Editing Curveball (section)

===Safety===
Due to the unnatural motion required to throw it, the curveball is considered a more advanced pitch and poses inherent risk of injury to a pitcher's elbow and shoulder. There has been a controversy, as reported in ''The New York Times'', March 12, 2012, about whether curveballs alone are responsible for injuries in young pitchers or whether the number of pitches thrown is the predisposing factor.<ref name=nyt>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/sports/baseball/debate-grows-over-how-to-protect-young-pitching-arms.html|title=Young Arms and Curveballs: A Scientific Twist|author=Bill Pennington|work=The New York Times|date=2012-03-11}}</ref> In theory, allowing time for the [[cartilage]] and [[tendon]]s of the arm to fully develop would protect against injuries. While acquisition of proper form might be protective, physician James Andrews is quoted in the article as stating that in many children, insufficient neuromuscular control, lack of proper mechanics, and fatigue make maintenance of proper form unlikely.

The parts of the arm most commonly injured by the curveball are the [[ligament]]s in the elbow, the [[biceps]], and the forearm muscles.<ref name=thurston>{{Cite book|url=http://www.baseball-articles.com/teachcurve.html|title=Age to Teach the Curve Ball and How to Teach It|author=Bill Thurston|year=2008 |publisher=baseball-articles.com |access-date=2009-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214063238/http://baseball-articles.com/teachcurve.html|archive-date=2009-02-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> Major elbow injury requires repair through elbow ligament reconstruction, or [[Tommy John surgery]].