When a pitcher is told they’re “cleared,” most families assume the hard part is over. But many parents quickly discover something doesn’t feel right—velocity is inconsistent, the arm feels heavy, or confidence hasn’t returned. This episode explains why medical clearance and true throwing readiness are not the same thing, and how misunderstanding that gap leads to setbacks in youth pitchers.

In this episode of the VeloRESET Podcast, we walk through a calmer, evidence-aware way to think about return to play after a baseball arm injury:

Why pain-free tissue does not equal readiness for bullpens, games, or back-to-back weeks

How workload, fatigue, coordination, and recovery timing influence arm health after clearance

The difference between rebuilding tolerance and “proving” readiness too quickly

Why confidence and movement efficiency often lag behind healing—especially in youth pitchers

This approach is grounded in workload research and real-world examples from youth, high school, and professional baseball environments.

This episode directly addresses several beliefs that often derail recovery:

“If the doctor cleared them, they should be ready to go”

“No pain means the arm can handle full intensity”

“Struggling after return means weakness or bad mechanics”

“You just have to push through to get back to normal”

Instead, we introduce a more accurate framework that separates healing, readiness, and durability over time.

Return to play is a process, not a single moment

Healing restores basic capacity; readiness restores performance

Sustainable arm health depends on graded workload and recovery space

The real question isn’t “Can they throw today?” but “Can they recover tomorrow?”

This episode helps families make smarter, calmer decisions during one of the most confusing phases of youth pitching recovery.

For additional science-backed education on youth pitching recovery, arm care, and workload management, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the resources designed to help parents and pitchers understand before they push.

It’s one of the most common questions parents, youth pitchers, and coaches ask—and one of the most misunderstood. Many athletes follow routines that sound responsible, yet still deal with arm soreness, fading velocity, or late-outing command issues. This episode explains why bullpen frequency alone isn’t an arm-care strategy—and how context matters more than tradition.

Why bullpen frequency is a workload decision—not an arm-care plan
Bullpens don’t exist in isolation. They’re one piece of cumulative throwing stress that also includes games, long toss, velocity work, lifting, and even growth-related coordination changes.

The key misconception most pitchers follow

Many players copy professional bullpen schedules without realizing those routines exist inside carefully monitored systems with built-in recovery. Without that context, “two bullpens a week” can quietly overload a developing arm.

How readiness, intent, and recovery windows actually matter

A bullpen thrown on a fatigued arm doesn’t build readiness—it compounds stress. This episode introduces a clearer way to decide if and when a bullpen makes sense based on recent workload and upcoming demands.

What research tells us about arm health

Findings from the American Sports Medicine Institute show that throwing injuries correlate more strongly with cumulative workload and fatigue than with any single session. Positive adaptation depends on recovery—not just frequency.

Real-world examples across levels

From youth tournament pitchers to high-school workloads to professional systems, you’ll hear why the same bullpen schedule can help one arm—and break another.

“More bullpens automatically mean better readiness”

“Bullpens are safer than games, so frequency doesn’t matter”

“If the arm isn’t in pain, it must be ready”

Bullpens are best used to express existing readiness, not create it when fatigue is already present. Sustainable velocity, command, and confidence come from durability over time—not rigid throwing schedules.

For more calm, science-backed guidance on youth pitcher arm health, workload management, and recovery decisions, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the Arm Care resources designed for parents and developing athletes.

This question creates more confusion—and pressure—for parents and coaches than almost any other youth pitching topic. In this episode, we move beyond rigid age rules and fear-based advice to explain what really determines arm safety in developing pitchers.  

Why age alone is a poor predictor of curveball safety

How arm stress actually accumulates through workload, intensity, and recovery

What research shows about youth pitching injuries and overuse

Why some pitchers get hurt without ever throwing breaking balls

How growth spurts temporarily change tissue tolerance and coordination

The difference between pitch type risk and contextual stress risk

❌ “Curveballs ruin arms”

❌ “My kid is old enough, so it must be safe”

❌ “If there’s pain, it must be the pitch”

Instead, this episode explains why arm readiness, total weekly throwing volume, and genuine recovery matter far more than the specific pitch being thrown.

