Another Tragic Reminder About L-Screen Safety

Please check out my Hardball Mechanics post about the potential dangers of throwing batting practice to your team. A Florida teenager was recently killed while throwing from behind an L-screen. Our own Harrison Jones has had two serious injuries himself and wants others to learn from his experiences.

Reason Enough To Back Up the Mound

Braydon Salzman was extremely lucky to avoid serious injury on Friday at the Little League World Series. Watch the video if you haven't seen it. Little League's days with a 46 foot mound are hopefully numbered.

Lightning Safety

The animated picture on the left is no joke. It's thunderstorm season and knowledge about lightning safety is a must for coaches, parents and players.

If you can hear thunder, that means lightning is close enough to strike. Get your players off the field and into a closed shelter or vehicle.

Here is a link to more information on lightning safety from the NOAA National Weather Service.

Get Behind That L-Screen - It Could Save Your Life

Please let this be a reminder, as we start the spring season, to use your L-screen, and use it well.

Vinny Ribar, a 15-year-old Freshman baseball player at Kiski Area High School near Pittsburgh suffered a serious injury on February 26th after being struck in the head by a line drive. He was using a protective L-screen in practice, but failed to stay completely behind it as the ball was approaching.

Ribar's story unfortunately does not stand alone as a wake up call to coaches everywhere. In case you need another example of how your life can be turned around forever with one pitch, I urge you to spend some time reading the story of former Sun Valley High School (Monroe, NC) coach Kenn Wright.

Ed Walton of Charlotte Country Day first alerted me to this years ago. Here's a link to Scott Fowler's series of Charlotte Observer articles called The Pitch, which tell of Wright's 1997 brain injury and the struggle for life that followed. In Wright's case, I believe it was the netting of his team's L-screen that had fallen into disrepair, allowing a 70 mph line drive to slip through and strike him directly in the forehead.

If you are going to be serving up batting practice to your players, even at the Little League level, please follow through and duck behind your L-screen. Check the netting for any holes or weak sections. Consider wearing a helmet. And don't let your youth players throw batting practice.

A couple of welts from Alfonso Fernandez in 2005 were a physical reminder for me. But bruises fade away with time. The story of Kenn Wright should never be forgotten.

Easton Unveils New Pitching Helmet

Easton-Bell Sports has introduced a prototype for a safety helmet to be worn by pitchers, and the company expects nationwide use of the product to begin in youth leagues by fall.

The product was unveiled and will be initially worn by Gunnar Sandberg, a Marin (CA) Catholic High School senior who was seriously injured by a line drive while pitching a year ago. Sandberg no longer pitches because of an arm injury, but he plans to wear the 5 1/2 ounce padded helmet while playing the field as a 1st Baseman this season.

Easton-Bell and the Sandberg family hope that widespread use of the new product catches on. Stephen Keener, president and CEO of Little League Baseball, Inc., says that he will support it. Easton is the official team equipment supplier for Little League, and the organization has been a leader in safety modifications throughout its history. So don't be surprised to see the pitching helmet on the field at some point over the years to come.

More Info From Little League on Composite Bats

Little League, Inc. has provided additional information on its composite-barreled bat moratorium, which was announced on December 30th for its 12-and-under divisions of play. Williamsport released an article today on its website with clarification on various aspects of the decision.

Little League points out that it has not created new bat standards, but is rather enforcing its existing safety guidelines (1.15 BPF). Through scientific testing, it was discovered that composite-barreled bats, once broken in, were exceeding those standards.

More helpful to coaches and parents, Little League included in today's information a short FAQ section at the bottom of its article, a link to its Facebook discussion on the subject, and most importantly, a detailed list of specific non-wood bats that are currently approved for play in 2011. I received my own new bat today and was relieved to see it on the list.

I will continue to post more information as I get it. At some point, they will publish a list of any composite bats receiving a waiver, if any. Click on the "Bats" label below for more info.

Still No News from Little League on Composite Bats

Oh, how I hate to bump the awesome picture of Bob Feller down the page. But we must move on....

This is just a reminder, before any new Christmas morning bats are opened (although probably not used out in the winter wonderland that surely awaits us). Little League has not announced any results of their study on the safety of youth composite-barreled bats. They did put out this brief message after Thanksgiving, but it really says nothing.

I am surprised they didn't do all this a little sooner, like before the shopping season. The bat companies cannot be happy. But we'll look for the results from Little League next week, as they are supposed to make an announcement by January 1st. They will probably do the same thing they did with their Junior and Senior League (although this does not affect MPTLL's Junior and Senior Babe Ruth divisions), and post a list of those composite bats that will be approved for play in 2011 Majors and Minors. It could be that many of the bats we know and love are banned. We'll just have to keep waiting and find out.

Book Review: Until It Hurts by Mark Hyman

There has been plenty of talk nationally about Mark Hyman's latest book, Until It Hurts, since its release about a year ago. And a couple of parents in our own league have mentioned it to me. So I decided to give it a read and report back.

Hyman's book is essentially about what he calls the "hostile takeover" of youth sports by adults. As he says in his introduction, "adults rule youth sports." It isn't a new trend. It has gone on for decades.

Hyman uses anecdotes and statistics to show the disturbing patterns of behavior among many misguided and ultra-competitive parents and coaches throughout various sports, both team and individual. One story is that of his own family and what led to his son's Tommy John Surgery.

Throughout the book, Hyman examines a number of things considered wrong with today's youth sports culture:

- The big business it has become, including national TV broadcasts;

- Parents who relentlessly pursue athletic success for their kids, over-scheduling them to the point of exhaustion, with hopes of rare college scholarships, even more rare million dollar contracts, or just the social status of having raised an elite athlete;

- Early sport specialization and adults who push athletes to be the best, no matter the toll it takes on their minds and bodies, sometimes working them to the point of injury; and

- The focus on winning over fun, fairness and health.

Hyman is an advocate for organizations designed with fun and the best interests of the kids in mind. He says we should be listening to doctors' advice, and to what the kids themselves have to say about what they want to pursue and how they want their athletic experiences to be.

He's done a good job of painting an honest picture of what youth sports in America has become, although some of the anecdotes could be considered extreme cases. This book is an important look into what is best for kids and what we, the parents and coaches of young athletes should keep in mind as we guide them.

Until It Hurts by Mark Hyman is currently available at Amazon for around $10.

Arm Care and Velocity Development Clinic

Tickets for the 2nd annual Arm Care and Velocity Development Clinic are on sale at the South Charlotte Sports Report. This clinic is led by Alan Tyson of Architech Sports & Physical Therapy. Tyson is considered one of the leading arm care specialists in the region.

This clinic is highly recommended by many baseball people in the area. It is for serious pitchers, age 12-18. It is a non-throwing event, since many pitchers have shut down their arms for the winter. But the information provided by Tyson and the other speakers is said to be extremely beneficial.

The event is on Saturday, December 4th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm at Ardrey Kell High School. The cost is $90 per player-parent combo. Visit the South Charlotte Sports Report website for more information.

Article on Overuse Injuries

Tommy John, then of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was the first to undergo ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) replacement surgery. Since that initial procedure performed by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974, Tommy John Surgery has become a common fix for serious elbow injuries. And as previously mentioned in this blog, it has become far too common in young pitchers.

Here is a link to another article about overuse, or "repetitive stress" injuries in young athletes. Amanda Schoenberg writes in the Albuquerque Journal about author Mark Hyman's experience with his own son's injury, and his book on the subject, "Until It Hurts."

I am currently reading the book and will comment on it later. But for now, there is some useful information on overuse injuries in this article. The more informed we are, the better.