Full Count Pitch: Understanding the Epidemic of Youth Pitching Injuries

Hey, Dr. Walter Bishop…go find some blueberry pancakes. Rick Peterson is back!

1. Poor Delivery/Mechanics 

The acceleration phase of the delivery is significant in terms of impact on the shoulder. “After the cocking stage, the ball comes to a complete stop or almost a complete stop. This is right before the point where the pitcher’s arm is about to accelerate through the pitch. That stopping point to the completion of the acceleration phase lasts 0.3 seconds. So, if you think about it, in that 0.3 seconds the ball is accelerated from zero miles per hour to 90-plus miles per hour (for a Major league pitcher).”

To explain the significance of the trauma that can cause with an improper delivery, Coach Peterson tells a story of an encounter with a doctor after a he gave a presentation on this very topic. “I did a presentation for a group of coaches one year and afterwards a doctor of physics came to me. He asked me if I knew what that type of acceleration meant in terms of g-forces. Of course, I had no idea so I asked him to explain. He said, ‘If your entire body was accelerated at that same rate of speed for over sixty seconds you would die. Your body could not handle that acceleration, the G forces of that type of acceleration’.”