pitching in long sleeves

Question
I am pitcher.  My coach has decided that this year the entire team will wear long sleeves unless the temperature reaches 82 degrees.  His reasoning is to protect arms.  I pitch better and faster when I do not wear long sleeves.  I do like to keep my arm heathy and wear the sleeves when the temperature is less than 70 degrees.  However, above 70, the temperature combined with sweating (our jerseys and sleeves are black) and the binding of the sleeve on my shoulder and elbow joint inhibits my ability to pitch my best game.  Is this '82 degree' mark a reasonable demand and is the '82' a standard measure for coaches?  What would your advice be to me and my coach on this issue.  I am a senior with 4 colleges coming to see me soon.  I want to present myself at my very best.  Thanks.


Answer
I've never heard of a "sleeve policy" on a team, and quite frankly, I'm not sure where the 82 degree cutoff came into play. Perhaps your coach read something in a health journal that I'm not aware of....but to me, every player has their own tolerance as to when they feel too warm or too cold. Keeping your arm warm between innings is probably a good idea (you can wear a warm-up jacket for that in the dugout), but having sleeves be madatory is a bit odd. However, he's the coach...so you're probably better off not fighting it. As a compromise, maybe you can wear a shirt that is baggy enough so as to avoid any constriction. You could also try talking to your coach one on one to see if he can reconsider that policy given your feelings on the subject.

Best of luck,

Mike F.