Load Up, Not Wear Down: A Guide to Healthy Softball Pitching

By Dr. Courtney Klueppel

Softball season can be long, especially on pitchers. Between school, recreational, and travel teams when does your daughter get a break? Fastpitch softball is becoming more and more popular in youth athletics. With growing popularity also comes the increase in potential injuries with sport, early specialization to sport, and fatigue with year-round play. You may notice the deeper into the season your daughter gets, she gets an achy arm and the innings start adding up fast. Recent studies have found that half of shoulder and elbow injuries within softball alone are due to chronic or overuse injuries. Pitching load in softball also contributes to 50% of injuries sustained in softball across age groups. Baseball has worked to establish age appropriate pitch counts and workload guidelines to assist in pitcher durability and arm health, but are there similar recommendations for softball to protect your pitcher?

What Is "Pitching Workload"? 

Most of the time, as softball parents, we think workload is just the number of pitches thrown in a game or innings played, but it is much more than that. Workload is defined by the International Olympic Committee as, “the total sport and non-sport burden (physiological, psychological, or mechanical stressors) applied to a human biological system.” This splits workload into external and internal factors to consider for your pitcher. The external factors include those like work intensity such as pitch counts, batters faced, innings pitched, etc in softball and baseball. The internal factors are determined by the bodily response an athlete has to external factors such as their blood pressure, heart rate, or rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Internal factors are also subject to the individual such as their age, weight, height, and even their skill level. Workload is an important part of every position within softball, but it can be overlooked in pitchers due to the difference in mechanics of an underhand pitch versus overhead baseball pitch. 

Is there a pitch count in softball?

There is no current restriction on pitch counts within fastpitch softball that is regulated. However, the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine recently updated softball pitch count recommendations and associated rest days established off of age ranges through the STOP Campaign with the goal to decrease overuse injuries across youth athletics. A recent survey of parents for softball athletes showed that only 14.8% had some knowledge of current pitching recommendations for fastpitch softball. Of the polled parents, 93% stated they would use guidelines for softball pitchers in order to keep their athletes safe. The current softball pitching recommendations can be found at https://www.sportsmed.org/softball-injury-prevention. 

Some recommendations within the guidelines advise to refrain from playing/pitching year-round and having overlapping seasons with multiple teams. They also suggest age-appropriate pitching with specific rest that is defined as, “no live pitches, even for batting practice.” Pitching guidelines for athletes that are 12 years old or younger can pitch two consecutive days, but the recommendation is to limit their number of pitches per game and cumulative pitches for both days. For pitchers 13 years or older, they are able to pitch three consecutive days in a row, but similar guidelines are in place for number of pitches per game as well as pitches per day to allow for throwing three days in a row. Below is the pitch per game and per day that is recommended by age range. These recommendations are slightly different to what has been published in baseball through the MLB Pitch Smart Guidelines for baseball pitchers, as the softball recommendations do not include how many days of rest a pitcher should have after an outing based on pitches thrown. The general recommendation currently is two days of rest for pitchers after they’ve thrown their max pitches. 

3 Key Strategies to Prevent Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries in sports can be either physical, due to mechanical stresses applied to the body, or psychological from mental fatigue and burnout in the sport from constant play. Strategies to prevent physical overuse in softball include:

1. Rest Days: 

Rest days should be strategically placed throughout the week or following outings. The NCAA regulates fastpitch softball to 1 calendar day per week of rest without sanctioned practice during the season. Rest days are also an important component of mental recuperation that assist in avoiding burnout. 

2. Avoiding Year-Round Play:

Similar to baseball recommendations, softball players should take an active rest from participation in competitive sport for 3-4 months per year. This can be supplemented with different sports or used as a mental reset to prepare for the next season.

3. Appropriate Arm Care Routine: 

Arm care should be utilized both pre and post throwing in order to restore and optimize mobility and strength. It can continue to maximize performance without overstressing the body for the next outing. Your athlete’s arm care program should be tailored to what areas of movement efficiency they need assistance with. This could include but not be limited to upper back mobility, shoulder mobility and strength, lower body power, and core control. Your athlete’s program should also align with their throwing schedule based on the intensity of throwing whether it be a high intensity game outing or a low intensity rest day. 

• High Intensity (Post Game/Bullpen): Eccentric loading to the arm with slow returns from bands is a great way to restore mobility and assist to improve strength immediately following a pitching outing. 
• Moderate Intensity: Concentric loading to the arm with a focus on durability to rebuild strength following your outing. This should be performed with at least one day following for isometrics prior to their next outing.
• Low Intensity (Day Before Pitching): Isometrics and full body tensioning in preparation for next outing. Usually outlined as the day before throwing a bullpen or game day. 

Stop Guessing. Build a Durable Throwing Arm.

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1. Zaremski, Jason L., et al. "A narrative review of softball pitching workload and pitch counts in relationship to injury." Sports Health 17.1 (2025): 150-155. 
2. Soligard, Torbjørn et al. “How much is too much? (Part 1) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury.” British journal of sports medicine vol. 50,17 (2016): 1030-41. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096581
3. Kamarajugadda, Sravya et al. “Caregiver Awareness of Safe Pitching Recommendations in Youth Fastpitch Softball Pitchers.” Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine vol. 11,5 23259671231169947. 26 May. 2023, doi:10.1177/23259671231169947
4. https://www.sportsmed.org/softball-injury-prevention