January 5, 2010 | 
Author I jotted down notes about my bullpen or general throwing sessions from months 7-9.5 of my recovery. I discovered it while cleaning my place. I’m just rewriting what I had down, so I may or may not be able to clarify if you have any questions.
March 22 – Good, not sore
March 24 – Good, not sore
March 26 – 7 months – Good, not sore
March 28 – 15 Changeups; good, but not perfect
March 30 – 10 changeups, discomfort on 1/3 of them
April 1 – 3/4 speed; no changes, no pain, 66-71 mph. felt ok, not perfect next day
April 3 – felt good, not perfect; 45 pitches @ 3/4 (speed)
April 6 – 1st two digits had pain when pressure applied
April 9 – mid to upper 70s, little pain; felt good after 4 days off prior
April 17 – no pain! 65 pitches at 3/4
April 19 – long tossed to 240 no pain
April 21 – felt good. into low 80s maybe
April 23 – gun read 75-77. TIRED! but no pain
April 25 – 8 months – Hit 81, consistent 76-79 50/30 pitches
April 28 – long toss to 270, 45 pitches at 85%
April 30 – 30 + 45 vs hitters. 82-84. Felt good
May 2 – VERY tired from April 30. Arm achy and slight pain, very dead. threw 70 at 2/3 speed
May 4 – flat ground, 15 curves at 50 ft. pain still, arm not recovered from previous.
May 7 – Hard pen, felt good. 80 pitches at 90%
May 9 – good long toss, felt great.
May 11 – 100% from mound, 100% changes, 50% curves (15). felt good, no pain, but knotted up on forearm after.
May 14 – 100% fast + cu, no curves. Still knot in forearm but no pain
May 16 – 45 fast-curve-change, 75-75-50% respectively. less tightness, no knot next day.
May 18 – Light pen, 30 curves
May 20 – In game, 28 pitches. 30 curves beforehand. Bicep Dead, big knot afterward. No throw 21-24.
May 25 – In game 35 pitches, no knot after, felt good
May 27 – 70 pitch pen, 30 90% curves, felt good, bicep better
May 29 – 50 pitch, 70%, curves getting sharper!
May 31 – 60 in game; arm felt slow, but great after. 55 fb/ 5 curves. No tightness at all.
June 2 – Long toss, hard but not too many throws. Need to get intensity up and let go. Felt good next morning.
June 4 – Bullpen 20 max effort, 85-90. Arm felt achy, some occasional pain twinges, and very dead. Decent next day. Fatigue in bicep/tricep still, but not terrible.
Thats the whole log. Wish I had done more of that during it all, but I was more interested in getting after it than writing it all down. Hindsight…
Hi,
I noticed in your notes from 7-9.5 months you were throwing long toss up to 270. My son is about 4.5 months out from his tj surgery. His rehab only has him going out to 180 and then moving to the mound. After that it says to warm up to 120 and then go to the mound.
I think the longer throwing distances are helpful and want to have him keep throwing longer as his arm gets stronger. The doctor does not believe that though. How did you come upon throwing those longer distances before you were completely cleared? I believe in your other posts you said you were not completely cleared until 10 months.
Thanks,
Rob
First, I don’t advocate anyone straying from their doctor’s orders. I’m no doctor, and for me to recommend disobeying your surgeon’s orders would be reckless and irresponsible.
And, like I wrote in other posts about the surgery, every doctor sees different results and prescribes different things. I didn’t have an arm brace, ever, which many would consider very dangerous; most guys wear them for 6 weeks. There are probably tons of ways to write a successful rehab program, but, seeing as how you chose your specific doctor for his knowledge and skill set, I wouldn’t recommend anything but to stick with his wishes. If he does everything the doctor asks, he will make it to the finish line just the same as those who do unorthodox things. Players DO re-injure themselves, so err on the side of caution.
We will stick with the program. Thanks for the advice. It makes sense.
Hey Im 8 months removed from TJ. Ive been throwing but very timidly. I stumbled across your article and was just wondering what you did for strengthening exercises. My doctor didnt give me a rehab program, so Ive been on my own basically. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
If you look in my “pitchers homework” category on the left column you will find the elbow rehab that was given me. I started light and did 2-3 sets daily, then as the resistance got heavier, I stuck with 2-3 sets and dropped to 3-4 times per week. All reps were 15-20, nice and slow. I also follow the shoulder workout outlined in that same pitchers homework category. You should have been given rehab to follow; that’s a shame. I’m not sure what kind of success you can expect without going through all of the strengthening, especially in the early going. Most people by 8 months are throwing off the mound at about 75-90% intensity. Best of luck to you.
Hi I had surgery about 8.5 months ago and just started throwing 100% recently and am 84-86.. does velocity typically increase over the time? or is this about where ill be? before surgery was 89-92. thanks!
No, it will keep increasing. There’s no way of knowing where your ceiling is, but a number of factors will allow you to keep increasing: 1. your elbow and forearm is still not as strong as it will be. 2. What is 100% to you today is probably not a true 100%, and the longer you throw at 100% the more your body will learn to move fast, which will allow it to move even faster. 3. More innings at full will keep strengthening everything.
I was able to touch 90 at 9 months. 2 months later I would throw 90-91 for an inning or two. A year later, I throw nearly every pitch there or above. I’ll hit 2 years in a few months, and It’s still getting better. Keep progressing with it and it will keep getting better.
Hi,
I’m 9 months out of surgery and have recently started throwing in simulated games about 1 inning or 30 pitches. My elbow never bothers me when I throw, but it does get very sore and stiff afterwards or the next day. Meaning – I have a lot less range of motion, and feel a bit of pressure or tightness in the elbow wen I bend my arm towards my shoulder. I was wondering when your soreness and stiffness in your elbow disappeared or if it ever will? Thanks!
