Pitch count strategy in Little League

[CoachTex]

As a coach I always counted my pitchers' pitches. I can tell you for 8yo's, around 50 pitches you can see them start struggling. For 9&10yo's, between 60 and 70 pitches and for 11&12yo's, around 80 to 90. Of course, there's always exception to the rule. Now if LL really wanted to implement an effective pitch count, the count would graduate as the season progressed. Start off at 30 the first two weeks, 40 the next two weeks, etc. Where I see the sore arms are usually at the beginning of the season. By the end of the season, most 12yo's don't have too much problem going 80 pitches.

It's all about repetitions. For the kid that throws 80 pitches 3 days a week during the off season is fine. The kid that has to find his glove in the attic and throws 80 pitches the first game of the year is going to have problems.

But how do you legislate that? How do you protect the kids from the win-at-all-cost coaches?