too young to start pitching?

[syidewayz]

Is 5 too young to start pitching? (Throwing hard) 38ft

The Assistant Coach From Our Local high school Works With our 10u team on Sundays.

He really took a liking to my 5 year old and offered let him join in Sundays, Tells me he can age him pitching
at 7.

Im all for it as long its not going to destroy His arm him being so young.

They Pitch for about 10 mins, plus regular drills grounds, fly balls, etc.

This Would be going on every Sunday and eventually 1 week night.

Thanks!

[clayadams]

Just practicing the motions and learning... maybe. Actual pitching? No way. I'd just keep on practicing THROWING, not pitching. There are so many underdeveloped bones and muscles at that age, I wouldn't even begin to think about putting that kind of stress on him.

[tradosaurus]

Just practicing the motions and learning... maybe. Actual pitching? No way. I'd just keep on practicing THROWING, not pitching. There are so many underdeveloped bones and muscles at that age, I wouldn't even begin to think about putting that kind of stress on him.

Those are good points.

Most kids don't stop developing until at least age 15.

So it will be important to pay careful attention to a child's pitching development.

My son's pitch selection given by the coach during games last year was probably about 50% F.B., 40% C.B. 10% Changeups. Personally I would like to see more changeups and less curveballs. And I will mention this to the coach this year.

Because, IMO, the only one that will care more about your child's health will be you.

[Dirtberry]

Knowing your sons chronological age at this time is helpful because it is impossible to know his biological age! Knowing his biological age is more important and can only be done when the tip of his Epicondyle (the large clump of bone at the distal (far end) end of his Humerus) starts to turn white and hardened at biologically aged 10 years old where a dime sized white spot appears at the tip of the elbow (Epicondyle) that will continually mature by hardening into opaque white bone until he is 13 biological years old. At this point the growth plates are still not finished closing themselves until 16 biological years old. This means your 5 year old has a translucent Epicondyle when viewed with an X-ray, this should send up a huge red flag and tell you something. Most fathers who know this information still choose to pitch their sons that perturbs the development of the bone in this area, if the wives find out they choose to shut down the process.

When he turns 10 CYO have an X-ray taken of both elbows to determine what his biological age is, he may be a delayed maturer that pushes back this timeline.

Teach him how to arrive at driveline height and pronate his throws at 5 CYO by crowsteping and finishing with 180 degree rotation with his body. You should see his elbow pop up if he does it correctly.

[bbrages]

IMO -- whether 5-y/o is too young for pitching depends on what you mean by pitching. Trying to throw a few strikes to Dad or an older brother in the backyard isn't going to kill his arm.

I think pitching practice -- or any serious practice -- at that age is probably not appropriate. I think about age seven is a good time to show the basics of how to throw a pitch.

Best practice for a 5-y/o is playing catch and hitting a few tossed balls with minimal coaching or organization. IMO.

[themaker75]

Ya 5 is catch time with dad in the backyard. Enjoy the ride dad. He is going to need to know how to throw around the infield before he starts to pitch. Show him how to make a proper infield throw. If he is the kid at 8 with good throwing mechanics, then he will be the kid that transitions easily to pitching.

[tg643]

At five learning to pitch should be of no concern. Any focus on the throwing part of the game should be 100% on proper basic throwing mechanics. That you asked this question provides me great reservation you know anything about pitching. Kids physical structure (bones, muscles, growth plates, etc.) go through a lot of change and development from five to sixteen years old. The more they pitch the more possibility there is for damage. I seriously question any coach who wants to give a five year old pitching lessons. From the outside looking in, my concern would be by seven you have the kid who throws strikes every coach wants to ride to tournament wins. Then by age twelve his arm is dust.

My son didn't play organized baseball until he was seven. It's not that he wasn't interested. Tee ball started at six. He didn't want to play. From three to six he hung around his sister's softball practices watching, shagging balls and hitting off the machine after practice. My son threw 87 as a high school senior. Did he get an early start as a pitcher? No. Absolutely not. He only played machine pitch at 7/8. In 9/10s I allowed 9s to pitch one inning per week. 10s were allowed two innings. In 11/12s the 11s were allowed three innings. 12s were a judgement call based on their physical development. As a 5'2" seventh grader and 5'4" eighth grader I continued to be conservative with his usage on the mound. How he would pitch at 5'2" wasn't going to have any bearing on how he threw at 6'1". I've seen preteens with really nice mechanics have to relearn them after they grew and got awkward.

The point is it's not a sprint. It's a marathon. Learning to pitch at five is not going to give your son an advantage when he's older. It's only upping the odds of doing damage to his arm. I believe travel ball has created an environment where 13U pitchers have more mileage on their arms than when I started pitching in college.

[syidewayz]

Just practicing the motions and learning... maybe. Actual pitching? No way. I'd just keep on practicing THROWING, not pitching. There are so many underdeveloped bones and muscles at that age, I wouldn't even begin to think about putting that kind of stress on him.

Obviously He's not telling him to throw curve Balls ,Etc But My kid is trying to throw hard
And the coach is having him wind up etc.

As someone mentioned I don't know much about pitching , I just have a 5 yr old who loves baseball
and of course he wants to "pitch" on sundays with the big boys.

