Got a dead arm, so what should I do? Rest? Keep throwing?

[andrew_ra]

Guys, I'm suffering from a dead arm, I think.

I'm 29 and I play once a weekend, and I do a bullpen every wednesday.

Last Saturday I was pitching against a bad hitting team, and I couldn't get any Ks. I was still pretty effective, but I noticed my change-up was not getting them off balance because it was not slow enough compared to where my fastball was clocking in. I asked my catcher and he said my velocity was down.

Fast forward to this saturday, and I had nothing. They just teed off on my fastball, even though the location was fairly good. I just had no zip at all. MY catcher asked me if I was hurt because I was throwing so slow.

I'm not hurt. I feel no pain in my arm at all. But I do feel like there's no zip. The ball isn't jumping like it should.

My arm feels 100 percent healthy, but it also feels weak. IT doesn't feel strong.

What should I do? Should I rest for a couple weeks. We don't have a game next weekend so that woudl be good.

Or should I throw threw it. Should I keep throwing and throwing on the side and fight through this deadness?

[FSTBLLTHRWER]

Rest, throwing will be counterproductive. I would suggest 5 days off with minimal activity for your shoulder, no throwing, no exercises. Let it rest, its a common injury that is not all that serious, but annoying. After the layoff, start doing some tubing workouts and light weight drills for a day or two, and then after that work your way back into throwing over the next three. Go light on the first throwing day, no more than 30 easy throws from a max of 90 feet. Next day, move back to longtoss if you feel well, and by the third day you should be able to go close to 100% if you feel up to it. After that, maybe throw a fullspeed bullpen, and you should be ready again. 10-12 days might seem like a long recovery, but the bad thing about this injury (My dad struggled with it all his senior year of highschool and American Legion) is that relapses are easy if you go too fast. Seeing as how you only play once a week, it should be easier for you to avoid throwing, as well.

[andrew_ra]

cool - thanks for the tips. I'll do just that. It's the perfect time to rest, since we are off next weekend.

[Roger]

See my comments in this other
http://letstalkpitching.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3438][u]Dead Arm Thread[/u

[andrew_ra]

thanks roger. What that kid was describing is exactly how I feel. Like my arm is tired. Gotta get in some rest.

[dm59]

Roger
Thanks for your info in that thread. Great advice. I hope the young pitchers frequenting this forum will take heed. I also hope the NPA doesn't excommunicate you.

[andrew_ra]

what's the difference between the kind of dead arm I have right now in the middle of the season, and the dead arm I hear poeple talk about that pitchers get in spring training?

In the latter case of spring training, this is where pitchers all apparently go through a dead arm period as their arm adjusts to getting back and shape ... except they say that with the spring training dead arm pitchers just have to fight through it and keeping throwing until they get to the other side...

[FSTBLLTHRWER]

Your kind of dead arm is when your arm is being overworked for its conditioning and is inable to recover between points of exertion.

A spring training dead arm is when the arm is being pushed to rapidly condition, and it doesn't want to. You just push through that, as you said though, and it gets better.

[CADad]

Actually, pitchers are learning not to push through it during spring training. This spring Scott Shields, he of the rubber arm, took a different approach and rested and conditioned his shoulder when it was a bit sore during spring training. Too often, a dead arm is the first symptom of significant shoulder problems and pushing through it can lead to permanent damage and permanent performance loss.

Rest, stretching and then shoulder conditioning for a week or two usually can be a big help. If the stretching doesn't help then it is time to see a doctor.