USA Baseball's reach extends beyond travel leagues and
tournament play; the organization also works with the
National High School Federation on establishing best
practices for state associations. Riccobono estimated
that "millions" of youth players are following the Pitch
Smart guidelines.
Riccobono added that USA Baseball can't be satisfied
with the Pitch Smart's early results. To that end, he said,
the program is "ever-evolving."
"I don’t think this is the type of program where we feel
like it’s done and we don’t need to worry about that
anymore," Riccobono said.
Part of Dr. John's mission centers on creating more
downtime for players while still having them remain
immersed in the game. Dr. John claims that specialization
— which is defined as "competing" in one sport for more
than eight months in a calendar year — is the No. 1 injury
risk factor for youth athletes.
He suggested several ways to accomplish this, including
general movement training, watching videos, reading
books on the sport and the success of other athletes,
visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.,
and other non-competitive actions.