THE TRUTH ABOUT CURVEBALLS Are Breaking Balls Really the Bane of Our Young Athletes?
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young pitchers may already have inefficient and immature movement patterns, and this especially complicated movement is not exactly the best idea. However, this is not nearly enough to warrant banning the curveball altogether, and it would distract from the real problems: muscular imbalances, weaknesses, mobility constraints, alignment issues, poor instruction of pronation and deceleration in the arm, improper technique overall, and throwing breaking balls too frequently.
I’m certain that by now, if you are a parent of even an 8-year-old pitcher, you’ve heard one
of the many horror stories surrounding curveballs. In fact, one nationally known orthopedic surgeon has even called for the banning of all curveballs and sliders in prepubescent male players.
The truth is — and there is a lot of science to back this up — the curveball itself is simply one of many mitigating factors of the injury of youth pitchers, and when everything is considered, it’s one of the less significant factors.
THIS MONTH IN BASEBALL HISTORY A Rare Honor for Stan the Man By most standards, being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is the most prestigious individual accolade a baseball player can receive. However, statistically speaking, the 325 players in Cooperstown vastly outnumber the 12 who’ve received the nation’s highest civilian honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While each of the 12 more than deserves the honor, perhaps the most moving presentation occurred when President Barack Obama handed the Medal to Stan Musial on Feb. 15, 2011. Obama, the biggest sports fan to ever occupy the White House, was visibly moved when speaking about Stan the Man. “Stan remains to this day an icon, untarnished, a pillar of the community, a gentleman you’d want your kids to emulate,” Obama said. With a career CV that most big leaguers can only dream about, it’s hard to pick out a single of Musial’s achievements that towers above the rest. He hit five home runs over the course of a double header, won three World Series, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. No wonder Obama finds him someone to aspire to. Instead of throwing out curveballs altogether, you should have your athlete assessed by a physical therapist who works with high-level athletes to correct their imbalances. Get your athlete in front of a competent pitching instructor who understands pronation and deceleration — a rare thing. Then really put in the time teaching the athlete to properly throw a curveball. This can take more than a year. Don’t let them fall in love with the breaking ball. Keep it to a maximum of 25 percent of his total pitches thrown. If you stick to this advice, curveballs will give you no real trouble — and in fact, in the midst of a world clamoring to tell you that the curveball is an abomination, the pitch can be a real edge.
Basically, with curveballs, sliders, or cutters, the deceleration of the arm post-release becomes more complicated. Many
UPCOMING RANCH EVENTS ELITE PITCHERS BOOT CAMPS June 7–9 June 21–23 July 5–7
July 19–21 Aug. 9–11 EXTENDED STAY SUMMER PROGRAM:
June 3: Session I Begins July 1: Session II Begins Aug. 5: Session III Begins
For more information, go to TexasBaseballRanch.com/events.
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