This week we are going back to softball pitcher epidemiology. Shanley et al. (2011) followed 247 high‐school athletes from 11 schools in Greenville, South Carolina, who played either softball or baseball. They collected data during one season on each athlete’s “athlete exposures” (which means each time a player was in a practice or game) and recorded any injuries that occurred. They classified injuries by when they happened (initial or subsequent), where they happened (practice or game), the type of injury, the body location (upper extremity versus other), and the player’s position (pitcher versus position player). They then calculated injury incidence rates per 1,000 athlete‐exposures and compared rates between softball vs baseball players, games vs practices, and early vs later in the season. They found:
- Overall injury incidence rate: ~4.5 injuries per 1,000 athlete‐exposures (AEs).
- Softball players: ~5.6 injuries per 1,000 AEs; Baseball players: ~4.0 injuries per 1,000 AEs.
- Initial injuries occurred much more often than subsequent injuries for both sports.
- Injury rate during games (~4.6/1,000 AEs) was similar to during practices (~4.1/1,000 AEs).
- Most injuries were mild (77% of them), meaning fewer than 8 days lost.
- The upper extremity (shoulder and elbow region) accounted for the largest proportion of injuries (~63.3%).
- Pitchers had higher proportion of injuries to the upper extremity: in baseball pitchers the risk was ~2.6 times that of position players for upper extremity injury.
- The highest injury rate occurred during the first month of the season (~7.96 injuries per 1,000 AEs).
Implications: The authors interpreted their findings by noting that injury rates in high school baseball and softball players were relatively low compared to some other sports, which is a positive finding. They emphasize that most injuries were minor, and many occurred early in the season and affected the upper extremity (shoulder and elbow). Because of the higher risk early in the season, they suggest that athletes might benefit from a gradual ramp‐up in training and competition rather than jumping into full intensity right away. Also, the fact that pitchers—especially in baseball—appeared to have higher risk for upper extremity injuries suggests that more attention should be paid to their workload, mechanics, and conditioning. Lastly, because injuries in practices were similar to games, the authors highlight that injury prevention efforts should cover all exposures (practices and games), not just competition. They also mention limitations such as the small sample size and that the data came from one geographic region, so the findings may not generalize everywhere.
Also…
I was researching some ideas to help my overhand throwers, and I came across this video on YouTube discussing a baseball pitcher’s tendency toward a pronated or supinated release. I have seen this a lot in softball, but I thought how they described how they use this tendency to develop pitches to be very interesting. Check it out!