How is your boy's arm doing.

My son must be part X-man or something because he's healing like Wolverine.

Last Saturday he couldn't put any weight on his knee whatsoever and had to be almost carried off the field and eventually to my truck. It was me and another dad who had his arms around our shoulders and he hopped on his uninjured leg while we supported him. He couldn't straighten his leg out to 180 degrees, maybe to 150 or 160.

Last Sunday I got him crutches that he used for maybe minutes and he just hopped around the house but really couldn't put any weight on his leg.

Monday he refused to take the crutches to school but instead wore a brace and hobbled around. That night he's sitting in a chair in the living room with his foot up on an ottoman trying to flex and straighten his leg out when feels a distinct pop in his knee and all of the sudden he can move it again. Still a good deal of pain but he said it felt like his knee was unlocked and could move. It was really sore and tired but still very stable and he was able to put almost all his weight on his leg.

Tuesday he's almost walking normally. I picked him up from school to take him to the doc and get the MRI ordered and I see him walking down the front stairs at the school and not even really limping. No brace and he said other than feeling "tired" and a little sore his knee felt good.

On Wednesday it was a little better and the goofball comes home from school to tell me that he jogged on his knee some in athletics and it felt fine. Didn't try cutting or sprinting though.

Then more improvement the last couple days.

Still getting an MRI and seeing an ortho to rule things out but maybe just a sprain. Maybe something with the cartilage that got lodged in the knee and then dislodged. Don't want to get too optimistic but hopefully we dodged a bullet.

But it blows my mind that a kid who is really a tough kid hurt his knee bad enough that he had to take himself out of a game and couldn't walk less than a week ago is where he's at now.

TarponChaser said:

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How is your boy's arm doing.

My son must be part X-man or something because he's healing like Wolverine.

Last Saturday he couldn't put any weight on his knee whatsoever and had to be almost carried off the field and eventually to my truck. It was me and another dad who had his arms around our shoulders and he hopped on his uninjured leg while we supported him. He couldn't straighten his leg out to 180 degrees, maybe to 150 or 160.

Last Sunday I got him crutches that he used for maybe minutes and he just hopped around the house but really couldn't put any weight on his leg.

Monday he refused to take the crutches to school but instead wore a brace and hobbled around. That night he's sitting in a chair in the living room with his foot up on an ottoman trying to flex and straighten his leg out when feels a distinct pop in his knee and all of the sudden he can move it again. Still a good deal of pain but he said it felt like his knee was unlocked and could move. It was really sore and tired but still very stable and he was able to put almost all his weight on his leg.

Tuesday he's almost walking normally. I picked him up from school to take him to the doc and get the MRI ordered and I see him walking down the front stairs at the school and not even really limping. No brace and he said other than feeling "tired" and a little sore his knee felt good.

On Wednesday it was a little better and the goofball comes home from school to tell me that he jogged on his knee some in athletics and it felt fine. Didn't try cutting or sprinting though.

Then more improvement the last couple days.

Still getting an MRI and seeing an ortho to rule things out but maybe just a sprain. Maybe something with the cartilage that got lodged in the knee and then dislodged. Don't want to get too optimistic but hopefully we dodged a bullet.

But it blows my mind that a kid who is really a tough kid hurt his knee bad enough that he had to take himself out of a game and couldn't walk less than a week ago is where he's at now.

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That is awesome news! I hope all of the doctor stuff goes well for him and he can get back on the field soon.

I cannot get my 9 year old to stop dropping his elbow and basically shot putting the baseball when he throws. He's gotten worse this season despite my constant harping on him. I've tried a few different things, but I can't seem to isolate it enough for him to break the habit. It pisses me off b/c when he doesn't do it he throws pretty hard.

Y'all got some fresh ideas for me?

My daughter was the same way. Her pitching coach spent 60 seconds with her. Talked about thinking of snapping it down and following through across the body and all of a sudden she's got a cannon compared to her teammates.

Man that is crazy. I bet you are right about the cartilage. He may have something floating around in there. Sounds like something got dislocated somewhere.

