Pitching, Hitting, & Swinging: Mobility in Overhead Sports- and Why it Matters

Did you know a baseball player's pitch is the most researched move in history? There are countless amounts of studies and data over the anatomy of the pitch, the shoulder mobility of the pitch, and how it all needs to flow together to create a unique but perfect pitch. What does this have to do with any other sport? Well all of it. You can apply all of the things we know about shoulders and the body's movements in baseball to any other sport you pay, especially overhead sports. That includes tennis, basketball, pickleball, and swimming. Let's go over why what we know about this sport is so important to the longevity of athletes in other sports.

During a baseball pitch, the shoulder must turn backwards at least 170-185 degrees for a good, pro-style pitch. That's like taking your arm up, bending the elbow at 90 degrees, and trying to go back as far as possible from there. Bet you won't get very far. But over the years, the baseball player or the tennis player even can teach their shoulder to do this. By no amounts of easy work either. Your shoulders are not anatomically made for overhead sports, it is a learned movement. Your body does a heck of a lot of compensation to make up for these awkward movements. For example, during that same pitch, your shoulder goes back 185 degrees, the front part of your shoulder bone pinches very tightly to hold the shoulder girdle in place, your back shoulder blades swing forward, giving extra stretching to your back, then the torso twists, and all in one motion lets go of all of that built up potential energy created, and the ball is released. That is a lot of protection going on for one move. But a pitcher will stay in for up to 180 a game. Think about how much damage and energy is being released from that shoulder every game.

Now think about that for other sports, tennis is the more powerful form of a baseball pitch, swimming is the same move but pounding down on the water instead of out in the air, and Lacross is all of it combined. Rotator cuff injuries are not just prevalent because of overuse, but because of unnatural movement patterns. Pro athletes recognize this, and this is why they know their time as a pro is very short and will have an ending date. For the average person who maybe can't afford the best shoulder treatments in the world, that can mean the end of their sport hobby.

Now not to say all of this is bad and depressing, but there are limits to your body. Your shoulders do so much to take care of you and protect you from potential harm every day. Please take the time to stretch, do some minor rehab, and be aware when you are playing too much of your chosen sport. Overuse injuries and bad form are the number one reason people come into the clinic, but this isn't the 80's anymore, we can do better than this. Shoulders require daily or every other day stretching to be healthy. Treat them as well as if you had a back or neck injury. It's just as important.