Poor pitching mechanics can put additional stress on a young arm and increase the risk of injury, experts say.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who watches youth baseball with any regularity that pitchers in their teens have better throwing mechanics than younger pitchers.
A video analysis of youth pitchers1 found that adolescent pitchers (ages 14 to 18) performed better than youth pitchers (ages 9 to 13) on five simple measures of pitching mechanics (leading with the hips, hand-on-top position, arm in throwing position, closed-shoulder position, and stride foot toward home plate).
Eight out of ten of the adolescent pitchers performed three or more parameters correctly compared with two-thirds of the younger age group, although, unexpectedly, youth pitchers (86%) outperformed their older counterparts (66%) on the stride foot toward home plate measure.
The study suggests that the five measures of pitching mechanics studied may be developmental milestones for youth pitchers as they improve their mechanics over the years and learn to pitch, although it is unclear whether the development is a function of coaching and instruction [1] or whether athletes more easily perform them as neuromuscular function (e.g. coordination) improves with age.
Experts nevertheless believe that proper positioning of the throwing arm during all phases of the pitching motion can reduce the number of injuries.
According to Thomas J. Gill, M.D., an orthopedist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Red Sox team physician, "pitcher's arm movements during different phases of the pitching motion, if performed incorrectly, can cause injury." Researchers have identified four problem areas:Players should follow a step-by-step approach to learning how to pitch:
Use of lighter balls may also lessen the risk of overuse injury in pitchers between ages 9 and 12.
1. Fortenbaugh D, Fleiseg G, Andrews J. Baseball Pitching Biomechanics in Relation to Injury Risk and Performance. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 2009;1:314-320.
2. Olsen SJ 2nd, Fleisig GS, Dun S, Loftice J, Andrews JR. Risk factors for shoulder and elbow injuries in adolescent baseball pitchers. Am. J Sports Med. 2006;34(6):905-912.
Posted March 28, 2011; revised and updated February 14, 2012
Links:
[1] https://www.momsteam.com/node/2938
[2] https://www.momsteam.com/node/4429
[3] https://www.momsteam.com/sports/baseball/safety/preventing-pitching-injuries-in-youth-baseball
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/sports/youth-baseball-pitching-teaching-proper-mechanics-critical
[5] https://www.momsteam.com/sports/elbow-position-not-predictor-injury-in-baseball-pitchers