Six years ago, Portsmouth's 11- and 12-year-old all-stars relied mightily on Jordan Bean's right arm to reach the 60th Little League World Series. Bean, by youth baseball standards, threw a blazing fastball but needed a pitch with movement to keep some of the country's best young hitters off balance.

“Especially in Williamsport, (Pa., where the Little League World Series is played), you needed an 'out pitch,' something that was a swing-and-miss, this-guy's-not-going-to-hit-it pitch,” said Bean, now 19 and set to play Division III college baseball for Tufts University.

“In a sense, yes, I definitely felt pressure to throw a very good pitch that was not going to be hit.”

Throw the curveball — long believed to strain the elbow — or avoid it until high school? Coaches, players and parents annually struggle with the question, particularly as the stakes of youth-level tournaments increase.

Bean said he first threw the curveball early in the 2006 season. But, told the curve could lead to injury, he instead developed a cut-fastball. It gave him a pitch that changed direction — and traveled the 46 feet from mound to home plate at a speed eight mph slower than his high-70s heater.

“(Coaches) never directly put pressure on us to throw a curve,” said Bean, whose team was a 2006 national semifinalist. “They let us feel out the hitter, feel out the situation, and use (other pitches) where needed.”

Risky business?

The curveball for decades has been deemed hazardous to athletes who haven't reached skeletal maturity.

“The most common injury you're trying to avoid is an injury to the growth plate on the inside of the elbow,” said Dr. Emily Jones, a sports medicine physician with the department of orthopedics at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Concord.

In many circles, the longtime belief remains: The arm torque needed for throwing the curve can lead to a range of problems, from discomfort to ligament damage.

But recent studies suggest the pitch isn't necessarily the cause.

Little League International, in collaboration with USA Baseball and the Department of Sport Science at the University of North Carolina, completed a five-year study in 2011. Findings revealed overuse was the primary cause of arm injuries.

There was no proof that throwing a breaking ball posed a greater threat than other pitches.

The study monitored 1,332 pitchers from Little League, high school and college. The group included 410 pitchers from 8 to 13 years old, all followed from 2006 to 2010.

“Research is not conclusive yet that the curveball is the one problem,” Jones said. “It's an oversimplification. But, in general, I think it's good to hold off throwing the pitch.”

Jones emphasized the need for pitchers to learn proper throwing mechanics. Good lower-body drive, she said, can help alleviate stress placed on the elbow. Making time to rest the arm is also crucial, she said.

Opposing beliefs

Grant Lavigne is a standout hitter and pitcher for state champion Bedford Little League, which begins East Region Tournament play in Bristol, Conn., on Friday (2 p.m.). His father, Kevin Lavigne, also the Bedford manager, prohibited throwing the curve until this year.

Kevin Lavigne said one of the “primary factors” was his son's physical development.

“I also believe that kids don't spend enough time learning to command and locate the fastball when learning how to pitch and tend to migrate to the curveball instead,” Kevin said.

Grant knows how to throw the curve but said he prefers firing his fastball from two arm slots: over the top and three-quarters.

Andrew Dupuis helped Raymond's Lamprey River Little League win the District II title. He threw the conventional curveball.

Dupuis said he used the pitch infrequently. He incorporated a changeup — widely viewed as a safer option for young pitchers — into his arsenal.

“There are several schools of thought about the benefits and liabilities of a Little League pitcher throwing a curveball,” said Mark Dupuis, Lamprey River's manager and the pitcher's father. “And, in my opinion, (Andrew) has a nice, natural throwing motion and a strong arm. I don't see it doing any harm to his arm.”

Imposing restrictions

Multiple youth league volunteers could not say with certainty whether any of the state's Little League programs have a policy that limits or prohibits using the curveball.

Little League International's study found it “practically impossible” to ban the pitch; doing so would force umpires to determine intent. But a pitch-count limit has been in effect since 2007; no player may exceed 85 pitches in a game.

“(Little League) can't stop the curve,” said 20-year Bedford Little League umpire Mike Robinson. “But they can limit the number of pitches thrown and how many days you need to rest.”

Then and now

Goffstown Physical Therapy owner Mark Collins said citing overuse as the primary danger to developing arms is “pretty accurate.” Combine the curve with poor mechanics and fatigue, though, and he still considers the curveball “a culprit.”

Collins' son, Ben, pitched for Goffstown's Little League World Series team in 2000. Back then, Mark prohibited Ben from throwing curves.

“Clinically, I still see it to be a factor when I listen to the pitchers and they're realistic about what they're throwing and how they're throwing it,” the elder Collins said.

Yet Collins acknowledged — as Bean discovered in 2006 — that the caliber of competition and increased pressure to win entices young athletes to throw something other than a fastball.

The curveball remains a temptation.

“If a kid is getting outs with the pitch, people are cheering for him,” Bean said. “When you get things rolling, it can be tough to stop.”

Pros cite cons

Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens knows that many Little League baseball pitchers are fascinated by the curveball and, more specifically, throwing it.

His advice is to focus on commanding the fastball. The curve, he said, can wait.

“It's all about pitching. It's not about throwing,” Clemens said during a recent visit to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, where his son Koby plays for the minor-league New Hampshire Fisher Cats. “I was a power pitcher, and I take a lot of pride in that. As I got older, my velocity went down, (but) I was able to pitch.”

Clemens suggests young pitchers whose arms are developing learn to consistently control “two fastballs” — four- and two-seam varieties — in nine locations throughout the strike zone. The four-seam fastball is typically thrown with the greatest velocity and least movement.

He also said “teaching kids a good changeup” is preferable to having them throw curves.

Fisher Cats pitching coach Tom Signore echoed Clemens' sentiments. Learning fastball command and the art of throwing an effective changeup should take priority at the youth level, he said.

“When you talk about a curveball in the traditional sense, that's a bad move for a young arm because you're twisting,” Signore said,

Conway's Jeff Locke started four Major League games late last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 24-year-old lefthander said he didn't begin throwing a curveball until his sophomore year at Kennett High School.

Umpires at the youth level prevented him from throwing the curve, he said.

“I've pitched my entire life,” said Locke, currently playing for the Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate. “Breaking pitches interested me in elementary school. But when I started flirting with a curveball, the ump would call it a ball every time because he thought it was unfair and I was too young to throw them.”

Locke said he thinks it's acceptable for a player in junior high school to experiment with the pitch. But he also cautions pitchers in their early teens to throw the curve only in moderation.

“I look at it this way: You've only got one (pitching) arm,” he said. “There's no rush to learn breaking pitches.”

mthaler@unionleader.com



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Staff reporter Eric Emmerling contributed to this report.