Sports Medicine & Arthroscopy Journal Scan

Effect of Excessive Contralateral Trunk Tilt on Pitching Biomechanics and Performance in High School Baseball Pitchers.

Am J Sports Med. 2013 Jul 24;

Authors: Oyama S, Yu B, Blackburn JT, Padua DA, Li L, Myers JB

Abstract
BACKGROUND:There is a growing number of pitching-related upper extremity injuries among young baseball pitchers; however, there is a lack of data on the identification of injury prevention strategies, particularly the prevention of injuries through the instruction/modification of technique. The identification of technical parameters that are associated with increased joint loading is needed. PURPOSE:To investigate the effects of excessive contralateral trunk tilt, a common technique identifiable by video observation, on pitching biomechanics and performance in high school baseball pitchers. The hypothesis was that this strategy is associated with greater joint loading and poor pitching performance. STUDY DESIGN:Descriptive laboratory study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS:The 3-dimensional pitching biomechanics, ball speed, and frontal view of the pitching technique from 72 high school baseball pitchers were captured on video and analyzed. The videos were reviewed to determine if the pitcher's trunk was excessively contralaterally tilted at the instant of maximal shoulder external rotation by examining whether the side of the pitcher's head ipsilateral to the throwing limb deviated by more than a head width from a vertical line passing through the pitcher's stride foot ankle. Upper extremity kinetics and upper extremity/trunk kinematics between pitchers with and without excessive contralateral trunk tilt were compared using independent t tests.