How Long Should You Rest For?
/When I went to the National Fastpitch Athletic conference a few years ago I listened to a panel discussion featuring Cat Osterman, Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist, 1000 Career NCAA strikeouts, ERA under 1.0. She said something about hard work that I found interesting.
Cat spoke about how much she practiced in a matter-of-fact way. It seemed somewhat sheltered, as if she did not realize that other people practiced way less than she did. She said the best thing her dad ever did for her was, get this, giving her time off from pitching between Thanksgiving and January. I thought, that's a strange "gift."
Other than the one month, she never took more than one day off from pitching because she would lose her “feel.” Her tenacity impressed me. I noted how it sounded like what experts tell people about forming habits like diet and exercise.
Another time her dad told her to take two entire weeks off of pitching. She gave a crazy eye-roll look to him and said, “...I won’t know where my pitches are going to end up next week, but okay.” That was not a sarcastic comment on her part, by the way.
I know Cat Osterman is the best of the best, and you think that’s not where your daughter wants to be. Maybe she’s in it just to have a little fun.
She needs to ask herself as she stands on the mound, unsure of where the ball is going, "Do I wish hard work was the norm for me?” or "Don’t I wish I had great habits?
As she watches the women play on ESPN, "Don’t I wish it was hard for me to stop repeating something fun, as opposed to the other way around?"
She doesn’t have to be exactly like Cat Osterman to have fun playing softball. Yet from my experience, I know the closer I was to what she did, the more joy I got from the sport.
To be their best, I want pitchers to get as many reps in as possible without burning out or getting hurt. These numbers are different for everyone, but here’s what I’ve found so far regarding pitch count, injuries, and rest.
I really like Cindy Bristow’s guidelines on pitch count. She published these numbers a few years ago, then took them off her website, I’m guessing because parents and coaches had a hard time understanding the limits of players. Bristow is an authority on pitching (and coaching pitching) in the country. She was the president of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and has her own softball education company, Softball Excellence.
Pitchers 12 and under need to pitch up to 500 pitches per week including full pitching at practices and lessons
Pitchers 13+need to pitch up to 700 pitches per week, including full pitching at practices and lessons.
With this in mind, if you notice your pitcher is throwing slower or changing her fundamentals, it means she’s tired. She is not conditioned to accomplish the designated amount of pitches per week. That means it’s time to stop practicing for the day. Pitching slow or pitching with poor fundamentals does not “condition” your pitcher to get through tough times. Instead, pitching consistently and building up slowly will condition her. Record the number of pitches thrown and try to improve as the weeks and months go on.
Dr. Sherry Warner’s is a pitching coach and researcher who worked closely with Jennie Finch. I believe her mechanics are the safest, putting the least amount of pressure on the knee, hip joint, and shoulder when comparing elite-level pitchers. Although an injury-free career is not guaranteed, Sherry Werner’s hypotheses were scientifically researched and published in this study. She promotes the hips following the shoulder closed, the “hello elbow,” follow through, landing your stride foot on the ball of your foot, and using Finch Windmill to build muscle endurance.
Werner has the following suggestions on pitch count. She is much more conservative than Bristow. In a perfect world, with exceptions for weekend tourneys, she believes the following pitch counts would be the best, when possible.
10U - 60 per day with one full day rest after each of these days. A pitch includes anything where your arm is spinning. 60 every other day equals 240 pitches per week.
12U - 70 per day, every other day (280/wk)
14U - 80 per day, every other day (320/wk)
16 - 90 per day, every other day (360/wk)
18 and older - 100 per day, every other day (400/wk)
There is very little new research on the biomechanics of pitching as related to injuries since then. No national governing softball organization has standardized pitch counts like they do in baseball.
This article from Sports Health Journal systematically reviewed 131 articles on position-specific injuries in softball players. They were trying to find out if position-specific injury prevention programs have been developed to reduce the risk of throwing-related injuries in softball players. The results were disappointing: softball has “a paucity” of information compared to baseball.
Here are results one of the only articles they found on softball pitch counts:
Non-scientifically, I appreciate what Amanda Scarborough says about reps. She sees rest and pitch counts through the observations of results. “If you are questioning whether to go out and practice or not, GO! The more reps you can get in, the better you are going to become and build a better foundation for your future!”
From both my experience and listening to other coaches discuss injuries, muscle imbalance seems to be a recurring culprit. Both the right and left shoulder, arms, back and leg muscles need to be developed as equally as possible. At the end of practice, pitch with your left hand for 20 pitches and do your j-band work. For the best results, hire a professionally certified athletic trainer.
Other pitching studies.
Injury Mechanisms of the Shoulder and Elbow 1998
Windmill Kinematics 2006
Shoulder and Elbow Pain, Article 2015
