7/13/2013 updated link for ASMI position statement
3/1/2011 unless noted
Studies About Baseball and Fastpitch Pitching and Injuries
We have accumulated a list of important studies related to pitching and related injuries all in one handy reference.
Curveballs
The latest studies indicate that, despite previous "common knowledge" and "studies" from as far back as the 1950s, "curveballs are not the problem" when it comes to baseball pitching injuries - "overuse is".
"I'm not saying, everyone throw the curveball. I'm saying, if we're going to prevent injuries, change the focus. We should be looking at overuse."
Players who initiated trunk rotation before front-foot
contact had significantly higher elbow valgus torques than did those who rotated afterward.
This finding concurs with previously reported findings that showed reduced shoulder rotation torques in pitchers with late trunk rotation
Fourteen pitchers [out of 69 tested] displayed a sidearm delivery and had significantly higher elbow valgus torques than did those with an overhand arm slot position.
...in sidearm deliveries, the whipping action that results from early trunk rotation may exacerbate higher valgus loads
as the horizontally placed arm lags behind into ball release.
Elite pitchers exhibited proper sequential movement of the entire body, with a greater angular
velocity of twist and flexion motions, and larger X-factors [stretch between shoulder and pelvis]. They also pitched faster, and the net torques
at the shoulder before ball release, as calculated by inverse dynamics, were higher.
Such proper mechanics also delay the onset of fatigue, leading to more consistent performance. In the long
term, overuse injuries, which may result from cumulative microtrauma, may be reduced through
utilizing aforementioned techniques.
A pitcher with increased shoulder external rotation, faster pelvis and upper trunk rotation, and
greater front knee stabilization and extension will throw with greater ball velocity.
Improved timing to maximize arm velocity closer to the time of ball release will also help ball velocity.
Increased torque and force produced at both the shoulder and elbow will also lead to greater ball velocity. [this sounds like bad logic to us]
Hard, horizontal flat-ground throws have similar biomechanical patterns as pitching and are therefore reasonable exercises for pitchers [measured in the study at 120 feet and 180 feet]. However, maximum distance throws produce increased torques and changes in kinematics; caution is therefore advised for use of these throws in rehabilitation and training.
most trunk training exercises generally used in strength and conditioning programs would demonstrate sufficient differentiated
trunk rotation, but an emphasis in these exercises should include the production of maximum range of motion.
In addition, generating more energy in the trunk may decrease the risk of injury by decreasing the relative contribution
of shoulder and elbow musculature that would demanded to compensate for the lack of optimal lower extremity involvement