Rather than asking “Is my kid old enough?”, this episode offers a calmer, more useful question:

Is this arm ready for added complexity and intensity right now?

You’ll walk away with a practical framework parents and coaches can use week-to-week—whether deciding on a breaking ball, managing innings, or navigating soreness during busy seasons.

Parents of youth pitchers (especially ages 9–14)

Coaches managing multi-position players and year-round schedules

Pitchers feeling pressure to add pitches before their body is ready

Families seeking evidence-based guidance instead of extremes

For additional science-backed education on youth baseball arm health, workload management, and recovery decision-making, explore the resources available at VeloRESET.com.

Weighted ball training has become one of the most debated topics in youth baseball. Depending on who you ask, it’s either the key to velocity development or a risk to arm health. For parents and coaches trying to make smart decisions, that noise can make every training choice feel uncertain.

In this episode of the VeloRESET Podcast, we take a calm, evidence-aware look at weighted ball training through the lens of arm readiness, workload management, and recovery—so you can think clearly about when intensity makes sense and when it may be adding unnecessary stress.  

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why the weighted ball debate is often framed incorrectly as “good vs bad”

How weighted balls increase stress per throw—and why context matters more than the tool itself

The relationship between workload, intensity, and recovery in youth pitching

Why timing, growth stage, and total throwing volume influence arm health outcomes

A simple, practical framework to evaluate readiness before adding high-intent training

Common misconceptions clarified:

Weighted balls aren’t a shortcut to velocity—and they aren’t automatically dangerous

Arm issues rarely come from one drill or tool, but from stress outpacing recovery

Professional pitcher routines don’t translate directly to youth athletes

Velocity is an outcome of durability and capacity—not the starting point

This conversation centers on long-term athlete development, helping parents and pitchers move beyond guesswork and make decisions rooted in clarity rather than trends.

For more science-grounded guidance on youth baseball arm health, recovery, and workload decisions, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the resources designed to support durable, confident throwers.

Why this episode matters right now

Pitch count apps have become the default safety tool in youth baseball. Parents track every inning, coaches follow the limits—and yet many pitchers still experience soreness, velocity drops, or arms that “just don’t feel right.” This episode explains why following the rules doesn’t always equal arm health.

What pitch count apps do well—and what they can’t see

Pitch counts are useful for managing volume and preventing obvious overuse. But they only measure one piece of the workload puzzle. They don’t capture:

How hard pitches were thrown

Fatigue carried in from previous days

Growth-related coordination changes

Extra throwing from practices, positions, or multiple teams

Recovery quality between outings

The real workload model parents need to understand

Arm stress isn’t just about how many pitches were thrown. It’s shaped by:

Volume: total throws across games, practices, and play

Intensity: effort level, stressful innings, velocity intent

Readiness: fatigue, soreness, coordination, growth phase

Recovery: what happens between throwing days

Two pitchers can throw the same number of pitches and experience very different stress on the arm.

A simple framework for smarter decisions

Instead of asking only “How many pitches were thrown?”, this episode introduces three clearer questions:

What did the arm come in with today?

What did today actually demand?

What does recovery look like next?

This approach doesn’t replace pitch counts—it completes them.

Common misconceptions clarified

Pitch count compliance alone doesn’t guarantee arm safety

Lower pitch counts don’t automatically mean lower injury risk

Arm pain is usually multi-factorial, not a single mistake

Apps track volume, not tissue capacity or fatigue

The bigger picture

True youth baseball arm health is built through awareness, not just numbers. Durability develops when stress and recovery are balanced over time—not when parents rely on a single metric to make every decision.

For more calm, science-backed guidance on youth baseball arm health, workload, and recovery, visit VeloRESET.com.

When a young pitcher starts complaining about elbow or shoulder pain, most advice immediately zooms in on arm mechanics. Arm slot. Elbow height. One supposed fix that promises protection or velocity.

But arm pain in youth pitchers is rarely an arm-only problem.

In this episode of the VeloRESET Podcast, we step back and look at youth pitching arm pain through a wider, science-grounded lens—one that helps parents and coaches understand why the arm often ends up taking the blame when something breaks down earlier in the throw.

This conversation focuses on how force is supposed to move through the body during throwing—and what happens when that system isn’t sharing the load effectively.

