A pediatric sports medicine specialist at Loyola University warns of possible risks to children while playing baseball.
"All kids should be involved in physical activity, and baseball is a great, safe way to get kids exercising, help them develop eye/hand coordination, deepen concentration skills and learn how to work as a team," Dr. Jerold String said in a Loyola press release.
Dr. String said that the most common problem in baseball is the risk of getting eye injuries. Almost 40,000 eye injuries that happen in sports or other activities every year in the U.S. are because of baseball.
"Children are especially vulnerable to eye injury because they don't have the same depth perception," Dr. String said. "Be especially careful if your child wears glasses. Make sure they wear protective lenses and consider a face shield for the batting helmet."
He advised the coaches and parents to teach the strikers to turn their backs toward the ball and their heads away from the ball while playing the game. He further said that the ideal age for starting to play baseball is five.
"A child's hand/eye coordination and ability to concentrate really start to develop at age 5, and that can play a role in keeping kids safe while playing a game," Dr. String said. "Pitchers tend to have more shoulder and elbow injuries due to overuse. Catchers tend to encounter the most traumas with foul balls being hit off their body and painful collisions at home plate."
He advised that young pitchers should be taught proper technique to keep an eye on their pitch count. Children below 14 should avoid throwing curve balls and sliders should not be thrown until a pitcher is 16 years or older.
