My daughter has been pitching for three years. She is 12 yrs. old. She pitches about 3-4 times a week. She has never had shoulder pain or problems before. She just started playing volleyball for the school. Now when she pitches she feels a cracking feeling and pain in front joint of her shoulder. Has anyone else experienced this problem. Thanks
Shoulder Pain
- Thread starter mountyfan
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When she sees the ortho doc, mention to him that she could have a muscle impingement. Shut her down from all sports until you get a diagnosis. Hopefully, you don't need a referral from your family doc and you can get to a sports medicine guy that knows shoulders.
Good luck. Shoulder pain is the most obnoxious pain that I have ever experienced. (I see more shoulder injuries from volleyball, than I do from pitching.)
Good luck. Shoulder pain is the most obnoxious pain that I have ever experienced. (I see more shoulder injuries from volleyball, than I do from pitching.)
Take her to a doctor. Do what the doctor says.
My *GUESS* is that she has pulled or sprained her bicep tendon. The bicep tendon attaches to the front of the shoulder. This is a common injury for pitchers.
Link discussing bicep tendon tear
But, go to a doctor and follow his recommendations.
My *GUESS* is that she has pulled or sprained her bicep tendon. The bicep tendon attaches to the front of the shoulder. This is a common injury for pitchers.
Link discussing bicep tendon tear
But, go to a doctor and follow his recommendations.
- Jun 18, 2010
- 2,615
- 38
DD is currently down with shoulder pain. We took her to a sports medicine doctor (orthopedic surgeon) last Monday. He diagnosed a rotator cuff strain and has her going to PT. I am just thankful it wasn't anything more serious. She went to her PT session last Tuesday and was given a few exercises to do daily. Her pain has subsided, but other than the exercises, the PT says no shoulder activity for a few weeks until cleared by the doctor. My daughter is a multi sport athlete and between Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball, her shoulder area may be getting over worked. I think we are going to scale back Tennis and Volley ball until after the fall SB season.
- Nov 29, 2009
- 2,973
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I have this discussion EVERY year with parents. They fail to understand what the wear and tear does to a developing young body. I hate volleyball for softball players. The volleyball spike motion is very different than throwing a ball. I see girls who've played volleyball do the spike throw with the ball ending up at their partner's ankles. I have to to retrain them every time they come from volleyball. Even more for pitchers.
A couple of years ago I had a mom let her DD play VB, BB and travel softball against my advice. The girl ended up with overuse fracture issues in her arm's growth plate area. So instead of playing one sport, she could not play any of the sports for 12 weeks. She ended up coming to SB practice and conditioning to work, but was not allowed to throw a ball or do hitting with two arms.
- Aug 9, 2011
- 19
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I can tell you from years of experience that one of the largest factors of injury (out side of accidents) is due to improper form and inadequate warming up. I couldn't agree more with above...get her to an ortho immediately!!! I was diagnosed with two, yep you heard right two bad rotator cuffs. I opted not to do surgery and just took a year off and did a lot of physical therapy and it 100% so far...knock on wood.
Good luck and god bless.
Good luck and god bless.
- Jun 18, 2010
- 2,615
- 38
Update: DD was diagnosed with Posterior Capsular Contracture due to overuse, if not corrected could lead to an internal impingement or Rotator Cuff tear. She was placed in a sling for two weeks, and was sent to physical therapy for four weeks. She was unable to participate in any activity involving her shoulder for four weeks. She was provided several stretches and exercises by her physical therapist (PT). One stretch in particular PT stressed was the "sleeper stretch". You can search youtube for examples of this stretch. DD does her daily stretches and exercises. DD is now easing back into pitching and has not started tennis or volleyball back up.
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An impingement is what shut down my DD's pitching career. Good luck. She had dropped basketball and volleyball, by then, but it was too late.
We have a pitcher on my DD's 12U club team that lost this season due to a rotator cuff strain (back of the shoulder). Last year, I heard she had a very successful club season.
When I first saw her pitch in winter workouts, I was amazed by the speed given her motion. She had a strong leg drive and fast arm speed but very little hip rotation (with the open /close motion). My first reaction was amazement how fast she threw with that motion. My second reaction was to wonder how it was sustainable. In two weeks she went down with a shoulder injury. She was also a good tennis player.
It seems to me ifthe hips are not employed in the pitching motion, it causes excessive strain on the shoulder. Have others come to the same conclusion?
When I first saw her pitch in winter workouts, I was amazed by the speed given her motion. She had a strong leg drive and fast arm speed but very little hip rotation (with the open /close motion). My first reaction was amazement how fast she threw with that motion. My second reaction was to wonder how it was sustainable. In two weeks she went down with a shoulder injury. She was also a good tennis player.
It seems to me ifthe hips are not employed in the pitching motion, it causes excessive strain on the shoulder. Have others come to the same conclusion?
