Baseball Canada to protect young pitchers’ arms

Thursday, November 15, 2007

It has been a hot topic for years. Should the Baseball Canada pitching rules be changed in order to protect young pitchers’ arms? During its annual convention hosted by Baseball Alberta in Edmonton this past weekend, Baseball Canada decided to make a clear statement to its membership. Starting in 2008, the pitching rule at the Baseball Canada Pee-Wee Championship will be modified with the implementation of the pitch count approach that will monitor the rest and recovery period for pitchers. This new approach replaces the innings pitched format that has been used for years. 

"Recent studies have shown that the total amount of pitches during a game is directly related to arm injuries for young pitchers," mentioned André Lachance, manager of Baseball Operations with Baseball Canada. "It’s now time to look at this problem in order to allow our kids to play their favorite sport for several years," he added.  

Baseball Canada, in collaboration with Baseball Alberta, piloted the approach during the 2007 season and despite some roadblocks at the start, it has been a success. "Change always bring a certain period of adaptation and I am convinced that our membership will embrace this new challenge," said Lachance.

The use of the curveball also remains a hot topic. Research has also shown that curveball use at low age will cause injuries on young pitchers. Baseball Canada will pilot programs in 2008 where curveballs will only be introduced at the age of 14. 

"Before implementing such a rule at the national level, we want to make sure we can manage everything surrounding its application and that is the reason why we want to pilot it in 2008. Upon receiving feedback from the pilots and lengthy evaluation, Baseball Canada will likely propose new recommendations in the fall of 2008," he concluded.

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Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a systemic approach being developed and adopted by Baseball Canada to maximize a participant's potential and involvement in our sport. The LTAD framework aims to define optimal training, competition and recovery throughout an athlete's career to enable him / her to reach his / her full potential in baseball and as an athlete.

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