A COMPARISON OF YOUTH PITCHING KINEMATICS ACROSS PREPUBESCENT AND PUBESCENT PITCHERS

Abstract

To reduce injuries in youth baseball pitchers coaches teach proper mechanics at a young age. Unfortunately, the mechanics taught to beginning pitchers are based on data from adolescent pitchers and may result in techniques that could injure younger pitchers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify differences between the pitching mechanics of prepubescent and pubescent baseball pitchers. Of the 20 parameters analyzed in the study, 7 were observed to be different between the two groups. The findings of this study indicate that the mechanics currently being taught to youth pitchers may not be appropriate for all ages and that furthur study is needed to help identify what mechanics are correct for all ages of pitchers. The data produced in this study may help clinicians appreciate the mechanical differences between pitchers of various ages and better understand the etiology of pitching injuries as they relate to age.