May 8, 2014
Pitchers who limit the range of motion in their hips could cause injury to their elbow, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Researchers measured pre-season dominant and non-dominant internal (IR), external (ER) and total arc (TA) range of motion (ROM) in seven Division 1 collegiate pitchers in the prone position using a bubble inclinometer. The athletes completed motion analysis evaluation while pitching a two-seam fastball from a regulation-sized mound while researchers evaluated full-body kinematics using a 12-camera system to capture 3-D high-speed optical motion and calculating correlations between hip ROM and upper extremity, lower extremity and trunk kinematic variables.
The researchers found dominant TA and dominant ER correlated with later onset of trunk angular velocity. A reduction in maximal shoulder external rotation was correlated with increased non-dominant TA, while more elbow flexion at ball release was correlated with increased non-dominant IR values, according to study results. The timing of maximal elbow flexion, shoulder abduction angle at foot contact or peak horizontal adduction angular velocity did not show a statistically significant correlation in hip ROM variables.
“Currently, we have ongoing studies at the University of Florida where we are looking at injury data associated with hip range of motion and we found our range of motion variables actually changed throughout the season, and sometimes by as much as 15°. This means this potentially could be a modifiable factor throughout the pitching season,” Andrew Waligora, MD, a resident in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Florida, said. “We all know that proper conditioning of the lower extremities and the core musculature are integral to the appropriate transfer of energy in the pitching chain. However, we believe this research would cause us to take hip ROM into a greater account on a pitching performance as well as injury risk. Our ideal situation would be if we could measure preseason and post season hip ROM variables, kinematic variables and also look at long-term data on medial elbow injuries.”
Reference:
Waligora A. Paper #17. Presented at American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 11-15, 2014; New Orleans.
Disclosure: Waligora has no relevant financial disclosures.