At first it was kind of a joke But the coach wants to take him So i was like sure, Sons loves it.

So do the majority or you Say stop?

Here's a Video

You can see him really trying to "Pitch"

[skipper5]

The following is true, and stated without irony.
On his own, my youngest son began "pitching" a tennis ball against our garage door when he was six, and continued to do so for a few years. He threw hard, pitching imaginary "games". I didn't regulate it. His "pitch counts" seemed very high, and typically without rest between "starts." I truly have no idea how he didn't destroy his arm or shoulder with this regimen. I should add that as a coach and as a dad, I'm very conservative with arms. For some reason I made an exception with regard to my four sons and their fast-pitch tennis-ball games in the yard. (None of them experienced arm problems during their baseball careers).
I'm not endorsing this; just telling it like it was.

[bbrages]

The following is true, and stated without irony.
On his own, my youngest son began "pitching" a tennis ball against our garage door when he was six, and continued to do so for a few years. He threw hard, pitching imaginary "games". I didn't regulate it. His "pitch counts" seemed very high, and typically without rest between "starts." I truly have no idea how he didn't destroy his arm or shoulder with this regimen.

My oldest did/does this. He started bouncing a ball off a large maple in our back yard. So I bought him a pitchback and he'd do the same thing -- imaginary games, with a running play-by-play commentary and a lot of "sensational" catches. In the winter and hot summer days, he moved the game to our basement, pitching against a door with a lightweight foam ball, using baseball cards to keep track of the lineups. He ended up putting about a half-dozen holes in the door. I guess he just kept pounding it until the thin luan weakened and cracked.

My opinion is, if he's really just doing it for fun and not being pushed into it at all, then it fits more in the category of good "throwing" than bad "pitching" overuse. He's going to stop when he gets tired or if he feels any soreness.

But I don't know.

[tg643]

The following is true, and stated without irony.
On his own, my youngest son began "pitching" a tennis ball against our garage door when he was six, and continued to do so for a few years. He threw hard, pitching imaginary "games". I didn't regulate it. His "pitch counts" seemed very high, and typically without rest between "starts." I truly have no idea how he didn't destroy his arm or shoulder with this regimen. I should add that as a coach and as a dad, I'm very conservative with arms. For some reason I made an exception with regard to my four sons and their fast-pitch tennis-ball games in the yard. (None of them experienced arm problems during their baseball careers).
I'm not endorsing this; just telling it like it was.

We threw and threw and threw as kids. We threw all kinds of objects. Because we threw a lot (not pitched) we had strong arms. Kids today pitch too much and throw to little. My kids were always playing catch. They weren't always gunning the ball. So I didn't worry about it or when they pitched whiffle balls. But I was extremely vigilant about how how much my son pitched.

[tg643]

My oldest did/does this. He started bouncing a ball off a large maple in our back yard. So I bought him a pitchback and he'd do the same thing -- imaginary games, with a running play-by-play commentary and a lot of "sensational" catches. In the winter and hot summer days, he moved the game to our basement, pitching against a door with a lightweight foam ball, using baseball cards to keep track of the lineups. He ended up putting about a half-dozen holes in the door. I guess he just kept pounding it until the thin luan weakened and cracked.

My opinion is, if he's really just doing it for fun and not being pushed into it at all, then it fits more in the category of good "throwing" than bad "pitching" overuse. He's going to stop when he gets tired or if he feels any soreness.

But I don't know.

I believe negatives (arm issues) come into play when a five year old is pitching to please a coach and a parent. These negatives may not even be visible to the adults. The kid won't be doing it to please himself. It's for adulation from adults and pleasing the adults.

[syidewayz]

My oldest did/does this. He started bouncing a ball off a large maple in our back yard. So I bought him a pitchback and he'd do the same thing -- imaginary games, with a running play-by-play commentary and a lot of "sensational" catches. In the winter and hot summer days, he moved the game to our basement, pitching against a door with a lightweight foam ball, using baseball cards to keep track of the lineups. He ended up putting about a half-dozen holes in the door. I guess he just kept pounding it until the thin luan weakened and cracked.

My opinion is, if he's really just doing it for fun and not being pushed into it at all, then it fits more in the category of good "throwing" than bad "pitching" overuse. He's going to stop when he gets tired or if he feels any soreness.

But I don't know.

Sound like every other Normal Young boy, My son also does very Similar .

And yes he loves going Sundays to "PITCH" I Cant make it every time so grandpa takes him also but this is definitely something HE loves doing.

[Roothog66]

This thread reminds me of a kid that used to hang around our display table when I had my action photography business. He was three-years-old and had three older brothers playing, so he grew up at the park. He would wind up and pitch to anyone who would catch him, mimicing the form of his older brothers. He was quite serious about it. I saw him do that for years before he actually started pitching. He later pitched for a Cal Ripken World Series team and before that a LL Regional finalist team before the league switched to CR. He was last year's ABCA's gold glove second baseman and was a heck of a HS pitcher.

[Jake Patterson]

There is little up side.

The biggest downside is if he becomes good he'll get pigeon holed sooner increaseing the risk of injury... Keep him away from anyone who wants to teach him how to "pitch."