BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Pitching more than 100 innings in a year has been linked to a 3.5 times greater risk of injury in young athletes, U.S. researchers said.
Study leader Glenn Fleisig of the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala., found a direct link between innings pitched in youth and adolescent baseball and serious pitching injuries.
The 10-year study, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, indicated 5 percent of pitchers suffered a serious injury resulting in surgery or retirement. Two boys had surgery before turning 13 and at the end of the study, only 2.2 percent of the study participants were still pitching.
The findings suggest parents and coaches should monitor the amount of pitching in young athletes, the researchers said.
"We need to all work together to end the epidemic of youth sports injuries," Fleisig said in a statement.
The researchers recommended pitchers in high school and younger pitch no more than 100 innings in competition in any calendar year.
"Some pitchers need to be limited even more, as no pitcher should continue to pitch when fatigued," Fleisig said.
Fleisig and colleagues tracked 481 pitchers from1999 to 2008 -- ages 9-14 -- who were healthy when the study began.
