I just wanted to throw it November 13th 18:08

“I was shocked when I saw an elbow with a bone removed in X-ray.
The mother of a baseball boy spoke with tears in his eyes. The boy had an elbow surgery and gave up the pitcher. At that time, I was still in fifth grade. (Tokyo Metropolitan Broadcasting Center reporter Yuta Fujii)

A strange thing in a small ace

The boy started playing baseball when he was in third grade. She was 1 meter and 30 centimeters tall and had not yet made her body. Still, he was a favorite pitcher from the 4th grade, and he threw more than 100 balls a day.

He played an active role as an ace for a team with few members, but the elbow pain stopped one day as he continued throwing with small bodies in repeated games and practice.

"I was throwing up to the limit, but I couldn't stand the pain. It was the limit. I had surgery, but I couldn't continue throwing injuries after that. I liked the pitcher. I didn't start, or I felt like a protagonist.

Three to four baseball boys are disabled! ?

Child who breaks shoulder and elbow by throwing too much. In fact, I found out that there are many cases.

A group of hardball baseball teams “Boys League”, which has produced a number of first-class players such as Darvish pitchers and Masahiro Tanaka pitchers, asked 49 doctors for top-level junior high school students. It was found that there were 37 athletes who had a disability such as a part of the bone being pulled, and 75.5%, or 3 out of 4 athletes.

The cause is “throw too much”.

According to Dr. Kozo Furushima of Keito Orthopedic Hospital who diagnosed, even though the body was not completed in the growth period, a part of the bone was peeled off by repeatedly throwing and placing an excessive burden on the elbow.

If you take a rest for about three months, the bones will return to their original state, but if you continue to practice, the bones and cartilage will collide and be destroyed, and it will be necessary to treat them, and even the athlete's life may be taken away.

Serious interviews with athletes also revealed serious results.

▽ Over 26 players (53%) who have reported elbow pain so far. ▽ 24 players (49%) replied that they had shoulder pain, both of which were around half. Furthermore, there are 8 athletes (16%) who have symptoms that the elbows hurt when throwing or hurt when pressing the ligament part.

"I need a break right now"
The doctor told the players.

Harsh boys baseball

Why does this happen to baseball boys? In the background, there was a practice environment that could be said to be more severe than a professional.

In this survey, when we heard about the practice time (Saturday and Sunday) from the athletes, the number of athletes who replied ▽ 8 hours or more exceeded 25 people (51%), more than half of the total, and the athletes who replied ▽ 5 hours or more Also reached nearly 40% (39%). Moreover, only 7 athletes (14%) answered that they had more than a month of rest per year. This was also 10%.

The doctor said that the disability of a part of the elbow bone would return in 3 months, but there is no time to restore it. Exactly “practice pickled”.

The children answered that it was a similar practice time in elementary school.

This was one of the reasons why Ace, who represented the region during elementary school and junior high school, and became a “genius”, did not grow.

“Heavy pressure” on children

A further reason is the circumstances unique to the youth baseball team.

Many of them are thin and excellent players who cannot be changed. It is said that there is an atmosphere that can be immediately relied on in an unbeatable situation.

When it comes to the absolute ace of the team, the leader tends to think that "If you don't have this pitcher, you can't win" or "If you lose with this pitcher, you can't help".

The more you play, the more you win. Furthermore, the tournament was mostly the final tournament game if it was lost.

Unlike professional baseball in league, youth baseball is a battle that cannot be defeated to win, and a small ace bears the burden.

The boy who abandoned the pitcher in the 5th grade introduced at the beginning looked back on that time.

“The director was angry and I was just scared and I couldn't say anything. I couldn't say that it would hurt because I thought it would be 'sorry and annoying” that I couldn't enter the game.

Is it really for children?

In the summer of this year, Koshien's regional qualifying was an opportunity to throw a stone into this trend.

In the final of the Iwate tournament, Ofunato High School and pitcher Yuki Sasaki, who lost the fastest 163 km, lost without climbing in the final and missed Koshien. If we win, there was a lot of debate about the director of Koshien, who didn't hire ace.

A commentator said, “It should have been thrown,” on a commercial television, to a director who had been carefully appointed as having been diagnosed with bones, muscles, and ligaments that had not grown enough to withstand the speed of the ball. Darvish pitchers criticized it on Twitter and attracted a lot of interest.

The instructor says to the children the words "for everyone" or "for the team's dream". It may be a sign of enthusiasm, but the words have resulted in the separation of children who loved baseball.

Although there are educational aspects of club activities and sports clubs, adult guidance often tends to be self-employed.

Isn't it necessary to cut the direction in a way that respects the attitude of children to think and act on their own initiative?

What adults can do

In response to the results of this survey, the Boys League has decided to limit the pitcher pitch to prevent overthrowing in East Japan since August.

The National High School Baseball Association, Takano Ren = Japan High School Baseball Federation, plans to formally decide to introduce a ball number limit this month after receiving a report from an expert meeting.

The boy ’s mother is still regretful.

“We and the couple had no baseball experience, and after practice, the children said their elbows hurt, but the team had a feeling that“ it ’s an exaggeration to go to the hospital right away ”. "I was misunderstood that it would be a natural pain.

The mother still has a scene that is unforgettable. It was a game where my son lost 1 point as a pitcher at the tournament just before the surgery.

“When I finished throwing, my son had a very good smile.“ I threw it, I did it. ”Why was it so refreshing even though I lost it? I don't have it "(mother)

A boy who gave up his favorite pitcher. There should still be more things adults can do to avoid repeating the same thing.

As a reporter for Yuta Fujii, the Tokyo Metropolitan Broadcasting Center, he covers a wide range of topics from economic incidents to sports and entertainment.
“Children and sports” has been covered since last year.