The intent of the Baseball Collegian Pitching Project is to inform coaches and players and parents of some of the many theories on being a successful pitcher.

Most every concept has advocates with very strong opinions on either side of the argument. Too often, a theory is chosen based on popularity, conventional wisdom, or because someone famous does it that way, as opposed to one’s own analysis. With so many contradicting theories, it is essential to have an understanding of all of the possible options before deciding which one to commit to.
These pitching theories are presented without judgment, without confirmation bias, with no preconceptions, and without dogma or commercialism. In turn, the strong hope is that people are inspired to do the work to make up their own mind based on as much information as possible – and in turn, do what makes most sense to them.

Last month, the discussion was about healthy pitching. This month, the discussion turns to throwing curveballs.

Q. What age should you learn to throw curveballs?

General Belief:

• Ages 12-16 (or when you start to shave) Dr. James Andrews
Curveballs between ages 12-16. Change-ups between ages 7-13. (andrewsinstitute.com)

• Not Too Early American Sports Medicine Institute
Throwing curveballs has been suggested as a risk factor, but the existing research does not support this concern. However, an adolescent pitcher may not have enough physical development, neuromuscular control, and proper coaching instruction to throw a curveball with good mechanics. Throwing curveballs too early may be counter-productive, leading to arm fatigue as well as limiting the youth’s ability to master fastball mechanics. (asmi.org)

• When Young Brian Cammarota
To say curveballs are safe is misleading; they are safer only if the pitcher has nearly flawless mechanics. Many young pitchers have poor mechanics when throwing a fastball, and throwing a curveball greatly increases the chances for poor mechanics, especially when pitchers are fatigued. Young pitchers are more likely to alter their mechanics to create a better curveball. This will increase forces on young arms that are not fully developed leading to a host of upper extremity injuries. (philly.com)

Other Philosophies:
• Inhibits other pitches Kyle Boddy
Teaching the changeup early means trying to improve the changeup early. The drive to become “Hamels-esque” in 11U means that you could be missing out on what originally gave Cole Hamels the ability to throw a fastball 92-94 MPH. (drivelinebaseball.com)

Contrasting Philosophies:
• Curveballs are less stressful than fastballs, including in youth pitchers
Curveballs in Youth Pitchers: A Review of the Current Literature
by Trent M. Tamate and Alexander C. Garber

Pitch type, specifically curveballs, remains one of the most controversial potential risk factors for arm pain/injury. The idea that throwing curveballs can be detrimental to a young pitcher’s arm has long been accepted by the baseball and sports medicine communities. However, both the American Sports Medicine Institute and Pitch Smart, a collaboration between USA Baseball and MLB, acknowledge that existing research does not support this widely held belief. Despite the lack of evidence, both organizations continue to recommend that pitchers refrain from learning to throw curveballs until they reach maturity. This itself is an arbitrary threshold that has been described as anywhere from 13–14 years old to when boys start shaving…

Curveballs are associated with greater forearm supination. It has been proposed that this particular forearm positioning leads to more injuries at the elbow. However, in a cadaveric study assessing strain with valgus loading on the anterior and posterior bundles of the UCL, only minimal differences were found with changes in forearm rotation. These findings contradict the assertion that the increased forearm supination seen with curveballs elevates the risk of UCL injury…

Biomechanical studies evaluating different pitch types have not demonstrated higher stresses on the throwing arm with curveballs. In fact, the majority of studies concluded that fastballs place the greatest amount of stress on a pitcher’s arm. Indicating that the curveball is less harmful than the first pitched learned by all young throwers…

Although evidence has been mixed, observational studies to this point have largely been unable to find a significant increase in arm pain/injury associated with throwing curveballs…

Studies that have found an association between curveballs and arm pain/injury are typically confounded. Pitchers who learn to throw curveballs, especially at younger ages, tend to be more skilled. These pitchers are often bigger athletes, who throw faster. Furthermore, pitchers of this caliber throw more often, accruing large pitch volumes. All of these factors are independently associated with an increased risk of arm pain/injury…

Conclusion

Longstanding taboos against teaching curveballs to pitchers before puberty remains ingrained in youth baseball. This is despite a deficiency of convincing evidence in both biomechanical and epidemiological research showing increased harm. Larger studies with improved control of confounding variables may eventually reveal curveballs to be the dangerous pitch that many believe it to be. However, at present, the sports medicine community has no good evidence to recommend against its use.