Pitching and Catching

Question
I have a 13 year old son that pitches.  He is left handed.  His coach continually wants him to catch a number of innings and then take the mound and pitch.  He also wants him to pitch and when taken out as pitcher to go straight to catching.  I am very concerned about over using his arm.  It is my opinion that the pitch count includes throws from the catcher back to the pitcher before or after pitching from the mound in a game.  What is your incite?  Thank You.

Answer
Tony,

It is always a good idea to save all your energy and arm strength for the mound when your a pitcher. Throwing too much can put stress on his arm and cause injury.

This being said, I think it would be okay for him to catch first, and use that as a warm up. The key would be not to throw the ball hard back to the pitcher. Tell him to throw it softly, as this is not taking much out of his arm. He will lose some power in his legs from squatting, but should be okay overall.

The one thing I would avoid is catching after pitching. He will be sore and tired from the mound, and since pitching is a high stress activity for the arm, throwing more can cause bad mechanics and arm problems.

Either way, just be careful with his arm. Never let another coach decide his future by ruining his throwing arm.