Original Research

Pitching Practices and Self-Reported Injuries Among Youth Baseball Pitchers: A Descriptive Study

Johna K. Register-Mihalik, PhD, ATC; Sakiko Oyama, MS, ATC; Stephen W. Marshall, PhD; Frederick O. Mueller, PhD

  • Athletic Training and Sports Health Care
  • January/February 2012 - Volume 4 · Issue 1: 11-20
  • DOI: 10.3928/19425864-20110331-01
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Abstract

This study aimed to describe pitching practices among youth baseball pitchers and associations among these practices and self-reported throwing injuries. A sample of Little League pitchers and their parents (n = 409) and high school pitchers (n = 293) completed a survey about their pitching practices and injury history. Among Little League pitchers, pitching in travel ball and pitching in a showcase were associated with pitching with elbow pain. Travel ball pitching and a higher proportion of games were associated with pitching with shoulder pain. For high school pitchers, playing in multiple leagues concurrently was associated with elbow and shoulder pain. Showcase pitching was associated with pitching with shoulder pain. Showcase participation and pitching with elbow pain were associated with elbow injury. Pitching with shoulder pain and tiredness were associated with shoulder injury. We describe pitching practices associated with youth injury, which may be useful for clinicians working with this population.

AUTHORS

Dr Register-Mihalik, Ms Oyama, and Dr Mueller are from the Department of Exercise and Sport Science; and Dr Marshall is from the Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

This project was funded by the Yawkey Foundation. The authors thank Little League Incorporated for their assistance with league recruitment, the participating leagues and high schools, and Ms Amy Matthews, MSW, and Ms Candice Goerger, MS, for their assistance with recruitment and data collection.

Address correspondence to Stephen W. Marshall, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; e-mail: smarshall@unc.edu

doi: 10.3928/19425864-20110331-01

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