Softball pitching mechanics and shoulder injuries: a narrative review

ABSTRACT

Softball is the third most popular women’s collegiate sport in the United States, with 19,680 total athletes as of the 2015–2016 season. Despite its popularity and growth in recent years, research focusing on the biomechanics of the windmill pitch and its associated shoulder injuries is relatively scarce. The incidence of shoulder injury is highest during the preseason and the beginning of the regular season. The windmill pitch can be divided into distinct phases, with the shoulder experiencing the greatest force during the delivery phase. Significant demands placed on the shoulder during the windmill pitch put pitchers at a higher risk of developing shoulder injuries than position players. Maximum shoulder compression/distraction forces during the windmill pitch have been shown to be comparable to those experienced during the baseball overhand throw, dispelling the myth that the windmill pitch is not taxing on the shoulder. Injuries associated with the high compression/distraction forces include lesions to the rotator cuff, glenoid labrum, and biceps brachii. Pitcher-specific training, cross-training, and whole-body conditioning should be incorporated into current training regimens to decrease the risk of shoulder injuries.

KEYWORDS:

• Windmill
• throwing
• glenohumeral
• kinematics
• kinetics

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to give special thanks to Amanda Greco for the creative design of the phases of the windmill pitch reflected in Figure 1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).