Softball Pitching - Critical Information You Must Know

I just got my hands on a very interesting article that deals with overuse injures of softball pitchers. It was published in Training and Conditioning Magazine a few weeks ago. This is the official professional magazines of athletic trainers. These are the people that works with sports teams and take care of injured athletes.

Colleagues of mine who works with the Montreal Canadiens NHL Ice Hockey Club gave me a copy of the article. The information presented is very important so I thought I would share with you the key messages contained in the article.

Here are the key messages:

- We assume that softball pitchers didn't have to worry about overuse injuries. That's not true.

- Recent studies have shown that the forces produces by the windmill pitching motion is similar to the baseball pitching motion and does take a toll on a softball pitcher's arm.

- Many studies conducted in the last few years have revealed that softball pitchers are subject to a high incidence of overuse injuries.

- Two main causes of chronic injuries in softball pitchers: poor mechanics and overuse. It's totally possible for a pitcher to never get injured if you do three things: (1) teach them proper pitching mechanics , (2) manage their use (pitching time) and recovery and (3) complete injury prevention training through softball-specific conditioning.

- Poor pitching mechanics can lead to injury even at young age.

- First thing you should work on with pitchers is to make a perfect circle with proper shoulder rotation. Most injuries are caused by an improper circle.

- Improper hip rotation has been shown to be another common cause of injury. The biggest flaw seen in pitchers is how their hips move when they release the ball.

- Lack of follow-through is also an important source of the stress on the shoulder and can also injuries.You also have to watch the follow-through on the various pitches as many causes very high levels of stress in the forearm, arm and shoulder.

- Another often overlooked factor is bad overhead throwing mechanics in pitchers - especially those playing another position. Often, this combines with a lot of underhand pitching leads to chronic injuries.

- You should keep count of pitches like they do in baseball. When reaching 100-120 pitches in a game, you should have your bullpen ready.

- You should NOT throw every day (practices or games). You should give at least a day or two off after a big weekend or a lot of pitching on the weekends.

- You should NOT overuse a pitcher every weekend (like pitching 3-4 games in a weekend). It's ok once or twice a year but doing it consistently will quickly wear down the shoulders and you are asking for trouble down the road.

- You also have to be careful with athletes playing other sports like volleyball or tennis for example where there is a lot of overhead motions. If this is the case, you should consider limiting the amount of pitching a bit to prevent injuries.

- Common overuse injuries in pitchers are in the rotator cuff and in the biceps.

- Signs and symptoms of overuse injuries: nagging pain, fatigue, decreased performance, change in mechanics, loss of velocity or control and changed in pitcher's attitude.

- Commonly diagnosed injuries: biceps tendonitis, rotator cuff strains, impingement syndrome (inflammation of rotator cuff tendons). Overuse injuries can also affect the lower back and the knees.

- You should differentiates normal soreness (temporary stiffness from doing work) and bad soreness (pain) that causes discomfort. Watch for pitchers' body language or facial expressions - these are good indicators of discomfort or injuries. Many athletes don't want to tell their coach because they don't want to be taken out of the line-up.

- Main treatment for overuse injuries: rest and proper treatment. if it is minor enough and you are in the middle of the season, just cut down on pitches and provide plenty of rest. You should also ice after every game or pitching practice.

- The use of anti-inflammatories is also recommended but should be done under the supervision a qualified medical professional.

- Doing exercises in a pool is recommended for good shoulder conditioning or rehab (make sure not to do too much swimming as it is hard on the shoulders).

- Massage is another element that can be integrated in a treatment or injury prevention plan. Make sure you work with a qualified and registered massage therapist. They can improve circulation, re-align the tissue, and enhance muscular relaxation, which promotes healing.

- Strength training is very important in preventing softball pitching injuries.

- Training the core is very important. The core is the lower part of the trunk musculature (hips, buttocks, abdominal, obliques, lower back, etc.). Lack of strength and flexibility in the core

often results in over-compensating and injuries show up elsewhere like in the shoulder.

- Almost every softball athlete has a deficient core.

- Single leg work help make pitchers stronger and is very sport- specific. Doing body-weight deadlifts with one leg, single-leg squats, and that type of exercises is highly beneficial.

- Tubing exercises is also very beneficial for strengthening the shoulder.

- Explosive strength is also something pitchers should work on because from the start of the pitching motion to release takes less than a second.

- Work with overweighted and underweighted balls is beneficial for injury prevention and gaining speed.

- There are traditional exercises you should avoid like overhead lifts. They are not really recommended for pitchers. Also, there should be less emphasis on bench press (don't eliminate entirely but do much less of it). There should be more focus on body- weight push-up variations.

- You should focus more on pulling exercises and do less pushing exercises (do more rows and less presses).

- References used for this articles can be found at: www.athleticsearch.com/softrefs

What I think

WOW.. that's a lot of powerful information. I agree 100% with everything in this article because I have been preaching a lot of it for years!

I have seen too many dominating young pitchers just disappear of the circulation due to overuse injuries. It starts slowly and over a few years, they completely disappear because they can't pitch anymore. I am sure you have seen plenty of those cases too.

I really want you to take action and think on the long-term health of yourself (if you are a pitcher) or your pitchers (coach or parents). There is no point at over-utilizing a pitcher if she won't be able to compete down the road due to overuse injuries.