Knowledge by youth baseball coaches of USA Baseball pitch count recommendations is poor, putting youth pitchers at increased risk for upper extremity pain and injuries, finds a disturbing new study.1
Depending on the age group with which the coaches worked, coaches of youth baseball players between 9 and 15 years of age in a community league in the Midwest were only able to answer between 35% and 62% of questions about pitching guidelines correctly. Only 73% of coaches reported that they followed the pitching rules, but only half (53%) felt that other coaches generally followed the rules. Neither percentage differed significantly by age group.
Other significant findings of the first-of-its-kind study:
