Pitching Delivery and the Correlation to Arm Injury

Kathryn FlynnPitching Delivery and the Correlation to Arm InjuryTypes of pitch deliveryOverhand SidearmSubmarineOverhand (side view)

(front view)

(side view)

Sidearm (front view)

Sidearm (side view)

Submarinehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL59Xigb1dM

Clinical Study of baseball pitchers: correlation of injury to the throwing arm with method of DeliveryA study by: James Albright, Peter Jokl, Robert Shaw, and John Albright INCLUDE SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FROM ANNOTATED ONEThis research was conducted in 1973 with 18 college and 55 Little League pitchers and again in 1974 with 54 Little League pitchersSymptoms were present in 61% of college and 51% of Little League pitchersElbow symptoms were more common in Little League pitchers; elbow and shoulder symptoms were equally common in college pitchersElbow symptoms were more severe in both age groupsPitchers graded 4 or 5 had more symptoms and symptoms were more severeConclusion: Those who used a more horizontal arm slot had worse symptoms in the shoulder and elbow area, with the elbow being worseWhy I chose to replicate this studyDated, but still reliable informationIt is not hard to reconstruct, with a few differencesThe study is straightforward and not hard for pitchers to understandIt is important for coaches and pitchers to know which arm slot will cause less stress to the elbow and shoulderTo see if the information has changed any in the past 41 years or if the results are still the sameDifferences High school and college pitchers instead of Little League and collegeThe pitchers graded themselves on: Verticalness and horizontalnessSymptomsIn the original study the pitchers were evaluated after their season, in mine they evaluate themselves after a single gameAlbright evaluated the pitchers in his study, while in mine the pitchers are evaluating themselves

Who participatedI asked pitchers at Strasburg High School, Central High School, Stonewall High School, Shenandoah University, West Virginia State, and Radford University. Strasburg pitchers filled out questions after multiple games in order to obtain an average pitch count per inningCentral and Stonewall pitchers answered questions at the beginning and end of the season to see if there was any difference between the two Radford, West Virginia State, and Shenandoah pitchers only answered the questions one timequestionsWhat arm slot do you pitch?Please rate your arm level from 0-5; 0 being completely vertical, 5 being completely horizontal. What is your lead arm/shoulder/leg?How many innings did you pitch?After the game please rate your symptoms from 0-5 based on this table:(symptoms include discomfort and/or pain to the elbow and/or shoulder)

Symptoms:0:None1:Mild duration: 1 hour2:Mild-moderate duration: 1 daySwelling: little3:Moderate duration: 1-2 daysSwelling: mild4:Severe duration: chronicRange of motion decreasedSwelling: moderate5:Severe duration: chronicRange of motion decreasedSwelling: severeQuestions (cont.)The symptoms are in the shoulder and elbow area only. If you have swelling please indicate where shading:

Questions (cont.)Two questions were added for college pitchers and the second round of questions for high school pitchers.Do you use scapular loading (pinching shoulder blades together mid-windup)?What is your average pitch speed? (Estimate if needed)General info:15 pitches per inning