Short story-when I lived in Vegas I went to a lot of NCAA basketball games cause there were always tournaments, UNLV, etc. Anyway December woman's tournament Baylor vs Arizona State. A girl comes out of the game holding her right shoulder funny. She very calmly walked over to a trainer who led her over to the basket or the structure holding the basketball goal. She very calmly slammed her shoulder in to the side of the structure as hard as she could while letting out this painful yell. She then bent over for a second, stood up, took a glass of water, and checked herself back into the game. There are only maybe 400 people in the stands and we all sat there in amazement wondering how long she had been knocking her shoulder back into place ike that. One of the tougher things I have ever seen.


My son is much better. Thanks for asking. We did dodge a bullet though and he was VERY smart to say something. His doctor thinks it has more to do with growing pains, he has grown three inches since Thanksgiving, and lack of sleep than anything to do with baseball. He didnt throw all week and went through some pretty strenuous PT exercises Tues-Thurs to get everything loosened back up. He went to school this mornign saying he felt great and is going to play one game Sat and one Sun.

I think thats how we are going to finish the year. They have two more weeks in Franklin then the State PG tourney than Omaha. One game a day in the field and DH the others. Thats plenty. I am very thankful that we have 12 kids on the team.

redline248 said:

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I cannot get my 9 year old to stop dropping his elbow and basically shot putting the baseball when he throws. He's gotten worse this season despite my constant harping on him. I've tried a few different things, but I can't seem to isolate it enough for him to break the habit. It pisses me off b/c when he doesn't do it he throws pretty hard.

Y'all got some fresh ideas for me?

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A couple of suggestions:

1) One-knee throwing drills to take the lower body completely out of it. Kids tend to exaggerate motions. It can get bad when you have to link the body like you do when throwing. I find that isolating the lower body and focusing on the upper body goes a long way towards teaching them that they can "flick" or "snap" the ball. For me, it's all about mechanics here. I like to see it in steps, so I'll have my dude break from his glove, get into position with the arm up at or above his ear level and freeze. He'll hold that until I say throw so he can't do the big windup. Here's a good link to the drill.



2) I think a lot of kids overthink it more often than not, and individual mechanics can get overwhelming. Between arm and hand position, grip, breaking the glove, follow thru, footwork, etc, it can be a lot. That being said, throwing is a natural thing everyone knows how to do innately. I've found that speed and going fast after a mechanics session helps them take what they learned and then implement it without getting stuck in their heads. I'm a HUGE fan of the old school velcro toss game for this stuff with a young kid.



Take the glove out of it completely, and then just focus on "How fast can we throw the ball back and forth?" and make it a game. I don't mean speed of the throw here. These are still little tosses. I'm talking how fast you can transfer from the "catch" to throwing. Bonus: the velcro and tennis ball will also teach a young kid about hand placement when catching (i.e., knuckles up vs. knuckles down), and it'll help a kid who's scared of getting hit by teaching them to protect themselves by catching with their eyes open.

Well ****.

Got the MRI results and man-child has a torn ACL. Getting the surgeon and such lined up asap.

Oh man I am sorry to hear that. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with yall.

TarponChaser said:

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On Wednesday it was a little better and the goofball comes home from school to tell me that he jogged on his knee some in athletics and it felt fine. Didn't try cutting or sprinting though.

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Consider yourself lucky he did not feel good enough to fully play again. A teammate in high school "felt good" to play in a game after a knee issue. He tore it all on the very first play of the next game. It happened in October and he was not able to participate in track the next spring.


Get well soon to your son!

evestor1 said:

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TarponChaser said:

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On Wednesday it was a little better and the goofball comes home from school to tell me that he jogged on his knee some in athletics and it felt fine. Didn't try cutting or sprinting though.

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Consider yourself lucky he did not feel good enough to fully play again. A teammate in high school "felt good" to play in a game after a knee issue. He tore it all on the very first play of the next game. It happened in October and he was not able to participate in track the next spring.


