Why Rest Days Never Loosen Her Pitching Forearm (Fastpitch Moms Are Finally Finding Out)
A pediatric sports medicine doctor on the signs to watch for on a tournament weekend, the exact two-minute routine Ava’s dad did every night, and what changed week by week.
A lot of you read what I wrote about Ava, her dad Michael, and the ghost pitches.
Almost every reply asked the same thing: “Okay, Doc. But what did Michael actually DO every night?”
So this is that. The signs I tell families to watch for, the exact routine, how it fits into a tournament weekend, and what changed, week by week.
It starts in the back seat of a car.
The Drive Home After Game Three
If you have a pitcher, you know this drive. Three games, maybe four. A gas-station dinner. She’s quiet in the back seat with the ice bag on her arm, and you keep checking the rearview mirror.
Michael told me what he saw in that mirror on the drive home from a tournament in Fort Wayne. Ava wasn’t on her phone. She was pressing her thumb into the inside of her forearm, a couple of inches below the elbow, over and over. Then shaking her wrist out. Then pressing again.
“It’s fine, Dad. It’s just tight.”
She’d thrown three games that day. That’s not unusual in this sport. One softball parent put it plainly:
“I’ve seen 10u girls throw 300 pitches in a weekend, 180 a day sometimes.”
A softball parent
The pitch count app tracks the game. It doesn’t see the warm-ups in the outfield, the throws between innings, or Sunday morning’s bullpen before game one. Her forearm sees all of it.
Before Anything Else: Elbow or Forearm?
I put this first because it matters more than any routine.
Ask her to point to it with one finger. Then press gently along the inside of her forearm, from the elbow crease down toward the wrist.
Is it the elbow itself, or the muscle below it?
One mom wrote exactly what so many parents tell me in my office:
“My daughter was the same. Thought it was an elbow problem.”
A softball mom
If it’s a tight, ropey muscle that loosens as she warms up, keep reading. If it’s the elbow itself, inside or outside, swelling, a pop, numbness or tingling in her fingers, she can’t fully straighten her arm, or her speed suddenly drops, she stops throwing and gets seen. No cream changes that. And when a doctor shuts her down, she stays shut down.
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7 Signs the Ghost Pitches Are Piling Up
- Her forearm is tight at bedtime, even on days she didn’t pitch
- Her warm-up before a bullpen gets a little longer every outing
- She shakes her wrist out between innings
- She presses her thumb into the inside of her forearm at the dinner table
- It’s tighter on Sunday morning than it was on Saturday night
- Her pitching coach has said “she’s taking a little longer to find it today”
- She says “it’s just tight” a little too fast
Two or three of those, and her forearm is starting most outings already tight. Not injured. Tight. And rest days alone weren’t built to clear that.
The Short Version (If You Missed My First Post)
Every pitch fires the muscle on the inside of her forearm. To let go again, that muscle relies on magnesium. A weekend of game pitches plus ghost pitches drains it faster than a rest day refills it.
Rest stops the loading. Ice numbs the surface. Neither one gives the muscle what it needs to release. That’s the gap Michael filled, and it took two minutes a night.
Exactly What Michael Did Every Night
A 12-year-old will not do a twenty-minute arm-care routine. She will do two minutes if it isn’t miserable and doesn’t smell like the trainer’s room.
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After her shower, warm the cream in his hands
A fingertip’s worth. Warm skin, right before bed. That’s when the arm has stopped working for the day.
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Long strokes on the inside of the forearm
From just above the wrist up toward the elbow crease, along the fleshy part of the muscle. On the muscle, not on the elbow bone. Two minutes, pitching arm only.
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Then one gentle stretch
Arm straight out, palm up, her other hand easing the fingers back toward her. Hold for a slow count of twenty, twice. That’s the whole routine.
Michael put the jar next to her toothbrush so neither of them could forget it.
The Tournament-Weekend Version
This is the part parents ask me about most, because weekends are where the ghost pitches stack up.
Routine before bed, even though she hasn’t thrown yet. You want her starting Saturday loose, not already tight.
Same warm-up she always does. Same pitch counts. Nothing about the plan her coach and doctor set changes.
The hotel room or the kitchen, after her shower. This is the most important two minutes of the weekend.
Ask her one question before the first warm-up: “Is it tighter than last night?” Then listen to the answer.
Rest day for the arm. Not for the routine. That night is when the weekend comes due.
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What Michael Noticed, Week by Week
I want to be honest: the routine was one part of a plan. Ava stayed on a gradual throwing plan, with counts and rest days by the book. Michael didn’t change any of that, and neither should you.
She rolled her eyes. Then the peppermint kicked in. “Okay. That’s actually nice.”
The thumb-pressing at the dinner table stopped. Michael didn’t notice until his wife pointed it out.
She stopped asking for the ice bag in the car. She started reminding him about the cream before he could remind her.
Her first full tournament weekend back. Sunday morning, when he asked if it was tighter than last night, she said “No,” and went to warm up.
“She’s not hiding it from me anymore. That was the part I wanted most.” Michael
(One family’s experience. Every pitcher is different.)
What I Tell Every Fastpitch Parent to Keep Doing
None of this replaces the basics. Keep the pitch counts. Keep the rest days. And don’t hand that job to anyone else.
“As a parent, you need to keep a close watch on your son’s pitch count and establish clear boundaries regarding rest between pitching. You can’t count on the coach to do that.”
