Troubleshooting Forearm and Upper Arm Soreness

First: Do four to five sets of 20 repetitions of external rotation for the rotator cuff at least five days a week.Use the style that keeps the arm by your side…standing with lightweight tubing…or lying on your side with a 3# dumbbell; the light weight ensures not recruiting other muscles.Research has shown this protocol to produce amazing results.

Second: Check your forearm regularly for range of motion…especially if you throw a cutter, split-finger, or curve ball.This will help prevent medial elbow problems.

Simple test: Hold both arms out in front of you with a straight elbow with the palm facing the ground. Rotate the palm upward. Compare the position of both palms. Do the same test with the arm bent to a 90 degree angle (upper arm will be at your side). If your pitching arm does not have the same range-of-motion as your non-throwing arm… get to work immediately to restore range of motion.

• If you do have less range in your pitching forearm, put a weighted ball in your hand and do the same motion as the test repeating the rotation enough times to increase the feeling of flexibility without fatigue.
• Do this movement with your arm straight out in front of you as well as with your arm at your side with the elbow bent to 90 degrees.

 Third: Open a calendar on your phone or computer and track all your pitch counts in your games and in your practice bullpens. Make sure that once the season starts you plan your practice bullpen schedule and volume with regard to when you will be pitching next.

For example, if you are 16 and you are doing a bullpen on Wednesday and pitching in a game on Saturday (or maybe Sunday), your bullpen should not exceed 59 pitches.