United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, My son, Joshua, is 7 and is going to try to play baseball this spring. He has very little use of his right arm, and will need to catch,and throw with his left hand. Anyone dealt with this issue before and have some good suggestions on how to help him be successful? He is determined to play and very excited. I, on the other hand, have a lot of anxiety about it!
Thanks, Sheri

Hi Sheri! Maia was on the T-ball team at age 6 1/2. She is LOBPI but she is also left handed so her right hand/arm is weak. She had the glove on rightie - she would catch the ball, then quickly transfer the ball to under her neck, throw the glove really fast on to the ground, transfer the ball back to rightie and then throw the ball with rightie. It was a VERY quick maneuver and she had all the kinks pretty much worked out after practicing it for a couple of days. She loved playing! Hope Joshua has a GREAT time!

Hi Sheri,

My son, Corey has played for the last 3 years. He is lobpi. The first two years, he had the glove on the right, then caught the ball, grabbed it with his left hand, threw the glove on the ground and grabbed the ball from his left to his right to throw. It did take quite a few, excrutiatingly long seconds to do. So, last year, he practiced and he was able to catch with his left. He doesnt have normal rom, of course, but he was much faster and was able to maneuver his body into position to usually at least stop the balls. He has about 75% use of his left, so he worked with what he has.

We did have a coach on an opposing team who kept telling Corey he wasnt catching the ball right. At the end of the game I explained briefly about his bpi. He was kinda hard nosed coach even with his own team, so I had to put him in his place~~just a little

Good luck, it will be fun. I'd just let the coaches know ahead of time, so they dont try to single him out for doing it differently.

I forgot to say, Corey will be 8 in May, so he did start at an early age.

Hi
My son Mark is robpi and he is a righty...as a small boy he taught him self to throw lefty.....he is now 12

Let Joshua go for it! He will find a way that works for him. I have played softball since 3rd grade and its been awesome! I am ROBPI so I catch and throw left handed. I catch the ball hold my glove in my right elbow and grab the ball with my left hand to throw it. It takes a lot of practice to work all the kinks out but now people never even notice that I am catching and throwing with the same hand.

I played slow pitch softball last summer and I bet the ump watch 8 or 9 games before he realized what I was doing. and the last 4 I was catching. so he was right behind me lol. I have a friend at college that actually lives quite close to me and she wanted to hang out but I had a game and had invited her to the game and then said we would do something after. She knew bout my injury and it still took her (self admmited) at least 5 innings to notice.
He will develop a techinque that works great for him and eventually will become so fast that he will be as fast or faster than non injured people.

I hope he has a great time! I would let the coach know and watch to make sure hes not singled out. I had a coach who was singleing me out until I stood up to him.

Have a great season!
Hugs,
Amy 19 years old ROBPI from MN

Hi Sheri,
I say let him go for it too. At the last camp they had a baseball/softball clinic for the kids and it was great. I almost cried because every one of the kids caught the ball with their mitt like I did when I was a kid trying to play baseball. I would always take my glove off, throw the ball and then hurry up and put it on my right hand (the same hand I threw with) so I could catch it. Eventually, as I grew older I started to try it with my left hand more and more. It actually is a great therapy in a strange sort of way. I love baseball and if he can figure out a way to do it and have someone show him he will make a great player.

My son (age 5) played tee-ball last year. Granted he can has good use of his left arm(BPI), I was a little hesitant. But in tee-ball the kids are younger and the ball isn't hit as hard and is hit on the ground most of the time.
The only thing I plan on doing with my son is having him play the outfield as he gets older, to help eliminate the chance of getting hit with a hard line drive.

I played the outfield in my youth because fielding grounders to my left (I'm ROBPI) was problematic. I'd have to get a good jump on the ball to be in position to stop it. Also, lefties usually don't play the infield except 1st base.

But the primary reason for playing was because my friends did. They wanted to be with me and I with them. Little League wasn't organized in our town then so our games were just for fun. We'd go to the local ball field, choose up sides and play. We had a lot of fun together.

Later on I took up the slow pitch game and played outfield, 1st base, pitcher, and, when needed, catcher. I played on various competitive and non-competitive recreational teams until I reached 50 when my unaffected shoulder still hurt after warmups.

John P.
(ROBPI for 67 years)