Current State of Baseball Interval Throwing Programs: A Systematic Review of Content, Structure, and Variability of
Mark T Langhans1, Alexander M Boos1, Sanathan Iyer1
1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Maine.
Sports Health
|April 29, 2025
Summary
Baseball interval throwing programs lack comprehensive validation and objective measures. This review highlights significant heterogeneity and minimal clinical evidence, calling for evidence-based program development.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Biomechanics
- Baseball Performance
Background:
- A need exists for a current, comprehensive review of baseball interval throwing programs.
- Existing programs require updated analysis regarding their origin, basis, and content.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand the origin and basis of interval throwing programs.
- To evaluate peer-reviewed interval throwing programs for baseball players.
- To analyze the variability and define the completeness of published programs.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of literature.
- Searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Reviews, Web of Science, and Scopus.
- Included studies with complete interval throwing programs for baseball players.
Main Results:
- Nine studies met inclusion criteria, revealing poor program comprehensiveness (mean score 20/30).
- Significant heterogeneity was found in duration, intensity, progression, and focus.
- A notable lack of validation and efficacy studies for published programs was identified.
Conclusions:
- Current interval throwing programs are largely based on older principles with minimal clinical validation.
- There is a lack of objective measures to quantify program effectiveness.
- This review provides a foundation for developing future evidence-based interval throwing programs.
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