SHOULDER KINETICS DURING PITCHING AND THEIR RELATION TO REPORTED SHOULDER PAIN

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify those variables associated with shoulder pain in young baseball pitchers and develop a logistic regression model capable of predicting shoulder pain. Subjects (n=19) completed shoulder pain documentation before throwing fastball pitches recorded for analysis. At the shoulder, anterior force during cocking and proximal force and internal rotation torque during acceleration were related to shoulder pain (p ≤ 0.01). Kinetic variables could be used independently to develop a significant logistic regression model. However, when combined, interaction between kinetic variables prevented individual logistic regression coefficients from accounting for a significant magnitude of variability in shoulder pain. Further study is necessary to determine how these variables interact with regard to shoulder pain during pitching.