Elbow Hypermobility

[bokenon]

New member here and dad of a newly pitching 9 yo. The information on this forum and the people who share are amazing and you already have us shifting focus to IR rather than HE. I came across this forum while searching for information about pitching with elbow hypermobility, but I have only been able to find info about shoulder hypermobility. I realize most of you aren't doctors, but what concerns would you have about health, performance, or anything else if your daughter had hypermobility in her elbows? What would you do to address those concerns? See pictures below. It's genetic, btw, as my wife has the same elbow mobility.

PS, now that we're working on IR we need to find a new pitching coach. Would love recommendations for a PC in the Birmingham area.

Thanks!

 

[Gags]

My non-medical-training advice for this condition is to seek out medical advice for this condition. If I were you, I would also want a specific answer beyond “she should be fine”. Something along the lines of “I’ve seen this before, and have not seen issues from similar sports activities.” (i.e. a hypermobile elbows in soccer doesn’t count.)

The training device at the below link is used for wrist and elbow strengthening. There’s even a link on the page to a study showing it’s benefits, and Wasserman has posted elsewhere about the preventive benefits he’s seen from using it.

https://www.highlevelthrowing.com/product/green-flex-bar/

Also don’t limit your search to softball. Include tennis and golf in your query and you should find other relevant case studies.


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[FP26]

I would suggest doing a search in your area to see if there are any Sports Medicine experts.

 

[Orthodoc]

Start with finding a good PCP that will take the time to do a genetic work up. Typically the big pediatric hospital is a good place to start. Could be Ehlers Danlos or any other connective tissue disorder or could be a non pathological connective tissue process.
Will it cause problems in sports? Maybe... maybe not, but it’s hard to know a prognosis or treatment/training plan if you don’t know the diagnosis.

 

[justAdad2]

she is only 9. she should just learn some healthy pitching mechanics and have fun. if something is bothering her stop and seek some specialized medical advice. she might not like pitching in a year anyway, who knows with kids. good luck

 

[bokenon]

Thanks, everyone for your advice. We'll plan to seek a medical opinion just to make sure we're not doing anything that may cause problems in the future. So far searching other relevant sports hasn't turned up much, but I'll continue to look.

 

[Hillhouse]

I've never heard of elbow hypermobility being something that worked against pitchers. But I also can't say I've ever seen it this extreme either. Off the top of my head, I just can't see how this would be a bad thing. More flexibility is going to lead to a better whip motion. This would NOT be helpful for a HE pitcher.

And for the record, I get my medical advice from the doctor on Cannonball Run.