Relationship Between Lumbar Locked Rotation, Trunk Rotation During Pitching, and Pitch Velocity in High School Baseball Players.
Shun Okamura, Kai Iida
PMID 39502554WHAT IT FOUND
High school pitchers with greater thoracic rotation range on their throwing side showed better hip-shoulder separation and less early trunk opening during pitching.
This range correlated with mechanics but not directly with pitch velocity. Use the lumbar locked rotation test to identify stiffness linked to inefficient form.
Key findings
01Greater thoracic rotation range on the throwing side, measured by the lumbar locked rotation test, correlated with increased hip-shoulder separation and decreased trunk rotation angle at stride foot contact.
02Hip-shoulder separation and thoracic rotation angle at stride foot contact correlated with ball velocity, but the lumbar locked rotation test range itself did not correlate with ball velocity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Very small sample size (15 participants), limiting generalizability. The AI motion capture system and pitch tracking device have known measurement errors (RMS error 11.16° for H/S and 8.64° for trunk rotation) that are not negligible. The study only looked at the highest velocity pitch, not the average or consistency. No relationship was found between thoracic range of motion and ball velocity, only between range and mechanics. Pelvic and lower limb mechanics were not assessed, which also influence hip-shoulder separation.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that increasing thoracic rotation range will directly increase pitch velocity. This study found that range correlated with better mechanics (hip-shoulder separation), but there was no significant correlation between range of motion and ball velocity itself.