Essay On Baseball Pitch

Literature demonstrates that pitch types (fastball, curveball, change-up, slider) generally have similar kinematics with only minor differences in forearm and wrist action, and even less so in the elbow and shoulder(36-40). Fleisig et al demonstrated in a kinematic study involving 21 collegiate baseball pitchers that the change-up pitch is the least stressful, while the curveball and fastball have similar elbow and shoulder kinetics, with the curveball exhibiting increased forearm supination and radial to ulnar wrist motion(40, 41). The authors concluded that no obvious source of injury could be identified from kinematic comparisons between pitches alone. However, a larger prospective cohort study of young baseball players of average age of …show more content…
Biomechanically, softball pitches are fundamentally different than that of baseball pitches. Rather than the asymmetrical shoulder range of motion seen in baseball players after training, Softball pitchers have symmetrical findings bilaterally, and have greater strength in the dominant supraspinatus and scapular muscles (middle and lower trapezius)(45). In a study of muscle fatigue, Corben et al. recruited nineteen softball pitchers of an average age of 15.2, and demonstrated greatest degree of asymmetrical fatigue in elbow extension, forearm supination, and shoulder adduction in the throwing arm(45). Elbow flexion was also found to have a higher degree of fatigue, which corroborate with prior EMG findings that showed the biceps brachii muscle activity being twice as high in a windmill pitch as that during the baseball pitch(46). These findings correlate with the relatively high incidence of anterior shoulder pain and overuse rotator cuff injury seen in softball pitchers(46), which should guide injury prevention methods in softball pitchers. Moreover, no such enforcement of pitch count limits currently exists in softball, which can limit efforts in injury