A pitcher who has just learned baseball throws a fastball first. Hit the ball with the catcher’s mitt as hard as you can. Then he gets a taste for curves. Unlike a fastball, there is no need to apply a lot of force. Just vary your grip and twist his elbows a little. The batter makes a series of missed swings at the ball falling from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. The pitcher on the mound feels pleasure. And, he wants to throw more.
But do you know? The American College of Sports Medicine recommends curveball throwing starting at age 14 or older. In other words, until about the second year of middle school, students are told to compete with batters using only fastballs. So what about the slider, which is the most commonly thrown breaking ball along with the curveball? It is recommended that people over the age of 16 start throwing. Since the first year of high school. 토토사이트 The reason is simple. This is to protect the shoulders and elbows of young pitchers whose bones and muscles are still growing. Of course, it is difficult to follow these recommendations. In the face of an immediate victory, a breaking ball is needed. So someone says “An adult must control it.”
The most basic measures to protect amateur players are limiting the number of pitches and prohibiting contests. Although there are some differences from state to state, in the United States, amateur pitchers are prohibited from pitching more than 110 pitches per day and must take four days off if they throw between 91 and 110 pitches. The regulations include 1 day rest for 31 to 50 pitches, 2 days rest for 51 to 70 pitches, and 3 days rest for 71 to 90 days. And three-day fighting is prohibited.
Korea is similar. According to the Korean Baseball Softball Association regulations, there is no mandatory rest day for 1 to 45 pitches, 1 day for 46 to 60 pitches, 2 days for 61 to 75 pitches, 3 days for 76 to 90 pitches, and 4 days for 91 or more pitches. Rest days are required. There are of course 44 high schools that do not have mandatory rest days, so there are some high schools that use this as an expedient. For example, throw up to 43 the day before, then throw 60 the next day. It is fortunate that pitchers are prohibited from pitching for three days under the association’s regulations.
The recently concluded World Youth Baseball Championship (under 18 years old) also has restrictions on the number of pitches and regulations related to consecutive pitches. Looking at the regulations for the under-18 competition on the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) website, there is no mandatory rest day for 1 to 40 pitches, 1 day for 41 to 55 pitches, 2 days for 56 to 75 pitches, and 3 days for 76 to 90 pitches. For 91 to 105 days, you must take 4 days off. Regarding fighting, fighting on the 4th is prohibited.
However, if the total number of pitches from the previous day and the next day exceeds 40, you cannot pitch for three consecutive days. If the number of pitches exceeds 41 in two days, the next day is a mandatory rest day. National team coach Lee Young-bok delved into this point. This is one of the reasons why Kim Taek-yeon (18), a right-handed pitcher in his third year at Incheon High School, had a 5-day series including suspended games (including the remaining suspended games). Kim Taek-yeon threw 21 on the 6th, 19 on the 7th, 16 on the 8th, 24 on the 9th, and 98 in the bronze medal match against the United States (10th). Except for the game against the United States, the number of pitches has never exceeded 40 in two days combined. Despite the strain on his shoulder, Korea won a bronze medal for the first time in four years at the competition. And, Director Lee Young-bok said: “I just competed according to the rules.”
Even though it was a short-term international competition and local rules were followed, the head coach of the national team was the head coach of a domestic high school (Chungam High School). It is important for coaches to achieve good results, but they also have a duty to protect young players. Manager Lee Young-bok may think that he cleverly avoided the three-day ban on pitches based on the number of pitches, but was this really the right choice? Taekyeon Kim is the only player in this tournament who had a 5-day streak.
If international competition regulations do not protect young players, there is also a plan to force the national team to compete through domestic competition regulations. Let’s not sacrifice the future of baseball to the greed of adults. Because the era when hard work was a fighting spirit is over.