Most youth pitchers aren’t throwing too much, they are PITCHING too much and they’re recovering too little.
Between practices, private lessons, lifting, and tournaments, it’s easy to think more reps will equal better performance. But development doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing the right amount and recovering from it fully.
At URATBB, one of the biggest issues we help pitchers solve is hidden fatigue—when the body is still tired, tight, or imbalanced but the athlete keeps pushing forward. That’s where injuries and plateaus start.
Here’s how to recognize if your pitcher is overtraining—or under-recovering.
1. Performance Drops Without a Clear Cause
- Velocity has dipped 1–3 mph
- Command has gotten worse
- Throws feel “heavy” or inconsistent
- Mechanics look fine, but the results aren’t
-Pitch Metrics are Degrading
This is often a sign the nervous system is still fatigued—even if the athlete says they feel fine. That’s why we use daily readiness testing with ArmCare.com to monitor this behind the scenes.
Testing consistently and daily with ArmCare allows us to stay ahead of the dreaded "Dead-Arm" that plagues many pitchers. Understanding where the arm is at by daily testing or at least 3x/week in season allows us to make adjustments to the athletes on the fly to increase or decrease volumes as needed.
We also utilize PitchLogic to determine what is happening with overall pitch shapes and movement qualities, mainly with our older athletes, to determine if they are seeing performance regressions in movement. Often times fatigue does not show up in velocity, but shows up in pitches becoming flatter and losing your crisp action on pitches.
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2. Soreness That Lingers or Returns Quickly
Normal soreness after a lift or a hard session is fine. But:
- Arm tightness that returns after light throwing
- Muscle soreness that sticks around for multiple days
- Shoulder or forearm tension that won’t go away
These are signs the body isn’t recovering efficiently. Tools like Marc Pro help flush this out and support faster recovery, but the key is recognizing it early.
Again, everything links back to ArmCare. The only way you know if you're not recovering is by testing your actual muscle strength. I have many of my athletes pair the ArmCare testing with the recovery aspects of Marc Pro to maximize their daily and weekly throwing plans. We cannot maximize our development if we are not recovered, and we don't know if we are recovered if we are not testing!
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3. Poor Body Language or Low Energy
Watch for subtle shifts:
- They’re quieter than usual
- Less explosive during sprint or agility drills
- Fatigued after warm-up
- Rushing through reps or disengaged
Pitchers might not always say they feel off—but their movement and effort will show it. This is where coaches and parents need to pay attention.
A lot players are natural competitors. They don't want to come out of games or practice but they also don't recognize fatigue. Most of the time this fatigue is neurological which means we need to de-load or take a few days off the let the body recoup. Again, you will notice a theme, we stay ahead of this by constant arm strength testing to identify the onset of neurological fatigue so we can avoid the issue altogether!
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4. They Stop Getting Better
- No improvement in velocity, command, or strength
- Flat bullpen sessions
- Jump metrics and sprint times stall
Progress should never be constant, but if they hit a wall for more than 2–3 weeks, it may not be a training problem—it may be a recovery problem.
A good friend of mine, and URATBB advocate, Andrew Hawkins brought the phrase to my mind that their is no such thing as over training, you are just under recovering. See link for a video of the services Andrew offers to URAT Players (https://youtu.be/RwvbJy7bHVw?si=iG7P1Gs6rW3Pr_JQ)
In the age of instagram reels of squats, deadlifts, long toss, and weighted ball throws we don't have a shortage of players that are willing to work. But what we miss is that our players do not utilize the actual aspects of what allows progress to occur, the recovery phases.
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How We Fix It at URATBB
If you or your athletes are experiencing this issues don't hesitate to reach out!
We use a combination of ArmCare.com readiness tests, Marc Pro, Pitch Logic and structured programming to monitor fatigue and recovery daily. Each athlete gets customized strength(ArmCare.Com), throwing, and recovery work based on what their body needs—not just what the calendar says. Every athlete is an individual and not every day will be the same. Athletes need to adjust on the fly and increase and lower throwing volumes based on what the strength data says, not what the mind says.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters—and recovering smarter.
This means that athletes need to track nutrition, sleep, pitch movement data, and how their body is recovering.
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Want help building a recovery-smart throwing plan?
Reach out today to schedule a private evaluation or learn more about our ArmCare-driven training system.
jordan@utahrotationalathletetraining.com
Intake Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJsWRrRS-iaSImYYPRosogeMM39zQctph-Mlb3ypag34dspQ/viewform
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