Youth Pitch Count Limits

Arm fatigue is the number one cause of shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball players. Many athletes play on multiple teams in the spring and summer, so it is even more important to know and understand the limitations on pitches per day and the recommended rest breaks in between pitching. These limits apply for ALL teams that an athlete plays for, so if an athlete pitches for their school team, they should follow the recommended rest before they pitch again for either the school or the travel team.

Image from Wikipedia.org

Throwing a pitch is one of the more biomechanically complicated movements in sports. Pitch counts are even more important for youth pitchers because they often lack the leg and core strength to pitch effectively, and wind up placing too much stress on the arm to throw. A trained physical therapist, coach or pitching coach, athletic trainer, physician, or personal trainer can take an athlete through a throwing assessment to determine any areas of weakness or tightness that can be worked on ahead of time to minimize the risk of injury.

The following pitch count and recommended rest comes from Littleleague.org:

Pitch Count

Age	Pitches per day
17-18	105 pitches per day
13-16	95
11-12	85
9-10	75
7-8	50

*Any athlete throwing more than 41 pitches in a game should not play catcher in the same game*

 

Recommended rest

Pitchers league age 14 and under

Number of pitches in a day	Calendar days of rest before next time pitching
66 or more	Four (4) days of rest
51-65	Three (3) days of rest
36-50	Two (2) days of rest
21-35	One (1) day of rest
1-20	No (0) days of rest

Pitchers league age 15-18

Number of pitches in a day	Calendar days of rest before next time pitching
76 or more	Four (4) days of rest
61-75	Three (3) days of rest
46-60	Two (2) days of rest
31-45	One (1) day of rest
1-30	No (0) days of rest

Image from thecompletepitcher.com

Ken Guzzardo, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS

3 Dimensional Physical Therapy

kguzzardo@3dpt.com