Arm Care for Overhead Athletes

This is a topic I am obviously passionate about, and one that I like to revisit a few times each year.

When I talk about overhead athletes, I am not just referring to baseball players.

I am also talking about softball players, tennis players, volleyball players, swimmers, football quarterbacks, javelin throwers, cricket players, badminton players, axe throwers, and anyone else whose sport requires repetitive overhead movements.

Any time the arm repeatedly moves overhead at high speeds, the shoulder is placed under tremendous stress.

If you expect your shoulder to perform at a high level, you have to prepare it for those demands.

That is exactly why I recommend every overhead athlete follow a structured arm care program.

I will include our overhead athlete arm care program here.

There is another piece of the puzzle that I think often gets overlooked.

Managing Workload

I do believe that repetition matters.

Generally speaking, the more quality repetitions an athlete accumulates, the more skilled they become at that movement.

For example, a baseball player who has thrown 5,000 quality pitches throughout high school will probably be a better pitcher than someone who has only thrown 500.

Practice matters.

However, there is a point where more is no longer better.

Problems begin to arise when athletes perform the same movement at a high intensity, week after week, month after month, without ever allowing the body to recover.

This is where the concept of a deload becomes incredibly important.

A deload simply means intentionally reducing either the volume or the intensity of training for a short period of time.

For example, imagine a swimmer who normally trains 6 days each week.

One option would be to continue swimming at the same intensity but reduce training to 3 days per week for a couple of weeks.

Another option would be to continue swimming 6 days per week while cutting the total yardage or number of laps in half.

Both strategies reduce the overall workload while allowing the body to continue moving and recovering.

The same concept applies to almost every overhead sport.

A baseball player might continue throwing but reduce the total number of throws.

A tennis player might shorten practice sessions for a week.

A volleyball player might reduce the number of serves and hits during practice.

Sometimes, the best deload is simply participating in a different activity altogether.

For example, a baseball player who plays basketball during the winter is naturally giving their throwing arm a break while still developing athleticism, coordination, and conditioning.

One of the reasons I like multi-sport athletes is that they often build athletic qualities without constantly placing stress on the exact same tissues.

Deloading is not a sign of weakness.

It is a training strategy.

In fact, deload weeks are commonly programmed into strength training because coaches understand that recovery is what allows the body to adapt.

I think the same philosophy should be applied to sports.

There is a reason professional sports include an All-Star break, bye weeks, or an offseason.

The body simply was not designed to perform at maximum intensity every single day of the year.

Recovery is not the opposite of training.

Recovery is part of training.

If your goal is to stay healthy and continue performing at a high level, make arm care and workload management just as important as your throwing program.

Train hard.

Recover well.

Come back stronger.