Pitchers ice or no ice

[HUNTIN HARD]

My son is 11 years old and a pitcher. He has been pitching complete games throwing 75-85 pitches with about a week rest. My question is couple guys said I should ice his arm after game about 30 minutes. I have been doing a little reading that is saying that icing is bad. Any opinions?

[.270]

I am a high school Athletic Trainer (ATC, LAT, CES) and you will find MLB teams on both sides of the ice argument. Which ever makes him fell better. I use ice mainly for pain but that's it. I don't use it nearly as much as I did 17 years ago when I started. I know 2 very respected orthopedic surgeons in the San Antonio area that are on different sides.

[DapperDan]

For what it's worth.... I see a lot of ice Saran wrapped to pro pitchers arms as well as college pitchers... the thought is to prevent inflammation. Either way, NEVER ice for more than 15 mins at a time. Should be 15 on, 15 off, 15 on, then done. On the flip side, some guys use heat. Shouldn't be HOT but relatively warm. Same time applies. Wrapping an elbow between innings with a towel if he's pitching is helpful if it's looking like it will be a long inning. It keeps his elbow from cooling down and tightening up between innings. Most importantly, He should be running the next day as well as light long toss the next day to stretch out his muscles, ligaments, and tendons in his shoulder and elbow and bicep. Then light throwing the next day with a bullpen of 15-20 max pitches at 3/4 effort, then back to normal. A bullpen should never be more than 25 pitches. Really, 20 at his age. And should never be 100% like game time.

At 11 yrs old 85 should be max pitch count. I'd like to see it closer to 65 unless he has flawless mechanics which at 11 is RARE. And if he goes more than 50 pitches he needs minimal 4 days rest. Preferably 5.

Top two ways to prevent arm injuries.
1) most important!!! MECHANICS!!Can not stress this enough! (I could go very detailed into this but won't unless you want more info I've already drug this out)
2) CONDITIONING! Players need to be throwing before the season starts and progress into going complete games and not right off the bat at the beginning of the season. And as mentioned, conditioning the days after throwing a complete game.


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[Landrover]

It looks kewl.....lol.
Been debated for years honestly.

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[DapperDan]

For what it's worth ice always helped me. But the shoulder is what takes the brunt of the stress. Granted I wasn't a pitcher. I caught. But I threw just as many if not more balls than the pitcher. Especially if he didn't go the full nine. If your arm is in shape and you throw regularly, your elbow should never hurt. If it hurts then something is wrong... 95% of the time, its bad mechanics.


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[Raider Power]

When I played in High School heat first and then ice is what worked for me. If I didn't do anything at all my arm hurt a hell of a lot worse the next day for sure. I think a lot of it depends on what works best for the individual.

[em12]

I played in college and coached for 10 years. While coaching generally threw around 300 pitches a day for bp..... I iced every single day and ran every single day. The older I got the more it helped. Weird for a coach to ice? I could care less. I was able to throw every day and that really helped. But as stated and most importantly Run, run, run..... Drink some water- run some more- every day. Mechanics is absolutely key, and a big part of being able to have proper mechanics and keep that elbow up when your around 70- 80 pitches is 100% proper conditioning. Did I mention run and then run some more? Lol. College pitchers might as well be track athletes if their doing it right......

[big_smith]

Ice is for injury. Deceleration drills immediately after the game would do more for recovery. Ice restricts blood flow and therefore slows inflammation. He is not injured from pitching just fatigued.

[HUNTIN HARD]

Thanks for all the info, im really confused now. lol

.

Top two ways to prevent arm injuries.
1) most important!!! MECHANICS!!Can not stress this enough! (I could go very detailed into this but won't unless you want more info I've already drug this out)
2) CONDITIONING! Players need to be throwing before the season starts and progress into going complete games and not right off the bat at the beginning of the season. And as mentioned, conditioning the days after throwing a complete game.

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Thanks for the info, if your willing im listening.

[.270]

[QUOTE=HUNTIN HARD;12384908]Thanks for all the info, im really confused now. lol

How do you think I feel. Thru school, I learned how important ice was in injury treatment, and all the benefits......Now the data shows ice doesn't do anything we thought it did. May actually slow the healing process. I will sit through 2 conferences this summer that will contribute to the confusion.

FWIW, the anti-ice crowd has been around for years. My first professional conference had a guy talking about how bad ice is for injury 17 years ago. But now, science has caught up with a lot of what they were saying before it was "proven"

I had an intern under me that worked with the Atlanta Braves one summer, during his tenure, they were a no ice protocol. Manual therapy, rehab, and prehab.

[stickman]

I never iced. Just threw ball to cool down and rested a few days.

[TheHammer]

I usually just put the pitcher in the fridge. Ice in the cup when pouring the tea. Sweet, of course.



In all honesty, running the same night helped me tons more than ice ever did. Honestly, I don't know if the ice did anything more than just to say, "yeah coach I got ice on it".

[CLA25-06]

If its accessible to him look into hydrotherapy, when I was in high school thats what our athletic department used and it was a lifesaver on my shoulder and elbow

[BrandonA]

I usually just put the pitcher in the fridge. Ice in the cup when pouring the tea. Sweet, of course.

I like your style.

[eradicator]

Thanks for all the info, im really confused now. lol




Thanks for the info, if your willing im listening.

You should be because there is no science linked either way. Most of my guys do ice, but conditioning is the main factor IMO. Throwing 85 pitches at age 11 is not good.