You’ll learn:

Why arm pain is often a downstream signal, not the root issue

How the body functions as a connected kinetic chain, not isolated parts

What it means when the arm becomes the “backup generator” during fatigue

Why stiffness in the trunk and spine can quietly increase stress on the shoulder and elbow

How growth, fatigue, and coordination changes affect youth pitchers differently than adults

A common assumption is that if a pitcher’s arm hurts, their arm mechanics must be broken.

This episode explains why that framing is incomplete—and often misleading.

Instead of asking “What’s wrong with my kid’s arm?”, a more useful question is:
“Why is the arm being asked to do more than its share?”

That shift alone can change how parents interpret soreness, velocity dips, and fatigue across a season.

We discuss how force travels from the ground, through the legs and trunk, and into the arm—and why natural spinal movement (including subtle side-bend) helps redirect energy away from the shoulder and elbow.

When that sequencing is missing or breaks down under fatigue, the arm is forced to generate force on its own. Over time, that’s when soreness and overuse patterns tend to appear.

Importantly, this episode does not argue for copying professional mechanics or forcing specific positions. It emphasizes awareness, pattern recognition, and decision-making before mechanical changes.

Arm pain is often a signal about load sharing, not just arm strength

Reasonable pitch counts can still feel excessive if movement efficiency drops

Mechanics are often an expression of readiness, not something to “fix” in isolation

Separating throw days from recovery days matters more than adding drills

Observing patterns early is safer than reacting late

Parents trying to understand arm pain without panic

Coaches navigating mechanics, workload, and fatigue decisions

Pitchers who feel like their arm “does all the work” late in outings

If this episode brings clarity to what you’re seeing—arm soreness, fatigue, or velocity changes—you’ll find more education-first resources at VeloRESET.com designed to help families make calmer, smarter decisions over the long term.

Pitch count limits are often treated as a complete safety system in youth baseball. Parents and coaches follow the rules, stay under the number—and still end up with sore arms, “heavy” days, or sudden performance drops. This episode explains why that happens and what pitch counts actually measure (and miss).

Pitch counts are useful guardrails, but they only track volume. They don’t account for intensity, fatigue, growth spurts, mechanics, or the throwing that happens before and after games. Two pitchers can throw the same number of pitches and experience very different levels of arm stress.

Using applied sports science and ASMI research, this episode breaks down how arm stress is influenced by:

Total throwing volume across games, bullpens, practices, and lessons

Intensity and fatigue late in outings

Growth-related changes in leverage and coordination

Recovery quality between appearances

This helps explain why “legal” outings can still lead to soreness or warning signs.

Instead of abandoning pitch counts—or blindly trusting them—this episode introduces a parent-friendly readiness framework that helps distinguish between:

Normal post-throwing soreness

Reduced readiness that calls for adjustment

Clear warning signs that deserve pause and conversation

The focus shifts from “Did we follow the number?” to “Was the arm actually ready—and did it recover normally?”

Pitch counts are one tool, not a safety guarantee. Long-term arm health comes from matching workload to readiness, respecting recovery patterns, and understanding that durability develops over time—not by squeezing every allowed pitch out of a game.

For more science-backed guidance on youth baseball arm health, workload, and recovery, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the Arm Care Tips resources designed to help families make calmer, more confident decisions.

Youth pitchers are throwing more than ever, yet many parents are still left guessing about arm care. Warm-ups feel rushed, recovery routines feel random, and soreness becomes hard to interpret. This episode clears up one of the most common sources of confusion: how pre-game and post-game arm care serve very different purposes—and what happens when those roles get mixed up  

In this solo episode of the VeloRESET Podcast, we explore a simple, durable framework for arm health built around sequencing—not checklists.

