Blackburns For a 10Yr Old?

#1

Hey guys, longtime lurker first post! My 10yr old son has developed a mild case of “little League” elbow. Doctor said the X-Rays looked fine and for him just to lay off throwing for 4 to 6 weeks. I have decided that we will take the full 6 weeks of rest.
He basically went 15 months without a break from baseball. Since he plays on a full-time travel team, I have decided that he will take off every August, September and October from now on. So basically, no more fall ball.
My son, Matthew, loves to pitch and he is definately above average for his age. He only throws a 2 seam, 4 seam, circle change (developing) and an occasional knuckball (developing). His mechanics are also very good and we are always working on improving though.
I am an assistant coach on our team and we were very careful about pitch counts. Matthew began feeling pain in the inner elbow the very last game in our last tournament for the season. That tournament though, he did throw a bit too many pitches in my opinion, and I hold myself accountable for this.

Now back to the question, are Blackburns ok for a 10 yr old to do every day or maybe every other day? Maybe I can have him do something else as well? I want to do what I can to prevent this from happening again.

Thanks,
Mike

#2

Welcome to the board!

Little League Elbow is usually an overuse injury. So shutting down part of the year is a good start to solving the problem. Keep on top of those pitch count limits and enforce proper rest between outings.

My suggestion is to have your son rest the full amount and then come back slowly. Maybe take a week and just play some short toss, then medium toss the next week followed by a week or two of long toss before starting pitching again.

As for Blackburns, it’s my understanding that they are for rotator cuff and scapular stabilization more than for the elbow. Still good to do though.

#3

Thanks for your reply Roger! Is there any other specific exercises or drills I can do to strengthen the area around his elbow? Or is this simply something that can be avoided by not over using, getting proper rest in between outings and practicing good mechanics?

#4

With a 10yo I wouldn’t get too concerned with strength training. I’m no expert on this but that’s my opinion. Avoiding the overuse as well as playing other sports is more important to me.

#5

Thanks Roger, makes sense to me!