Elbow pain when throwing is the complaint to take most seriously in a young baseball player. Shoulders get sore in the muscle; the elbow is where throwing stress concentrates on growth plates and ligaments — the structures behind the injuries every parent has heard of, from 'Little League elbow' to Tommy John surgery.
This is a plain-English guide for parents: what elbow pain in a thrower usually means, which locations matter most, and when to stop throwing and get it checked. It is general information, not a diagnosis.
Where it hurts matters
| Location | What it often involves in young throwers |
|---|---|
| Inside (medial) — the bump nearest the body | The most common and most important spot: growth-plate stress ('Little League elbow') in younger players, UCL stress in older ones |
| Outside (lateral) | Less common but taken very seriously — compression injuries of the outer elbow warrant prompt evaluation |
| Back (posterior) — the point of the elbow | Stress from forcefully straightening the arm at release |
| General, all-over ache after throwing | Often fatigue and workload — the signal to manage rest before it localizes |
A rough map, not a diagnosis — location narrows the possibilities, a professional confirms them.
What 'Little League elbow' actually is
In players roughly 8–14, the inner elbow contains a growth plate — a soft area of developing bone that's weaker than the ligament attached to it. Repetitive hard throwing pulls on that growth plate, and with too much volume and too little rest it gets irritated or, in worse cases, pulled apart. That's Little League elbow: not one bad throw, but accumulated workload on a structure that isn't done growing.
The encouraging part: caught early, it typically calms down with rest. Ignored, it can mean months off — which is why the response to inner-elbow pain is always the boring one: stop throwing and get it looked at.
Red flags: stop throwing and see a doctor
- Pain on the inner elbow during or after throwing — even a dull ache that keeps returning
- Sharp pain on a single throw, or a pop
- Pain at rest or pain that wakes them up
- Swelling, or loss of full straightening/bending compared to the other arm
- Numbness or tingling into the forearm or fingers
- Soreness that hasn't improved after several days of complete rest
The rule for parents
Muscle soreness gets a rest day. Elbow pain gets a stop and a check. No game, tournament, or roster spot is worth throwing through a growth-plate injury.
Why it almost never comes out of nowhere
Elbow injuries in young throwers are overwhelmingly overuse injuries. The weeks before the pain usually contain the story: a workload spike, a tournament weekend, short rest, pitching for two teams, or a velocity program layered on a full season. The players who avoid the bad version are the ones whose parents and coaches see that pattern building before the elbow starts talking. Two places to start: pitch count limits by age and required rest days by pitch count.
ArmTrack gives your player a 60-second daily log — throws, pain, soreness, recovery — and shows the trend, so a bad week is visible before it becomes a bad season. Free for players.
Get Started Free →Not medical advice
This guide can't tell you whether your child's elbow pain is serious — only an examination can. For any elbow pain in a young thrower, the safe sequence is: stop throwing, rest, and see a physician, ideally one who works with throwing athletes.