Preventing Baseball Injuries
Reported July 13, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Shoulder strength and control are critical to a baseball pitchers ability to compete. A new study suggests that a focused strength training program to increase a pitcher’s shoulder strength during the preseason may prevent serious injury during the season.
“The ability to identify pitchers at risk for injury could be extremely valuable to a professional baseball organization, Ian Byram MD, lead author and fourth year orthopedic surgery resident at Vanderbilt Medical Center, Nashville, TN, is quoted as saying. Our study examined the predictive value of preseason strength measurements as they relate to in-season throwing injuries.”
The study measured the preseason shoulder strength of all pitchers in a professional baseball organization over a five-year period from 2001 to 2005. Over the course of the study, 144 baseball pitchers were analyzed using a specific protocol by a single athletic trainer. Prone internal rotation, prone external rotation, seated external rotation and supraspinatus strength were tested during spring training prior to each season. The players were then followed throughout the season for incidence of throwing-related injury.
The study demonstrated a significant association between strength and throwing related injuries that required surgery. The shoulder and elbow are subjected to significant stresses during the pitching motion, placing them at risk for injury. By demonstrating an association between shoulder weakness and throwing related injuries, we hope that future injuries might be prevented by focusing strength training programs on those areas that are weakest,” said Byram.
SOURCE: Presentation to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado, July 10, 2009.