Risk of injury from pitching softball underhand vs. Overhand baseball

[radness]

As with any type of comparison we need to take a look at all different perspectives towards the topic.

Here is an article regarding how sports related surgeries in general have risen.
Also numbers that talk about how much of increase of participation there is. Which would also equivalate to rising injury numbers.

' a few years ago if an eleven-year-old came in with an ACL tear and required surgery we be like that's crazy now it's just another day in the operating room' ,...

Take a look at the numbers they talk about with ACL surgeries ligament in the knee.

As participation in youth sports grows, more are winding up on the injured list

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than half of all youth sports injuries are preventable.

www.jsonline.com

Article again brings up overuse as a culprit to injury.

 

[PapaBear]

This ongoing discussion about pitching underhand versus pitching overhand and whether or not there is equal risk of injury.

is pitching in either sport more demanding on the body than the other?

Speaking from my own DD, she has battled, SI joint, torn labrum in throwing shoulder and landing hip. The demand is different but grueling on both.

 

[PapaBear]

Great theories on baseball throwing and tennis serves similarities by Tom House. And why Tennis players don't have the same issues baseball players/pitchers have.

 

[dmcwhinnie]

I think that there is a difference between the two ways of throwing and because of that you end up with different types of injuries. It seems like baseball pitchers have a tendency to have shoulder type problems (rotator cuff being one of the more common ones.) Softball pitchers seem to have thoracic syndrome problems, we have a girl in our area that had to have a rib taken out. Softball pitchers also seem to have hip problems with their lead leg.

 

[PapaBear]

I think that there is a difference between the two ways of throwing and because of that you end up with different types of injuries. It seems like baseball pitchers have a tendency to have shoulder type problems (rotator cuff being one of the more common ones.) Softball pitchers seem to have thoracic syndrome problems, we have a girl in our area that had to have a rib taken out. Softball pitchers also seem to have hip problems with their lead leg.

Two injuries becoming more common with pitchers - shoulder labrum tears and hip labrum tears. I've seen two players stop because of thoracic syndrome as well.

 

[Vertigo]

Two injuries becoming more common with pitchers - shoulder labrum tears and hip labrum tears. I've seen two players stop because of thoracic syndrome as well.

Yes - these are becoming more frequent in younger athletes. Typically caused by repetitive motion - you wonder if specialization too early in one sport (especially in pitching) contributes to these injuries? I know that this has been debated on here before but it does make sense if you think about it. Repetitive motion injuries don’t hit hard and fast in the beginning, so it typically isn’t obvious that the injury is occurring until weeks, months, or sometimes years later.

When I worked in employee health repetitive motion injuries were extremely common with everyday activities such as using a computer mouse or pipetting in a lab. Simple, non-exertional activities, right? Now, performing those routine activities without frequent breaks and correct ergonomics, the mild discomfort that hit once in a while became progressively worse over time.

Now think about softball pitching and apply the above - just a slight change in correct mechanics can cause some discomfort - now couple that with the extreme forces that are exerted on the shoulders and hips several times per week year-around, we can see how this is becoming a more frequent issue.

 

[BrianTx01]

Tommy John surgery in baseball is more common than ever despite every pitcher currently in Major/Minors being on some sort of pitch limit. If the goal is to reducing the number of Tommy John surgeries than pitch counts have not helped.

With all that said...pitch counts are not cut and dry. If any of you have been to a youth baseball game you know you can just about fall asleep between innings. The games I see they are letting pitchers throw up to 15 warm-up pitches between every inning. Pitch 4 innings in baseball and you got 60 warm up pitches. Pitches 4 innings in softball and you got 14. Plus...pre game warm up is ridiculous with some pitchers throwing 100+ pitches. If you are a 12 year old baseball pitcher and you got one pitch you don't need 100 warm up pitches. So the point being is that every pitch counts towards wear and tare....not just game pitches.

The other thing that is causing more wear on both baseball and softball pitchers is the ever shrinking strike zone. I hear in MLB it has actually grown but the bellybutton high strike is an endangered species in youth softball and baseball. I honestly think that MLB stat is bogus because it doesn't take account for the increase in average height of MLB players. Next major league game you watch on TV pause it and ask yourself if the top of the TV strike zone box aligns with the actual strike zone. I firmly believe that this box has trained many umpires to not call high strikes. We need to bring back the true strike zone to truly get pitch counts down.

I realize some of you live in areas where this is not an issue. Please let me know where you live so I can come tell your umpires how great life in Texas is.

 

[_MIA_]

Like I said before, HS baseball pitchers (or just pitchers in general) now throw harder then they ever have before. I would be willing to bet the number of Tommy John surgeries correlates nicely with the increase in velocity.