Quantifying Within-Individual Elbow Load Variability in Youth Elite Baseball Pitchers and Its Role in Overuse Injuries

Medial elbow overuse injuries are rising in baseball. The external valgus torque magnitude is a possible risk factor for medial elbow injuries. The magnitude on its own cannot explain why one pitcher sustains an injury and another does not. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the within-individual external valgus torque variability...

Energy flow through the lower extremities in high school baseball pitching

It is generally accepted that most of the energy transferred to the ball during a baseball pitch is generated in the trunk and lower extremities. Therefore, purpose of this study was to assess the energy flow through the lower extremities during a baseball pitch. It was hypothesised that the (stabilising) leading leg mainly transfers energy...

Fastball pitching performance only slightly decreases after mobility impediment of the pelvis and trunk—Do (catch-up) compensation strategies come into play?

Background: Baseball pitching performance can be mechanically explained by the summation of speed principle and the principle of optimal coordination of partial momenta. Impeding optimal energy generation or transfer by or between the pelvis and trunk segments could provide valuable insight into possible compensation or catch-up mechanisms...

Knee angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard...

The role of pelvis and thorax rotation velocity in baseball pitching

The objective of the present study was to examine the relative timing of pelvis and thorax rotations in achieving high throwing velocities in baseball pitching. During the preseason, a kinematic analysis was performed on eight pitchers. Peak angular velocities of the pelvis and thorax were determined and separation, defined as the time between...