Elbow pain
Nobody likes this answer in the middle of a season, but it is the right one. Pain on the inside of the elbow in a young pitcher is common, it is usually telling you something real, and the kids who throw through it are the ones who end up missing a lot more than a week.
First things first
Elbow pain while throwing is a reason to stop and have it evaluated by a doctor, ideally one who sees a lot of throwing athletes. Some of what causes elbow pain in young pitchers involves growth plates, which are still open in kids, and that needs a medical diagnosis rather than a guess from a coach or a parent.
What usually causes it
The research is consistent that the biggest drivers of arm injuries in young pitchers are how much they pitch, pitching while fatigued and pitching year round without real time off. Underneath that, a hip or shoulder that does not move well can push extra stress onto the elbow, because the arm ends up making up for what the rest of the body is not doing.
After they are cleared
Once a doctor clears your athlete, the question is what changes so it does not happen again. That means looking at workload across the whole year, at how the body moves and at what the delivery does when the athlete gets tired. Going straight back to the same schedule and the same mechanics is how the pain comes back.
How PPL helps
At PPL a physical therapist from Renewed Performance runs a full movement assessment, and we build the throwing program around what it finds. Every athlete is on a phase based throwing program, so a pitcher coming back from soreness ramps up in steps instead of jumping straight back to the mound.
Questions parents ask
Some tiredness after pitching is normal. Pain is not, especially sharp pain or pain on the inside of the elbow. Pitch Smart and sports medicine doctors are clear that kids should not pitch through pain.
No. Stop throwing and have it evaluated by a doctor, ideally one who works with throwing athletes. Young pitchers have open growth plates, and pain is the main warning sign you get.
Most often too much pitching, pitching while fatigued and pitching year round without time off. Movement limits in the hips and shoulders can add to it by forcing the elbow to take on more than its share.
We do not diagnose or treat injuries, a doctor does. Once your athlete is cleared, our physical therapist partner assesses how they move and we build a throwing program that ramps them back in phases.
Book a free call with a PPL coordinator. Tell us what happened and we will walk you through what a safe return to throwing looks like here.
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