Lumbopelvic-hip Control, Upper Extremity Joint Moments, and Drive Leg Ground Reaction Force in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers.

This was a cross-sectional correlation study, so it cannot show that lumbopelvic control caused the shoulder moment or that training it would prevent injury. The authors state that exercise effects must be examined in an intervention study. Pitching was tested in a laboratory into a net about nine metres away, not on a game field. The study did not account for lower extremity strength and power, hip range of motion, skill level, or maturation, which may influence pitching biomechanics. The participant counts are unclear: 60 pitchers were recruited, 54 were reported as included, and 52 drive-leg and 50 lead-leg results were analysed. Some single-leg lift trials were excluded because the leg was not lifted high enough, and the height ruler was not available during testing. The single-leg lift test lifted the leg ten centimetres, while a pitcher's wind-up lift is typically higher, so it is a control task rather than a pitching motion. The paper reported one correlation meeting the 0.05 threshold and several null correlations, including no lead-leg correlations.

Do not conclude that lumbopelvic-hip control exercises will lower shoulder moments or prevent pitching injuries. The study only measured correlations in a laboratory, and the authors say any exercise effect must be tested in an intervention study.