Rotator cuff stresses in baseball and softball and why there should be pitch counts in both
The purpose this literature review is to demonstrate that softball and baseball pitching place a very similar amount of stress on the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that help hold together the shoulder joint and provide the athlete the stability as well as the mobility necessary to perform the pitching motion. Resisting glenohumeral distraction is one of the biggest stresses seen within both pitching motions – this means that the muscles within the shoulder, especially the rotator cuff, are not allowing separation or pulling apart of the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint). The repetitiveness of each pitching motion creates overuse injuries within the rotator cuff. In this literature review, it was concluded that the main cause of stress within the softball as well as the baseball pitching motions is the resistance of the glenohumeral distraction, and that the stresses within both sports are indeed similar. Therefore, softball should have pitch count regulations just as baseball does – and it seems like a major oversight to implement rules to protect athletes in baseball but have no such rules for softball players.
EXSC 425, Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Injury
Heike McNeil
P103
1:30 – 2 PM
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