Get well soon to your son!

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Thanks.

Honestly, I wonder if he didn't tear his ACL back in August in 8th grade football and it was misdiagnosed as just a sprain because the initial injury reaction and recovery has been almost identical. Or maybe a partial tear back then and this went all the way. Because the way he's walking now and doing stuff you'd never know he was injured.

He's pretty pissed off and sad but has actually had a really good attitude and readying himself for the surgery and subsequent rehab. He'll miss the rest of the spring & summer and both football and baseball this fall but he should be back up to full speed in November or so.

rehab correctly and he'll be back in no time!


Summer sucks to be slow on your feet b/c the fishing sucks and swimming is tough with a knee injury.

Sending prayers for healing and recovery for your son, Tarpon. I follow a lot of you and your journeys on here and find comfort in hearing others' life experiences.

I also ask those that are willing to pray for my daughter. My softballer is undergoing knee surgery tomorrow morning to debride and repair a torn patellar tendon. This has been a long journey and we are relieved/hopeful to finally get her over the hump and on her way to healing and returning to the diamond after missing her freshman season. We know it will be a tough road, but she is up to the task.

Kind of a different question, but I feel like it's relevant here... What kind of wagons are you guys using and would recommend to carry all of the crap needed for tourney weekends?

My two hands. But man I could use a wagon.

It's nice bc it fits everything, but it's a ***** to load in the truck bed.

We have this one. Its a huge pain int he ass to fully fold up with the straps, but it works great otherwise.

https://a.co/d/htCjykb

Just saw your post. Praying for your daughter. Hope for a quick recovery.

Kids are resilient

We have something similar. Carries 3 chairs, 1 bleacher seat, cooler, fan, speaker, backpack, backup battery, and probably something else.

Thanks, brother! Surgeon said it was a success. Back home now and start PT in a week. Said she could maybe be doing some light jogging in 6-8 weeks and 3-4 months until return to play.

I truly appreciate the prayers and support from this community and beyond. Means a lot to us!

agsalaska said:

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And they won. State Champions. Unbelievable and I am speechless. And she was named a Tournament MVP.

Totally awesome.

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That's outstanding. Congratulations!

One thing I did learn this week is no matter how hard you try the kids will talk **** about the umpires. Our 12 year olds showed no mercy on Angel Hernandez this week They were using Hernandez in the dugout as a bad example before he even retired. Can't stop them. You can only teach them to respect the position and act accordingly.

Looking for recommendations on a new glove for my son. He'll turn 9 in September and will be moving up from coach pitch to kid pitch. He's a lefty and currently plays P, SS, 1B, and OF. He's quick enough to make it work being a lefty at SS for now, but I know that won't last much longer.

He has been using a Wilson A500 in 11.5" for a few seasons, but is wanting to move up to something else. Any recommendations for a solid youth glove (and what size) in the $150 range?

Rawlings sandlot models work great for that age, about 100 bucks at academy

AgEng06 said:

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Looking for recommendations on a new glove for my son. He'll turn 9 in September and will be moving up from coach pitch to kid pitch. He's a lefty and currently plays P, SS, 1B, and OF. He's quick enough to make it work being a lefty at SS for now, but I know that won't last much longer.

He has been using a Wilson A500 in 11.5" for a few seasons, but is wanting to move up to something else. Any recommendations for a solid youth glove (and what size) in the $150 range?

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We've been really pleased with the Rawlings R9 series.

I've gotten way too into gloves in the last year+. We recently upgraded from Bradley Igniter to Wilson A2000.

Is it hard for y'all to break in new gloves for your kids? Especially the under 12? My son couldn't squeeze his shut for about 1.5 seasons when he was 7, and I worked on it every day. A kid on our team this year had the same problem at age 10

How do you break it in?

Here is what I have been doing lately. Mallet works, fold overs, dunk it in water and do more mallet work, shape it (while wet), then lots and lots of catch. Create hinges. 2 in the pinky helps close it more easily too. It's basically ball glove king's method on YouTube.