Injury Risk Of Upper Extremity In Baseball Pitchers: Kinetics Perception

Abstract

The upper extremity is the most important part at the time in pitching, and every pitcher has a different style. Previous studies have shown that increased pitch counts have been linked to increased complaints of shoulder and elbow pain in youth pitchers. The purpose of this study was to compare kinetic data for the upper extremity on fastball, curveball, and slider potentially injuries. Twenty-four baseball pitchers participated in this study. After signing an informed consent form and placing forty-eight reflective markers on the head, upper extremities and lower extremities, each participant threw the ball fifteen times. Each pitch type was five meters away from the pitching marker from a standing position in an indoor laboratory. Kinetic parameters were calculated using software (Motion Monitor) to compute the musculoskeletal human models using motion capture data. Parameter of torques and forces were calculated using Motion data. Repeated measurement ANOVA was used to test the effects of pitching phases. Only forearm supination torque in the arm acceleration phase was significantly different. There was no significant different in other 18 parameters in four phases base on kinetics parameters data. Ground reaction force of fastball was greater than curveball and slider. Parameters of fastball also dominated arm cocking, arm acceleration, and follow-through. Only on arm acceleration did the curveball’s kinetics parameters increase compared to the fastball and slider. Overall, fastball has more injury risk than curveball and slider in pitching phases. Increased kinetic parameters have been shown to have more injury risk. Interpretation data by analysing functional anatomy can be more useful in early detection of pitching injuries.