With the start of baseball Spring Training fast approaching, we thought we would kick off a series on the throwing athlete, especially baseball players. Pitchers will be highlighted as we most commonly see these players in our clinic. We will discuss common injuries and some possible mechanical faults away from the site of pain that may lead to injury. The throwing motion is quite complex, and rarely, if ever, is the problem isolated to the elbow or shoulder. Remember, with throwing, force is transmitted from the
ground–>foot–>thigh/hip–>trunk–>shoulder–>elbow–>wrist/hand–>ball
and each of these components needs to be assessed and addressed.
So, we are kicking off this series talking about the potential for hip flexor tightness as one area to address in the throwing athlete. Studies by Scher et al (2010) and Harding et al (2018) showed throwers with shoulder pain/injury had a greater prevalence of decreased hip extension and external rotation motion on the stance leg (right leg if right-handed). With limited hip extension, strain on the front of the shoulder and inside of the elbow may increase.
One way to address hip flexor tightness is with a 1/2 kneeling hip flexor stretch. The key is to rotate the hips rather than simply lunge forward. Check out this short video…
by: Chris Goerlich, PT, COMT and Meredith Kennedy, PT, DPT