Cleared to Throw… But It Still Doesn’t Feel Right (Judgement)
Clearance can mean the tissue is safe for some exposure. It doesn’t automatically mean the arm is ready for the demands your calendar is about to create.
Common parent moment:
“The doctor cleared him… so why does he feel sore again after a few sessions?”
“The doctor cleared him… so why does he feel sore again after a few sessions?”
The real problem
Most return-to-throwing plans fail for one simple reason: they rebuild throwing faster than they rebuild the athlete’s ability to recover from throwing.
The corrected model
- Readiness: how the arm behaves in warm-up tells you more than a calendar date.
- Tissue capacity: tolerance returns gradually — especially through growth phases.
- Recovery sequencing: “next-day response” is the scoreboard.
If soreness accumulates across sessions, the plan is outpacing adaptation.