Austin,
It will fade with time. As you continue to stress your new elbow in new ways, everything in your forearm and elbow is going to react. The stiffness and soreness is a normal response to the increased workload, and is just a result of everything being beaten up a bit as it gets stronger. Nothing alarming. The loss of range of motion and pressure is probably swelling, which is another byproduct of the rebuilding process. I even had a little of that this season around the 100 inning mark, but I was still fine and good to go. It’s not always something to be alarmed about, but you should always pay attention to your arm and give it some rest if you feel like it needs it, and talk to your doctor and keep him in the loop. All of that stuff will go away with time as you get stronger. A lot of the little aches, stiffnesses and such went away for good in the 12-18 month window, and to start my pro season this year (I was at 20 months) my right elbow was just the same as my left in almost every way.
I am about 2 months out of surgery and feel sore after workouts, especially since i started overhead activities such as chest passes and soccer throws. is this pretty normal and what type of excercises did you do early on in your rehab?
Josh,
I wasn’t doing any overhead exercises early on. I started with whatever leg stuff I wanted, as long as I didn’t have to hold heavy weight, wall pushups, rows, bicep curls, tricep extensions, and whatever core exercises I could handle. It wasn’t too fancy. I didn’t do any medicine ball throwing for a long time. Soreness is normal, and as long as your doctor is fine with what youre doing then there shouldn’t be a problem.
Dan -
I am exactly a year out of surgery. I’m a division 1 baseball player, and with finals done we were told to come home for the break and start a long toss program. I hadn’t thrown in almost 3 weeks, and right out of the shoot, I didn’t hesitate to go right into longtoss on the first day (which was Monday). Now, my elbow has been really sore (almost a bad sore) the past 2 days. I’m nervous to throw now. Did this kind of thing ever happen to you? and also, Do you think I should hold off for a while throwing or maybe go out and throw very lightly up to 60 ft. I know you’re not a doctor but have you heard of anything like this even when the patient is a year out of surgery?
Jerry – When my elbow wasn’t used to something, it reacted in a very negative way usually. I got heavy into long toss from months 9-11, and I got some pretty significant tendinitis in month 11 that shut me down for 6 weeks, and then I picked back up from short toss. I thought I re-tore it at that point. You just have to keep stressing it in progressive intervals – jumping into anything is going to likely have negative consequences until you are way out, like 18+ months; that’s when the elbow seems to be really, truly back to normal. I would just back off and start throwing again as tolerated, and starting back down at 60 feet seems like a good idea. I would also check with your doctor and see what he thinks. But, a lot of times my elbow got pretty sore during my rehab and it was just part of the process. Sometimes just an extra few days is all it takes and things are back to normal again. If it persists, have a conversation with your doc.
I appreciate your throwing notes and your responses to questions. I truley believe rehab and coming back depends on your doctors experience and rehab program, which many seem to be very different from one another. My son is a division one baseball player and is a little over three months removed from TJ surgery. He has to wear a brace for four months. His doctor who was trained at the job clinic in CAL, gave the trainer a packet of instructions as to his rehab time table and what to do. My point is, don’t come back to fast, and pick the right surgron. At the college age I feel players should be monitored by a professional trainer rather than working on thier own. Ask questions of the doctor before accepting just anyone. I would probably not choose a doctor who does not provide you with a rehab program.
Dan,
i am 8 months out of surgery and am throwing from 120 feet ( hat drills) and 3 sets of 25, some days my arm feels amazing, best it ever has, but then when im done throwing i get this pain/stiffness in my elbow when i extend and pull my arm into my shoulder, but i do not feel anything when i throw, the stiffness usually goes away within and hour (sometimes a day) did u ever feel this when u were throwing, and is it bad?
Yep – I got tons of stuff like that. A Good rule of thumb is to give it 24 hours before you worry about anything – your arm is going to get sore and weird feeling the more you do stuff, especially as you throw breaking pitches and get to game velocity. Most of it will go away within 24 hours, and if not, it’s still usually fine but might need an extra day to rest. It’s doing new things, so don’t expect it to be perfect. Sounds like its going fine.
thank you so much for the feedback, i was starting to get a little worried. But i have some more confidence now. But yes it all goes away within 24 hours or less. I have one more question, on my instructed throwing program it has me starting bullpen sessions in about 3 days if im on schedule, It says nothing about partial velocity, so im assuming that it means i will throw at full velocity, i have a feeling it wont be as fast i as can throw, but my velocity will increase correct?
You start and your velocity will be about 65 mph, and you’ll feel like you’re throwing your hardest. Next time out, that same intensity will be 68 mph. Then, over time, that 65 will slowly turn into 90, or whatever you used to throw. It just takes time. My bullpens started off at 50% effort, though, and progressed over a number of weeks before I was throwing 90% or 100%. I didn’t jump into full speed by any means.
Im only 16, i wish i had 90 mph behind me, but i only throw about 81 to 83mph, Is true that u have more velocity after a full recovery, and i through my first bullpen the other day, my elbow was extremely sore after, was yours really sore after your first time?
Hi I had tj surgery about 14 months ago. I’ve been taking it really slow and my speed is back to where it was about. But lately I’ve been having stiffness and loss of range of motion while and after I throw. Is this normal? How long till it goes away? Thanks!
I had that, and it slowly went away the more I threw, and it popped up the more I did things my new elbow hadn’t yet done – like throw harder, throw breaking balls, long toss, etc. If it really concerns you, always consult your surgeon. Most of that stuff cleared for me within a day or two, and didnt linger too bad between throwing, though it appeared frequently when I was throwing hard consistently and pitching in games early on.