Throwing Injuries in Youth Baseball Players: Can a Prevention Program Help? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Pediatric Orthopedics
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Youth baseball players frequently experience shoulder and elbow injuries.
• These injuries can impact a player's development and participation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a prevention program in reducing throwing-related injuries in youth baseball.
• To assess the program's impact on pitching performance and physical function.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 237 players aged 9-11 years.
• Intervention group received a warm-up program including stretching, dynamic mobility, and balance exercises.
• Follow-up period of 12 months to record injury incidence and assess physical function and ball speed.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed a significantly lower incidence of shoulder and elbow injuries (1.7 per 1000 athlete-exposures) compared to the control group (3.1 per 1000 athlete-exposures).
• Ball speed, a measure of pitching performance, tended to increase in the intervention group.
• Improvements were observed in shoulder horizontal adduction, hip internal rotation, and thoracic kyphosis angle.

Conclusions:

• A structured prevention program effectively decreases throwing injuries in youth baseball players.
• The program also enhances pitching performance and key physical function parameters.