With thanks to Pete Wilkinson (and others included)

The article assumes you know what "contrarian" means. If you don't - and you don't read past the headlines - not our fault. But some didn't get it even reading beyond.  So we decided to do an alternate version as well - with "How not to" headlines instead.

We think it's more fun - and more memorable - to read this verson of course - it's the original contrarian approach.

Pitching injuries usually progress from tendonitis to bone chips to ligaments to joint damage. With enough time on improper technique you can do permanent damage to the elbow and rotator cuff. For more on the kinds of surgery and rehab programs to expect, check the Safety Center.

1 Have a good arm 
Most kids who get hurt have good arms. In fact they rely on their arm strength to generate most of their pitching power. So when the speed drops from 95 to 75 it's not just wear and tear on the arm that's to blame but lousy body mechanics. 
2 Ignore minor soreness 
Just because an arm is slightly sore now, what makes you think a more serious problem lies ahead? Because it does. History shows that tendonitis leads to bone chips leads to ligament damage leads to surgery leads to the end of your playing time.
3 Always count your innings pitched 
Who ever came up with the standard ruling in youth baseball about limiting pitchers to a certain number of innings pitched made it easy for scorekeepers and league officials, but not so easy on pitchers.
4 Give relievers short warm ups
Well, it is what they seem to do on TV. But every young pitcher, no matter when they enter the game, needs time for a full warm-up. Don't be influenced by pro baseball.
5 Throw tennis balls 
Working with extremely light balls (tennis and wiffle) is said to be worse than weighted balls - there isn't enough resistance to keep the arm from whipping on follow-through.
6 Throw pies 
Not literally, not real pies. Pie-throwing refers to turning the pitching hand to face the plate and either whipping the forearm or lobbing the ball. The strain on the elbow and forearm is guaranteed to produce injury.
7 Over the top
Try to throw with a high-arm angle ensures a couple of things - your eyes won't be level so your aim is off, and you'll impinge your rotator cuff. You are also likely to open your elbow too soon. Think of it this way - the farther the weight of the ball is from your shoulders throughout the throw, the more force required (angular momentum), and the quicker your arm gets tired.
8 Keep your weight outside
There are a couple of ways you can do this with damaging results - keep your lift leg stiff through the balance point - this will force your upper body to arch back and should put strain on lots of muscle groups. Of course 'drop and drive' and 'fall from tall" are also phrases that ensure the weight is outside and the body is in extension at the wrong time.
9 Reach from way, way back 
This is a variation on weight outside. Essentially you end up with your throwing arm unsupported which puts additional bending strain on the elbow. Or, as some do, you bring your shoulder way behind your body for no reason but to strain the pecs or pinch the delts.
10 Forget curveballs 
This is a contrarian tip for coaches of real young players - if you don't teach the curveball they are going to try to throw it anyway with potentially devastating results on their forearms, wrists, even their elbows and shoulders.
11 Point toes, land on heels 
Old school says to aim your lead leg to where you are throwing. This ensures you rotate your hips and open your body too soon, thus requiring more effort on your arms. It also guarantees you land on your heel which can damage your ankles, too.
12 Never push off the back leg
There is no easy way to explain the misinformation about leg pushes. The 'Fall from Tall' and  'Drop & Drive' camps are diametrically opposed. The truth is somewhere else. In fact if you try to avoid the back leg push you have to really shorten the front leg stride so your body has something to leverage over, which forces you to come forward too early. [We know not everyone agrees with this, not sure WebBall does.]
13 Bring a radar gun 
Watch what happens when you bring a radar gun to the diamond. Inevitably any young pitcher will try to focus on increasing speed - by throwing harder, at which point many of the mechanical flaws above kick in and the result is sore arms and slower speeds.
14 Head for the showers 
It's the old cliche - when a pitcher walks off the mound he's supposed to head for the showers. Instead, get in some wind sprints and a jog.