You’ll learn:

Why arm care isn’t about doing more, but about matching the routine to the moment

The difference between readiness, capacity, and recovery, and how each fits into a pitcher’s week

Why pre-game routines should prepare tissues and coordination, not fatigue the arm

How post-game routines help downshift the nervous system and support tissue adaptation

What real-world examples—from Nolan Ryan’s post-game cardio habits to Paul Skenes’ full-body pre-game prep—teach us about durability

This episode challenges several ideas that quietly lead to heavy arms and next-day soreness:

Using the same arm-care checklist before and after throwing

Adding aggressive long toss or band work when tissues are already stressed

Treating arm care as a shield against workload instead of a support system

Confusing soreness relief with actual recovery

Arm care works best when it’s sequenced:

Pre-game focuses on readiness—warming, coordination, and timing

Post-game focuses on recovery—circulation, relaxation, and restoring comfortable motion

Weekly workload, not individual exercises, is the biggest driver of durability

If arm care feels complicated, it’s usually not because you’re doing too little—it’s because the purpose isn’t clear.

For more calm, science-backed guidance on youth pitcher arm health, recovery, and workload management, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the educational resources designed for parents and coaches seeking clarity over hype.

Parents hear this question all the time: Is the curveball hurting my kid’s elbow?

This episode explains why that question, by itself, often misses the real issue.

Youth pitchers today are throwing more often, with higher intent, and with fewer recovery windows than ever before. When elbow soreness, velocity dips, or that subtle “something looks off” moment shows up, pitch type usually takes the blame. But research and real-world patterns tell a more complete story.

In this episode, Joey Myers breaks down how elbow stress actually works in youth baseball—and why workload, intent, fatigue, and movement efficiency matter far more than whether a pitch is labeled a fastball or a curveball  

Why elbow stress tracks more closely with throwing intent and fatigue than pitch type

How curveballs became the scapegoat for a much larger workload problem

What biomechanics research really shows about elbow torque in fastballs vs curveballs

Why eliminating breaking balls without adjusting volume often redistributes stress instead of reducing it

A clearer way to think about workload using frequency, intensity, and recovery instead of pitch names

Curveballs are not automatically more dangerous than fastballs

Pitch counts alone don’t capture total arm stress

A tired arm throwing max-effort fastballs can experience more elbow load than a fresh arm throwing controlled breaking pitches

Elbow pain is rarely about one pitch—it’s usually about cumulative stress exceeding readiness

The elbow doesn’t know pitch names. It responds to force, speed, timing, and how well the rest of the body shares the load. Protecting young arms means aligning throwing volume, intent, recovery, and movement efficiency—not chasing one “safe” pitch.

If you’re navigating elbow soreness, small velocity drops, or uncertainty around pitch selection, this episode offers a calmer, more complete framework to guide better decisions.

For more science-backed resources on youth pitching workload, arm health, and long-term durability, visit VeloRESET.com and explore the Arm Care Tips and podcast library.

Parents and coaches are being asked to make increasingly complex decisions about youth pitching development—often with conflicting advice and very little context. Few topics create more confusion than the debate between weighted balls and long toss, especially in a velocity-driven baseball culture that moves faster than education.

In this episode of the VeloRESET Podcast, Joey Myers breaks down why the real issue isn’t which tool is better, but how throwing stress is applied, accumulated, and recovered from over time. Using a science-grounded, long-term development lens, this conversation reframes velocity training around readiness, workload, and durability rather than shortcuts.

Why weighted balls and long toss are not interchangeable, and how each applies stress to the arm differently

How arm adaptation actually works, including the different timelines for muscles, tendons, ligaments, and growing bone

Why injury risk correlates more with workload accumulation and sudden intensity spikes than with any single drill  

How to think in terms of throwing intent, not just throwing volume

What arm readiness looks like in real life, including recovery patterns, arm feel, and consistency

Why velocity should be treated as an outcome of healthy adaptation, not a demand placed on an unprepared system

That weighted balls are inherently dangerous, or that long toss is always safe

That more throwing automatically equals better conditioning

That soreness or velocity drops are signs of weakness instead of useful feedback

That youth pitchers should train like pros without the same physical foundation or recovery structure

The tool is rarely the problem. The real risk comes from stacking stress without context, using intensity without readiness, and ignoring recovery signals that the arm is not keeping up.

Both weighted balls and long toss can have a place in development—but only when they match the athlete’s age, workload, tissue capacity, and recovery habits.

If you’re trying to make calmer, smarter decisions around youth pitching, arm care, and long-term durability, you’ll find more evidence-aware guidance at VeloRESET.com.