Monday, 08 June 2009

  • Softball Pitching Injuries: How to avoid it?

    In playing any sports, there are always risks that you may encounter.  It is inevitable and accidents always happen. Some happens because they were done the wrong way. Others occur because of human error.  No matter how careful you are injuries will happen.

    Particularly, softball pitching is a skill in softball that always requires the use of arms, shoulders, waist and feet. No wonder, these are the most vulnerable parts. These areas are commonly affected by either misuse or accident. 

    Here are some of those common causes of injuries that all softball pitching players should be aware of. Awareness helps you can avoid it.

    Any body part that has been abused and overused, expect that it will cause you aches. The shoulders and rotator cuff problems are the common injuries faced by many pitchers. This usually happens because of improper pitching mechanics. Although there is no prescribed proper pitching on the number of pitches, innings or rest between pitching appearance, you should know how to control the way how you pitch. Pitching over and over again would really give you the potentials of being injured.

    Players always take stretchings and warm-ups for granted. But they don’t realize the adverse effects of not properly warmed-up. So when softball pitching players rush in to the pre-practice or pre-game preparation, the tendency of being injured is great. This happens because the muscles were shocked and didn’t have the ample time to be exercised. To avoid this, jogging, shoulder arm rotations, wrist movement or any twist cross body-stretches for 5 to 10 minutes will help.

    During the final portion of pitching, many inexperienced pitchers and even the veterans bend at the waist. When driving off the pitching rubber, bending is alright. But bending during the release of the ball may lead to back injuries. Others bend forward while in the”open” position halfway through their arm rotation. With this scenario, severe injuries are great because of the 2-way torque position on the pitcher’s back.

    Your stride foot is also at risk when you land improperly. It is important that your stride legs drive out fast and far. The common mistake of the softball pitching players is the improper use of the “leap and drag” style of softball pitching. It is okay if your knees will bend at 20-30 degrees. But once the pitcher’s foot is pointing towards the catcher, and then the possibility of your bent knee to buckle is likely to happen, which may lead to injury.  

    Sometimes, it is inevitable for a pitcher to cause their body to “jerk” as they whip their arm down through the release point. Though the “arm whip” is important to optimize the pitching speed, snapping of the upper back, neck or head follows. With this situation, it is not good for the pitcher. The “jerking” motion may lead to back or neck injuries.

    Knowledge of the following possible injuries when doing the softball pitching is a must so that you will be able to enjoy the game at the same time, worry-free from injuries.



  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.

Who recommended?