experts are calling it an epidemic. pitching injuries in youth baseball. how to prevent them is, of course, the big question. dr. sanjay gupta decided to get advice from one of the best left-handed pitchers ever to in today s fit nation atreport. that s pitching great tom glavine helping his son s little league practice. y.u might be surprised by what he has to say. i wouldn t let a kid at 11 years old throw a breaking ball. i never threw a breaking ball l untii got to high school. the kibreang ball, also called the chcurveball, puts too much stress on preteen elbows. that s better. we re seeing an epidemic of overuse injuries. an epidemic of shoulder and elbow injuries. that means surgery. and the pitching career is over arbefore they even stted. at this young age, teach them how to throw a fastball forea strikes, teach them a changeup, teach them how to pitch and don t worry so much about the curveball. there s pley of time for .that.