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Pathomechanics and Injury in the Overhead Motion

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Book cover Mechanics, Pathomechanics and Injury in the Overhead Athlete

Abstract

The baseball pitch is one of the fastest recorded human movements, with each pitch placing stresses on the upper extremity that approach the biological limits of human tissue. There are several mechanical factors associated with increased arm stress and pitching-related arm injury. Interestingly, as pitch velocity has increased in the professional ranks, so has pitching-related injuries. As such, optimizing pitching mechanics that limit arm stress is one strategy to decrease injury risk. Given that most sports clinicians are caring for injured athletes, it is important to familiarize themselves with appropriate mechanics and be able to identify common mechanical tendencies associated with injury or increased stress on the shoulder and elbow. This chapter will briefly review the “average” or normal mechanics and then contrast with pitching mechanics associated with injury or increased arm stress. These mechanics will then be linked to common impairments; the clinician might consider evaluating to optimize pitching mechanics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sr Director of Practice Innovation & Analytics, ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, SC, USA

    Charles Thigpen

  2. Sports Clinical Specialist, ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, SC, USA

    Duncan T. Evans

Authors
  1. Charles Thigpen
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  2. Duncan T. Evans
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles Thigpen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shoulder Center of Kentucky, Lexington Clinic, Lexington, KY, USA

    W. Ben Kibler

  2. Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA

    Aaron D. Sciascia

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Thigpen, C., Evans, D.T. (2019). Pathomechanics and Injury in the Overhead Motion. In: Kibler, W., Sciascia, A. (eds) Mechanics, Pathomechanics and Injury in the Overhead Athlete. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12775-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12775-6_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12774-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12775-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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