Today’s article comes from Backes et al. (2013) Shoulder and Scapular Kinematics during the Windmill Softball Pitch: The Effect of Fatigue. 7 participants threw 7 sets of 15 pitches to simulate a 7-inning game. Motion capture set up measured 3D angular rotations of glenohumeral, scapulothoracic, and thoracic joints for every pitch. They found:
Ball Speed: Stayed consistent across all 7 sets of pitches.
Joint Angles:
- Pitch Velocity: Stayed consistent across all 7 sets of pitches.
- Kinematics: Peak angular rotations at the shoulder, scapula, and trunk didn’t change significantly from beginning to end. The consistency held across multiple movement planes.
- Conclusions: Neither pitch velocity nor the pitchers’ biomechanics changed significantly over the course of the simulated game.
Implications: Even after 105 pitches, these softball pitchers kept throwing the ball at the same speed and their shoulder and upper back movements didn’t slow down or change much. This suggests that the underhand “windmill” softball pitch is less affected by fatigue than overhand throws (like in baseball), where pitchers often slow down or alter their motion after around 90 pitches. Basically, the girls didn’t get tired (enough) in a way that made their pitching sloppy or slower, which is contrary to how most coaches think. That being said, there were only 7 pitchers, which is a small sample and 105 pitches in a day may not be the issue. Where the issue may lie is doing this for 3-5 days straight, as is often the case with younger pitchers.
