Flaws in mechanics

I am not a doctor, physical therapist, or trainer, but have had extensive involvement with all of the above. Do not limit your thinking to mechanics. Soreness in the elbow, and bicep/tricep sorensss can be related to strength imbalances, and/or overuse.

For example: I have coached one young pitcher for a number of years who has struggled with bicep tenderness each of the last 3 springs. He has played football in the fall -- lifting for bulk; played basketball in the winter, doing nothing baseball related; then he starts throwing 5 days a week with the start of baseball, and within 2 weeks his bicep has been sore.

We get him to concentrate on doing cord and light weight exercises that target the throwing muscles and joints; get him to be sure to do a proper pre-throwing warm-up routine; and to back off his throwing, to build up his throwing strength. In a few weeks he is generally fine.

I hope this helps.

quote:

Originally posted by orioles13:
What flaws in mechanics could cause soreness to the inner elbow? I've been starting to get soreness there after pitching which hasn't happened before, and I don't think I changed anything in my motion so I was wondering what are common reasons for this type of pain/soreness so I can check to see if I am doing any of them

1. Overuse.
2. Throwing a slider or cutter.
3. Showing the ball to CF/2B.
4. Rushing.

You need a video to see if the mechanics are at fault. Many things can cause that soeness. It is important to find out what it is.

Orioles13,

quote:

What flaws in mechanics could cause soreness to the inner elbow?

This injury is normally indicates micro tearing of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament that will eventually tear or fail all together. The cause of UCL degradation is over stress on the ligament through improper force application called “fore arm reverse bounce” or Valgas torque. The mechanical cause is how and when you take the ball out of your glove and up the backside. With the classic traditional pitching motion when you take the ball back your hand is on top of the ball (pronated) with you thumb down, this puts your elbow above the ball before you turn it over to actually start forward force. This “late fore arm turn over” puts you into the classic Magic 90 position while driving the elbow forward ahead of the ball and the ball is actually going backwards when it should be going forward, the stress at this point also breaks the humerus in some pitchers but is very rare.

The mechanical fix is to take the ball out of your glove with the hand under the ball with your thumb up (supinated) so that the ball arrives to driveline height (top of head) before the elbow then shift the inner elbow up so that your humerus starts to go up as it locks in line with your shoulders. This action allows you to throw with 75% less UCL stress and so you can use all muscle to throw the ball instead of a ligament that is designed to hold bone to bone. This mechanical flaw is one of the disconnections in the Kinetic chain of the traditional motion and can be fixed even with a more conventional approach.

To see if you have UCL damage Go to your Dr. and he will perform the Valgas stress test. He will then tell you he can do nothing for you other than tell you to rest it for a many weeks, and then you will atrophy for a many weeks, which is not the way to go. If you return to the way you applied force before the injury you will see the injury return.

You and a partner can perform the valgas stress test on yourself if you want to. Put your elbow in the magic 90 degrees mid drive position standing up still. This would be having your elbow straight out from your shoulder at 90 degrees from your rib cage and your elbow straight up from your elbow at 90 degrees.Have your partner put his hand behind your elbow and hold it still then easily pull your pitching fingers backward to feel for pain in the area. If you have pain your UCL has micro tears or a tear. Micro tears in the UCL are normal with the traditional pitching motion and heal them selves after you pitch or throw but it is a slow process because ligaments are not vascularized very much. Each time you tear it, the tear repairs itself and grows scar tissue until it is then to big, at this point surgery is needed to widdle it back down the way Gagne and many others have had done.

If your pain is where I think you are describing on the inside next your ribs when your elbow is down then this would indicate UCL problems. If you have severe pain in this area then it is not the UCL because even severe tears hear produce little pain because the UCL only has nerve at the bone attachment. You can actually tear the UCL all the way and only have light dull pain or none.

Now, If you mean the inside of your elbow being in the middle or outside then you have other traditionally related elbow problems.

Go see a Dr, preferably an Orthopedist with elbow experience if the pain persists.
Either way the fix will come from a mechanical change. All other elbow related injuries stem from over rotation at your leg kick with the hips, shoulders and ball arm!! Get it straightened out and your elbow up then these problems will disappear.

quote:

Originally posted by Yardbird:
This injury is normally indicates micro tearing of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament that will eventually tear or fail all together. The cause of UCL degradation is over stress on the ligament through improper force application called “fore arm reverse bounce” or Valgas torque. The mechanical cause is how and when you take the ball out of your glove and up the backside. With the classic traditional pitching motion when you take the ball back your hand is on top of the ball (pronated) with you thumb down, this puts your elbow above the ball before you turn it over to actually start forward force...The mechanical fix is to take the ball out of your glove with the hand under the ball with your thumb up (supinated) so that the ball arrives to driveline height (top of head) before the elbow then shift the inner elbow up so that your humerus starts to go up as it locks in line with your shoulders. This action allows you to throw with 75% less UCL stress and so you can use all muscle to throw the ball instead of a ligament that is designed to hold bone to bone. This mechanical flaw is one of the disconnections in the Kinetic chain of the traditional motion and can be fixed even with a more conventional approach.

This is what I said.

The difference is that I said it in plain English.

quote:

Originally posted by Yardbird:
This “late fore arm turn over” puts you into the classic Magic 90 position while driving the elbow forward ahead of the ball and the ball is actually going backwards when it should be going forward, the stress at this point also breaks the humerus in some pitchers but is very rare...If you return to the way you applied force before the injury you will see the injury return.

Marshall's own high speed film shows that Marshall's pitchers' arms do exactly the same thing as the arms of conventional pitchers.

There's no there, there.

His ideas are not a solution to this problem.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
You need a video to see if the mechanics are at fault. Many things can cause that soeness. It is important to find out what it is.

The best reply so far.

Would striding open for a righty (if there was a straight line going from the mound to homeplate and your foot landed way to the 1B side) cause this as well? Thats the one thing that I see is different in my motion and I dont know where I picked up that habit.