Is the Curveball Dangerous for Young Pitchers?

Throwing a curveball once was thought to put young pitchers at greater risk for arm injuries. More-recent data in college-age pitchers have dispelled this belief in this age group. To determine whether the curveball is dangerous for younger pitchers, researchers compared biomechanical parameters involved in throwing a fastball, a curveball, and a change-up in 29 volunteer youth-league pitchers (age range, 9.8–14.9 years).

After appropriate warm-up, each pitcher threw five fastballs, five curveballs, and five change-ups in random order in a simulated lab where kinetic parameters were calculated using a series of markers on the body. Overall, the fastball was associated with the highest kinetic values, followed by the curveball and the change-…