Does anyone know of any articles or information on the internet about what age a kid should be before he starts throwing a curve?
Thanks.

You'll probably hear different ages. Some say 16, some say 14, some say 18. Truth his many will learn when they're around 12 or 13, but now kids are learning even earlier than that. Can't be too careful with a curve though.

It all depends on how you look at it.

Most of the Little Leaguers throwing curves (ages 10-12) are having fun now, and why not let them? Most of them won't play into their teens.

But if you think you have potential to play into HS or beyond, you should lay off the curves at least until 14 and later if you can. The fact is, if you master the sinker and a good change, you won't need a curve until HS JV ball at least. And you might be surprised how many successful HS players don't use, or hardly use them.

When you do start, get good instruction on how to throw it. Another thread on this site pointed out that you aren't really supposed to "snap" a curve. Hand position and proper arm action get the job done right without the hard elbow/forearm stress of the "snap" curve that so many kids are taught out of ignorance.

Good question. I heard the age of 14 gets thrown around because of the growth plate development in the young players --- the only problem ----- the young players don't read that type of information. Even if the parents and the youth coaches tell the player they shouldn't be throwing a curve doesn't necessarily mean they will heed the warnings. I was just reading a newspaper article they did on my son’s curveball and in that article he said:

quote:

"I learned it from my dad when I was about 11 years old and have just been throwing it ever since," Bell said. "It started getting pretty good about my sophomore year in high school

The reason I taught my son to throw a curveball when he was eleven was because I knew he and his friends were throwing the curve and I wanted him to throw it properly and not get into the “twisting” his wrist and elbow and create arm problems. Most young players twist their arms and end up developing a “slurve” instead of the 12 to 6 curveball. While I know nothing about the anatomy of the throwing arm I was told this twisting motion is what puts dangerous stress on the developing elbow. I think it’s best NOT to throw the curve until you become high school age BUT if a player is throwing the curve he need to throw it properly.
Fungo

That's what I've always thought was funny. The adults argue about when to start, and make a point of not allowing curves in games. But during the afternoons after school, while we're still at work, they're in the back yard experimenting and throwing 50 of them per day!

The most important thing with a curve ball is to make sure your throwing it the right way with good form. If you do this you can start at a younger age, thats the biggest thing with younger pitchers. I started when I was 13 i think.

An important factor, in addition to learning the proper curve mechanics, is not to overuse the curve.

Throwing the curve too much will inhibit the progress of your fastball. And of course will increase the wear & tear on your arm. And it will also hurt your development as a pitcher. Learn to get batters out with your fastball & change. The curve is gravy.

When to start learning? IMHO 14YO is fine. But go easy.

One or two an inning is plenty. Don't become a "curveball pitcher".

grateful,
Good article!

We have several "big sticks" on our Dixie Ozone team (12U). We are pretty stacked. Any of our 1-6 batters are capable of taking it out on any given swing. We see A LOT of curve balls!!

One team we played had their pitcher throw nothing but CB's to our top six hitters. He threw ONLY CB's. He threw 116 pitches in 5 innings and at least 70%-80% CB's.

His dad is the head coach. After the game I asked him why in the world would he let his son throw that long and throw so many CB's. He said that the odds of his son making it to MLB is 1-in-a-million so why not let him have fun now.

We have 4 pitchers on this team and we have taught them all (with parent's permission) how to throw a CB properly. We call their pitches in the game and we call very few if any CB's. We emphasize the use of location with the FB and a CU. We will call an occasional CB just to show it but never more than once or twice an inning.

I agree with Fungo that the boys should be taught how to throw a CB so that they don't hurt their arms. Parents that tell their sons to not throw CB's are too often surprised to learn that they still do regardless.

To me there is no age that you can say ok go throw CBs.
As I have pointed out before my son has thrown a LL CB since he was 10. Never had an arm injury and is 19 playing D1 NCAA baseball in the Big South Conference.
There is a big difference between the 12-6 LL CB and a ML CB. The LL breaks slowly way out front and if thrown properly does not hurt your arm. The ML CB has a tighter rotation and breaks late at the plate and is harder on the elbow and should be learned when the growth plates are fully developed. My son used the ML CB at 16-17 and still will mix in a LL CB to throw a pumped batter off.
Son started working hard on his FB at 16 and is still working on it. We saw the college years as the years to build himself up and develop the FB.

quote:

His dad is the head coach. After the game I asked him why in the world would he let his son throw that long and throw so many CB's. He said that the odds of his son making it to MLB is 1-in-a-million so why not let him have fun now.

There's some sanity in that. I see lots of terrible kid pitchers being advised to SAVE their arms. For what?

Nothing better for the young pitching arm then to 10 run the other team in five quick shut out innings. As for "safety," best way to avoid a line drive into your gut is to strike the batter out with whatever means you can muster, including a nice curve.

It's nice if junior can throw 75 in LL, but how many practice fastballs will he have to throw to get to that speed? 100,000 probably.

The subject isn't so simple. There are many tradeoffs.

quote:

There's some sanity in that. I see lots of terrible kid pitchers being advised to SAVE their arms. For what?

