When I was 14 years old, I felt a pinch in my throwing elbow in the first inning of a mid-July game. By the end of that game, I could barely move my arm. An emergency trip to the doctor revealed that I had tendinitis in my elbow and had to stop pitching for the rest of the season.
After some time spent in physio, I was back on the mound the following year. For the next two years, my elbow would hurt after each start, but not nearly as bad as it did that first day. Then, in my last season of eligibility, in literally my last competitive game, I blew out my elbow again, this time for good.