• More Blogs
• Observations »
• Bering in Mind »
• Cross-check »
• Extinction Countdown »
• Solar at Home »
• Expeditions »
• Guest Blog »
• Anecdotes from the Archive »

Arm injuries are commonplace among Major League Baseball pitchers, and such impairments may have cost a few notable pitchers, such as Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb, a chance to play in the 76th All-Star Game tonight.

A pitcher’s shoulder joint can rotate as quickly as 7,000 degrees per second—nearly 20 complete revolutions in one second if the shoulder could rotate completely freely—during a pitch, making it one of the fastest movements possible by the body, and this repetitive motion of the arm contributes to the fatigue-related injuries. Ian Byram and his colleagues at Vanderbilt Medical Center are hoping to reduce the damage by identifying pitchers at risk for injury during the preseason, allowing teams to design unique strength training routines for susceptible athletes.
 
The group studied 144 major and minor league pitchers from the Colorado Rockies organization. Over a five-year period they took preseason strength measurements of the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, which holds the shoulder joint intact. They found that weakness in the muscles for rotation away from the center of the body or for lateral movement increased a pitcher’s risk of sustaining an injury.

The results, presented at the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine conference last week, are the first data directly correlating preseason strength of the specific rotator cuff muscles with injury.  Byram also showed the data to the Colorado Rockies trainer last weekend and says the team is excited that the finding may be another useful tool to study players’ injuries.  

Image of Randy Johnson pitching by SD Dirk via flickr

2 Comments

1. 1. rsgoldsand 02:36 PM 7/16/09

   Dear Scientific American: Although this article is in the '60 second science ', I think it would be worthwhile asking the question does creating stronger muscle tell the whole story or for that matter the majority of the story of arm injuries relating to baseball pitchers. My answer is no, not by a long shot. How a pitcher creates a pattern of movement that accomplishes the task at hand is a much broader picture and how the pitcher creates vectors of force that work in opposing plains of action is a more inclusive question. In order for a pitcher to become aware of those opposing forces of action the pitcher must be able to feel/ sense those opposing forces in a sensory/ feedback loop. Once that occurs introducing options to those patterns allows for the brain to create a different pattern, one that does not have to include the opposing forces and uses less muscular effort, one that happens it is what we all recognize and goes by the name of "grace". A study of creating more graceful patterns of movement and the effect it has on injury prevention and recovery would be a wonderful endeavor.
   
   Sincerely,
   Rich Goldsand
   Guild Certified Feldenkrais(R) Practitioner

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. Brad Beldner 01:13 PM 7/18/09

   Hi. My name is Brad Beldner. I am an Anat Baniel Practitioner and Feldenkrais Movement Teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is disappointing that sports medicine still has limitations when trying to understand the dynamics of human movement, causes of repetitive stress injuries, and the ingredients needed to upgrade athletic performance. As a therapist and movement teacher working with many athletes, I find most rotator cuff pain and limitations in movement and performance of the arm, are usually a reflection of how a person organizes their whole body for the specific action they are trying to execute. The rotator cuff muscles will always get over used, inflamed and weak etc, when the rest of the body isn't organized well to support and participate with the movements of the arm. You create a stronger, more powerful, freer and efficient throwing arm, by not having the arm at odds with the rest of the body. For example, if the structures of your chest (spine, ribs, sternum, clavicles) aren't free enough to organize themselves to accommodate what is happening with the actions of your arm, your arm will always have to work harder at the ball and socket joint and the rotator cuff (and junctions of the humerus, scapula, acromion process, clavicles and their supporting muscles, etc). In other words, any place our bodies do not have good distribution of effort (work load) and movement throughout, the places that aren't doing an efficient job at helping with an action, create pain and stress in the places that are taking on the brunt of the work ( i.e. pitching arm and its rotators cuff muscles). It is very simple to predict who will have a weak rotator cuff and inefficient pitching arm, by looking at how the rest of their body is supporting the action of pitching the ball. Trying to improve the pitching arm by only strengthening the rotator cuff (and surrounding muscles) is an attempt at trying to over power (or compensate for) the 90% of the body that is usually creating the difficulty. Success is attained when integrating the arm with the rest of the body to get the entire body all on the same page to perform the pitch.
   
   Predicting performance outcomes and helping athletes organize themselves for optimal action is easier when you step out of the limitations of looking myopically at a one point in a dynamic system, and problem solve by examining the system as a whole and how it relates to its environment.
   
   I am curious what others think about this idea especially Ian Byram and his colleagues
   
   Thanks.
   
   Brad Beldner
   
   Anat Baniel Method Practitioner
   
   Guild Certified Feldenkrais Movement Teacher
   
   Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this