Maybe High School, or college...I say it's ludicrous to have a 10 year old throw a curve ball. You never know when your son may just be that 1 in a million. Why blow it when he's 10 and never find out?

JMO though........

quote:

There is a big difference between the 12-6 LL CB and a ML CB. The LL breaks slowly way out front and if thrown properly does not hurt your arm. The ML CB has a tighter rotation and breaks late at the plate and is harder on the elbow and should be learned when the growth plates are fully developed.

Bobblehead, You lost me ---- Could you explain to me the different ways the pitcher throws the "little League curveball" and the "major league curveball" and why the major league curveball causes injury and the "little league curveball doesn't?
Also, do you think there are such things as a 12-6 ML curveball or a LL Slurve? You don't need to explain the LL vs the ML Fastball --- I basically uderstand the difference between a ML fastball and a LL fast ball ---One IS and one AIN"T!
Could the real difference between the LL curve and the ML curve is that one breaks and one don't?
Lost in the bullpen!
Fungo

There is no way to tell at 10 or 11 YO who will be pitching in high school (much less college).

I never wanted to take a chance on letting some kid ruin his arm, based on my wild guess that he might not have a future in baseball.

my opinion; I don't let my pitchers throw more than 1 curve ball every two innings or so. 1) I don' know enough about when it is okay to start throwing curves balls and when it is not okay to start throwing curve balls (in the context of growth plates etc). I ain't interested in taking any chances with the arms on my team.

The problem I see with kids is when they have learned to throw a curve ball they want to show off to their buddies in the school yard. I have a second baseman here who has never pitched in a game but has thrown so many schoolyard curve balls he can't throw anything straight anymore.

I get my pitchers to focus on location and messing up the hitters timing.

My brother is a former D1 coach and currently a pro scout. He didn't let his 3 boys throw a curve until 16. Also didn't let them play football until high school (and dad was an all-state quarterback). Baseball is #1 sport for all 3 boys. #1 son was his high school's quarterback, played basketball, pitched and played outfield. This is his last year of college baseball, he's a pitcher for a Big 10 school. He did have Tommy John surgery 2 years ago.

Son #2 is a senior in high school. Dislocated his non-throwing shoulder one week before his first freshman football game while making a tackle in practice. Got back for last 3 games. After freshman year he decided to not play anymore football as baseball future seemed potentially bright. Did play basketball as he is 6-5 and was co-MVP on team this year. Plays third base and is team's #1 pitcher, but doesn't really like pitching. Will be headed to an SEC school in the fall on a baseball scholarship, expects to play third base.

Son #3 will start high school in the fall.

Bottom line on age for curveballs...everyone has a different opinion. How's that for being decisive. LOL

My 13 year old son throws a "curveball", and has since he was 11. It is different from the curveball that I learned to throw in that he holds the ball with the same grip as a two-seam fastball, but slightly lifts his index finger off of the ball.

His motion arm speed and arm slot are the same as the fastball, but the pitch is slower and breaks down and in. The rotation looks the same and it breaks just like the curveball that I was taught. It took him a couple of years to get command, but it is now his "go to" pitch.

I questioned his coach when my son started working on this pitch; he said that it would not put any more stress on his arm than a fastball would. My son has never complained about his arm hurting, and his strength and velocity continue to increase as he grows. I have been told that as long as he stays on top of the ball and doesn't drop down and try to snap it off, it's not going to hurt him.

Am I being naive and risking his future, or can I relax and enjoy watching him bend it in for a strike?

Fungo the CB my son threw at 10-14 breaks 25-30' out front and was a long sweeping curve. The Ther was no "tommahawk" motion and it was not stressfull on his elbow as the arm motion was smooth . He was taught by Jim Ridley former Blue Jay now Twins pitching scout how to throw a ML CB witch has a tight rotation and breaks 3-4' in front of the plate. It has a violent break as opposed to a gentler break. At the younger age the batters knew it was breaking but had trouble hitting it. At an older age the more experienced batters had a better chance of making contact.
I was assured that the CB he threw at the early age had no more stress than a FB. There was no abrupt snap that trabsfered stress to the elbow. I watched him very closely all his practices and games and questioned him to the point of annoyance about his arm. My son is as close to perinoid about his arm health as any pitcher and has pulled himself twice over the last 2 years because his arm was stiff in the elbow area. The 1st time was in freezing weather that had intemitten rain ,sun and everything in between. He had 7 Ks in the 1st 3 innings and did not want to risk injury. He started a game in Cleveland a week later and pulled himself because he was still stif. Went to the doctor who said he had a stressed Ulnar and to keep throwing until the swelling went down. It was more a mental thing than a serious injury and he was fine once he knew what it was.

The pitch Heavy D is talking about sounds like more of a Cut Fastball than a legit curveball, and I suspect that alot of the so-called LL Curveballs are basically cut fastballs as well. Kind of a different animal than the regular curveball. Some similarities in that it darts or curves, but the mechanics are quite different.