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What's destroying young pitchers' arms across America? The answer might be right there on the radar gun. 

In this eye-opening episode, Coach Ken Carpenter tackles the alarming rise in serious arm injuries among youth and high school pitchers. Drawing from conversations with experts like Dr. Tom House and his own 27 years of coaching experience, Ken explores how the relentless pursuit of velocity—"chasing 90"—combined with year-round pitching schedules and early sport specialization is creating an epidemic of torn UCLs and Tommy John surgeries in teenagers.

Remember when kids threw footballs, rocks, and wiffle balls in the backyard? When baseball ended in summer, making way for football and basketball seasons? That natural athletic versatility created what Dr. House calls "neuroplasticity"—more neural pathways between brain and muscles that developed more complete, durable athletes. Today's young pitchers are missing that foundation, instead throwing max effort at showcases year-round without adequate rest or varied movement patterns.

The statistics are sobering: over 50% of Tommy John surgeries now happen to teenagers. As Coach Carpenter's pitching coach once said, "there's only so many bullets available to a pitcher," and today's young athletes are using them up before college. This episode challenges coaches, parents and players to reconsider their priorities: developing pitchers who can locate, change speeds, and maintain durability rather than just lighting up radar guns. After all, what good is throwing 90 mph in high school if your arm breaks down at 19?

Want to share your coaching perspective or story? Visit athlete1.net to request to be a guest on Baseball Coaches Unplugged and join the conversation about protecting young arms and the future of baseball.

Join the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast where an experienced baseball coach delves into the world of high school and travel baseball, offering insights on high school baseball coaching, leadership skills, hitting skills, pitching strategy, defensive skills, and overall baseball strategy, while also covering high school and college baseball, recruiting tips, youth and travel baseball, and fostering a winning mentality and attitude in baseball players through strong baseball leadership and mentality.

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