In 2010, I wrote an article titled “The Perfect Storm.” At the time, I could not have foreseen just how prescient those observations would become 15 years later. Today, our baseball community faces a critical crossroads. Without swift and intentional changes, this epidemic of injuries among young athletes will only worsen, potentially altering the game we love forever.
Our players are depending on us to get this right.
However, before we chart a healthier, more sustainable path forward, we must first examine the conditions that led us here. Only by understanding the root causes can we begin to repair the damage.
In “The Perfect Storm,” I highlighted how several seemingly unrelated factors were converging to create a crisis in the health and longevity of young pitchers. Let’s revisit those factors, now amplified in scale and impact.
The Factors Fueling a Youth Baseball Crisis
Velocity Obsession
Over the past 20 years, the spotlight on pitching velocity has intensified to unprecedented levels. More than ever, young athletes measure their velocity against their peers, chasing higher numbers to gain a competitive edge. This fixation on speed begins earlier and earlier, often before foundational skills are properly developed.
High-intensity Repetition Without Volume
For many young pitchers, throwing is limited to high-effort repetitions during private lessons or games. Practices are infrequent, and consistent, low- to moderate-intensity throwing—essential for building healthy, resilient arms—is almost nonexistent. Instead, pitchers are frequently pushed to their limits, creating microtrauma and increasing the risk of injury.
Inadequate Throwing Foundations
Building a durable arm requires time, patience, and systematic progression… Yet many athletes—focused on preserving themselves for high-intensity outings—neglect the gradual, longer ramp-up needed for sustainable health. This lack of foundational development often leads to physical flaws, constraints, limitations, and inefficiencies and, therefore, adds vulnerability to injury.
Mechanical Inefficiency
As I have articulated multiple times over my 45+ postings on the PG website, having body segments (primarily for pitchers, it is arms and legs) working out of sequence, out of synergy, and/or from biomechanically less sound positioning is both a common and profound contributor to arm discomfort and pain.
Extended and Intense Seasons
Young pitchers are now competing in longer, more grueling seasons, often playing 60-90 games annually, even at 12-16 years of age. Many simultaneously participate in multiple leagues and teams, exposing their arms to additional strain. Today’s tournaments—designed for maximum competition—naturally involve more games, face better competition, and are far more challenging to navigate from a stress management and recovery perspective.
Overuse Due to Smaller Roster
To appease parents, travel teams often reduce roster sizes to ensure ample playing time. While this may limit complaints, it frequently overextends pitchers, especially during the final games of multi-day tournaments. Pitchers may try to mitigate this by throwing multiple short outings across consecutive days, but without question, this choice compromises recovery and increases injury risk.
Decline In Physical Preparedness
Beyond baseball, societal shifts have reduced physical activity for young athletes. Recess and PE programs are disappearing from schools, while free play and outdoor activities have been replaced by screen time. Many athletes lack basic motor skills like skipping, bounding, or climbing… Skills that once built agility, coordination, and mobility.
Misguided Strength Training
In the weight room, the focus has shifted toward size, mass, and power at the expense of agility, strength, balance, motor control, and mobility. This imbalance creates athletes who are strong but lack the functional coordination and structural alignment necessary for healthy throwing movement.
The “Rest Equals Recovery” Myth
Many health professionals recommend complete shutdowns from throwing for extended periods, assuming this prevents injury. However, prolonged inactivity often leads to atrophy and leaves athletes unprepared for the demands of competition. True recovery requires thoughtful, active reconditioning that balances recuperation with preparation.
For instance, if a pitcher stops throwing in October, November, and December but starts competing in February, their soft tissue is unlikely to be adequately prepared for game stress. This drastically increases the risk of injury. In fact, the steepness of the ramp-up (the process of going from rest to competition) is one of the primary predictors of injury.
The Result: A Youth Baseball Epidemic
The effects of this “perfect storm” are alarming. Research from the Mayo Clinic and other institutions confirms a sharp rise in UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) surgeries, particularly among athletes aged 15–19. What was once a rare procedure for professionals is now commonplace for high school players.
We've seen this trend firsthand among our professional peers nationwide and at the Texas Baseball Ranch®. Injury rates are accelerating at a staggering pace with no signs of slowing down.
Why We Must Act Now
This crisis didn’t emerge overnight. It’s the result of years of systemic issues that have compounded over time. Yet, many in the baseball community remain too focused on competition and immediate results to recognize the growing threat.
But we must recognize it. Our young athletes are paying the price for our collective oversight. If we fail to address these issues, we risk not only their health but the future of the sport itself.
In Part II, I’ll share actionable strategies to reverse this trend and safeguard the next generation of pitchers. It’s time to steer this ship back on course. Our athletes deserve nothing less.
Coach Ron Wolforth is the founder of the Texas Baseball Ranch® and has written six books on pitching including the Amazon Best Seller, Pitching with Confidence. Since 2003, The Texas Baseball Ranch® has had over 579 pitchers break the 90 mph barrier, 208 have toped 94mph or better, and 135 of his students have been drafted in the MLB’s June Amateur Draft. Coach Wolforth has consulted with 13 MLB teams, dozens of NCAA programs and has been referred to as “ America’s Go-to-Guy on Pitching” and “The Pitching Coaches Pitching Coach.” Coach Wolforth lives in Montgomery, TX with his wife, Jill. They are intimately familiar with youth select, travel baseball and PG events as their son Garrett (now a professional player) went through the process. Garrett still holds the PG Underclass All-American Games record for catcher velocity at 89mph which he set in 2014 at the age of 16.
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