How many pitches should a 10 year old throw in a baseball game?

Answer 1

Whatever you do, DO NOT LET A 10-YEAR OLD THROW A BREAKING BALL!

Until about the age 16, there is a tremendous growth in the arm and the breaking ball will cause damage that cannot be repaired.
Work on the mechanics of the regular fastball, teach arm position and the two grips (two-seam and four-seam). No one is ever drafted under age 16, don't wreck the arm before they are old enough to really compete.

Answer 2

I have never seen a worry like this before but the question intriques me because it is a necessity to know. Here is some of the basic things you should know: No 10 year old should throw a curveball or think about throwing a curveball. The only pitches should be fastball or a changeup, and maybe not even the changeup. When I played when I was that young the league I played in had a limit of 4 innings per pitcher. Back then I had never thought of the use for it. I had always thought it was so a pitcher couldn't dominate but this also applied so a coach could not overwork a pitcher and blowout his arm for the rest of his life. I wouldn't throw a kid more than 4 innings, and if he is throwing a lot of balls and is getting rocked around then it is your decesion to pull him out of the game. No more than 4 innings.

Answer 3

I'd say 40-45, maybe pushing it to 50 on a rare occasion. This assumes a mixture of fastballs and changeups. I wouldn't let a kid even try to throw a curve at that age. There is a reason we're seeing so many young pitchers having ligament replacment surgery in MLB these days at the ages of 21 and 22. Too many breaking balls when their arms were still developing. Kerry Wood of the Cubs was damaged in high school. Some of his pitch counts were criminal.
If you can teach a 10 year old kid to throw a decent circle changeup along with his fastball, he'll get 10 year old hitters out with regularity without having to throw a breaking ball. It's all about changing speeds and control at that age. Mostly control.

Answer 4

Absolutely no curve balls for a 10 year old. An arm needs to be fully developed before it can handle the strain of a curve ball. Have you ever heard of Tommy John surgery? Look it up ! Fastballs and change ups only at that age. I have coached little league for several years now and I never let a pitcher go for more than 3 innings. And if he is struggling ,walking a lot of guys , throwing too many pitches, It might just be 1 or 2 innings.

Answer 5

Little League states that 9-10 can throw up to 75 pitches in a game. 11-12;s 85 pitches. Whatever amount they pitch the then have to have the required amount of rest depending on pitches thrown. It all depends on the kid. How much has he pitched before, how strong is he, or she, and also depend on the day. I have coached 10-11 year olds that had no problem throwing 75-85 pitches.. some even finished games in that amount. Others, I wouldn t throw more than 50. I don t like any type of curve balls at this age.. but you do see them..

Answer 6

I spent six years coaching 9&10 year old Little League kids and my solution was two innings per kid.; period end of story
The reason being at that age LL pitchers tend to walk a lot of kids and see a lot of deep counts. Umpires contribute to this because they don't like using big strike zones . Coaches contribute also because they love yelling out that idiot mantra " A walk is a good as a hit "
The net result is that it is entirely possible for a kid to throw 60-70 pitches in two innings.
A positive side benifit is that it really cleans up a coaches paper work- you can pencil in all your pitching changes before the game.
My kids threw fastballs and change- ups only
It's axiomatic to say that if a pitcher can't get a fastball over the plate they can't get anything else over either. Curveballs are not appropropriate for anyone under 16.

Answer 7

it all depends on the kid. most kids at that age will only be good for one or two innings. a lot of the time, you can see the quality of their pitching drop off as they get tired. if the kid is really good, and has not thrown too many pitches, i sometimes leave them in for three innings. i like to keep them in until the end of an inning, or at least until they get an out, because a lot of the kids at that age have fragile psyches, and i dont want them to feel like their coach thinks they cant pitch. a ten year old, unless extremely well conditioned and extremely good, should not be throwing all pitches in a full game (my league plays 6 innings). and under no circumstances should a ten year old be throwing anything other than a fastball and changeup (when a kid is old enough to shave, thats when their body is ready for them to start throwing moving pitches). those are two quick ways to ruin any shot they have at playing baseball at higher levels, and causing them a lot of arm troubles when they grow up. all in all, i usually like to limit around the 35-40 mark

Answer 8

A ten year old should only be trowing about 40 pitches. Then if he is throwing any sort of breaking ball you should probably take away another ten pitches. A ten year old should not even be throwing a breaking ball b/c he could seriously hurt his arm. It is recommended that you don't start throwing curves until abot 15 or 16. Keep a low pitch count and straight fastballs.

Answer 9

Depending on the strength of his arm I'd say between, 25-45. And remeber that's how many pitches he could throw. If he is ever complaining about his arm hurting take him out of there. 10 is way too young to be dealing with arm injuries.

Answer 10

A ten year old, I would say about 20-30. Once you start growing more i wud say a ratio of about 10 pitches per 2 inches of growth.