseball, a baseball training facility in Seattle.
"There's not a lot of good research on college baseball in general," Boddy said. "Decent research is coming out, but with so many teams and so many divisions, it's hard to focus on everything.
"The whole college game needs to be explained a lot more, especially with pitching."
Additionally, professional teams view college pitching as a commodity. Major League Baseball teams are willing to draft collegiate arms and sign them to multimillion-dollar contracts.
There lies the quandary. Missouri State pitching coach Paul Evans said the Bears' coaching staff is under pressure to win games while trying to protect pitchers' arms at the same time.
In general, pitchers suffer injuries more often than position players. Pitchers comprise 49 percent of the players in Major League Baseball but spend 68 percent of the time on the disabled list, according to 2008 research by the American Sports Medicine Institute.
However, pitchers can stay healthy if coaches and trainers work together with them, Boddy said. The key to keeping a valued right or left arm on the field is multi-faceted.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Steve Sullivan
posted 3/20/10 @ 11:21 AM CST
For Mr Boddy to say that human anatomy is different between individuals says it all about this misinformed article.
Mr Boddy definitely knows that all you have to do to prevent all pitching arm injuries is go to drmikemarshall. (Continued…)
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