A pitching parent
That was written about a boy. It’s even more true for our girls, who often pitch more games in a weekend than any boy her age. Another mom said it in one line:
“My daughters last coach used the hell out of my daughter.”
A softball mom
You are the one who sees her in the rearview mirror. The nightly routine is just one more way of looking after the part of her arm the pitch count never sees.
You’re Not the Only One (Parents Say It Better Than I Can)
“There’s also the constant shoulder and arm strain.”
A parent of a softball player
“When my daughter first started to complain her legs hurt at night I immediately ordered magnesium cream. So far it’s worked really well for her.”
A mom
“I’ve quit every other sport I ever played due to pain, this will be the one I’ll push it for!”
A high school softball player
That last one is the one that keeps me up. Girls who love this sport will push through. Our job is to make sure what they’re pushing through is just tightness, and to look after it every night.
What’s in the Jar
- 🧳 Magnesium chloride, massaged right into the forearm muscle
- 🌼 Arnica, a classic in athletes’ rubs
- Turmeric, a long-time massage-balm botanical
- 🪴 Frankincense, used in massage balms for centuries
- 🌿 Eucalyptus oil, that clean, fresh feel
- ❄️ Peppermint leaf, the cool tingle she feels right away, and why she asks for it the next night
It’s called Bleue. Made for athletes 9 and up, with no menthol burn and no locker-room smell.
What Bleue Families Are Saying
“My 12 year old puts this on unprompted so you know it has to work!”
Konstanz M.
“Better than Biofreeze or Icy Hot by far! Those were too harsh for my 12 year old’s skin and smelled awful. This absorbs quickly, doesn’t burn…”
Crystal A.
“My 11 year old was skeptical at first but now he asks for this cream every night.”
Lindsey L.
“This cream is excellent and definitely helps sore muscles. My son who is an athlete loves to use this on his knees and shoulders after he plays baseball.”
Bobbie Jo J.Why I’m Comfortable Telling Families About It
- Goes on the forearm muscle, where the ghost pitches pile up
- Magnesium chloride plus five botanicals used in muscle rubs for generations
- Made for athletes 9 and up: no menthol burn, no locker-room smell
- Two minutes a night, at home or in the hotel, no device, no appointment
- Covered by a 90-night guarantee, long enough to try it across a full stretch of tournaments
The Bleue Recovery Kit: 2 Jars + 3 Free Bonuses
90-Night Guarantee | Free Shipping on the Kit | Two Minutes a Night
$49.99
- FREE Youth Recovery Guide ($29.95 value)
- FREE Kinesiology Tape ($9.95 value)
- FREE Recovery Patches ($15.95 value)
- FREE shipping ($4.95 value)
“If her forearm is tight at bedtime even on rest days, this is the part of the plan nobody was doing. Try it for 90 nights. If it isn’t right for her, you get your money back.” Dr. Mercer
CHECK AVAILABILITY →Prices as shown on bleue.store on Oct 29, 2026. Your final price shows on the next page.
GUARANTEE
Use it for 90 nights. That’s fall ball and well into winter workouts. Not right for your pitcher? Email Bleue for a full refund.
Two Paths From Here
Here’s Exactly What Happens Next
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Tap the button below
It takes you to Bleue’s page with today’s Fall Sale pricing.
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Pick 1 jar or the Recovery Kit
The Kit ships free and comes with the guide, tape and patches.
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Start the night it arrives
Two minutes on the inside of her pitching forearm, after her shower.
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Give it 90 nights
If it isn’t right for her, email Bleue for a full refund.
The next tournament weekend is coming either way. Every weekend her forearm starts tight is another weekend of ghost pitches stacked on top of the last one.
So if her forearm is tight at bedtime, even on days she didn’t pitch…
If her warm-up has been getting longer every outing this season…
If you’ve watched her press her thumb into her arm in the rearview mirror…
Give her forearm the two minutes the pitch count never counted.
YES, SHOW ME THE RECOVERY KIT →90-night guarantee · Free shipping on the Recovery Kit
You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just looking after the right muscle now.
Dr. Evan Mercer
Dr. Evan Mercer, Pediatric Sports Medicine, Fort Wayne, Indiana
P.S. Tonight, ask her to point to it with one finger. If it’s the muscle below the elbow, not the elbow itself, start the two minutes. See today’s Fall Sale pricing here.
P.P.S. If it’s the elbow itself, swelling, a pop, numbness or tingling in her fingers, she can’t straighten her arm, or her speed suddenly drops, she stops throwing and sees a doctor. Bleue doesn’t treat elbow injuries, and no cream replaces a doctor’s shutdown.
Dr. Evan Mercer is a pediatric sports medicine physician in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who has spent fourteen years working with young throwing athletes and their families. He writes for parents about the parts of arm care nobody explains at the team meeting.
Sponsored. This is a paid article for Bleue. The story is a dramatization based on experiences common to fastpitch families; names and details are illustrative. Parent quotes are real words shared by parents, used anonymously. Reviews are from Bleue customers. Individual experiences vary.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Bleue is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, including elbow or overuse injuries, and it doesn’t replace medical care. See a doctor for elbow pain, swelling, a pop, numbness or tingling, loss of motion, or pain that doesn’t improve with rest. For external use only. Do not apply to broken or irritated skin. Stop use if irritation occurs.
Prices and offer details are as shown on bleue.store on Oct 29, 2026 and may change; the price on the product page and at checkout is final.