Strong in the Right Places?

If the body can’t handle the load efficiently, it will compensate. We see this over and over in pitching, catching, and hitting. Every single week we see a kid with strength problems. It may be muscle imbalance, hip flexibility, or scapular dysfunction. Try as she may, the kid cannot hold the body in the correct position for speed or movement.

Strength does not just mean “being strong”. Nearly a year ago one of our students in another state wanted to get stronger and went to a place where the trainers were not very qualified. They pushed her too far. She spent most of the year in therapy.
Another student went to a personal trainer who spent the entire time building her “mirror muscles”. These are the ones that make you look good, but do not take into account the demands of the body in pitching. She looked good from the front. From the side you saw a forward tilt because the dominant muscles on the chest pulled the shoulders into a slumping position. It was hard for her to stick the landing causing her to collapse from the top downward.
When we assess pitchers, because the front side works so much, the back is normally weaker. This exhibits itself through the “winging of the scaps”. You will notice that their shoulder blades push outward, or if you stand behind them you can easily slide your fingertips underneath the shoulder blades. As a result they often suffer from muscle knots in the upper back. Eventually that pain spreads to the front because the shoulders are not able to rotate properly. If they try to push through the pain, injury is very likely.
Approximately 30-percent of the new students come to me because they are hurting somewhere. Yes, most of the time it is technique, but quite often we identify problems with strength and flexibility. One of the areas most overlooked will be the hips. A pitcher, or a catcher as well, will constantly work the hips in one direction. For example, a catcher who squats and stands 100 times a day will take shortcuts. She will not push upward with equal force on both hips, but slowly build certain muscles while neglecting others. Soon she is not coming straight upward, but sort of rotating upward in a twisting motion because certain muscles have become dominant. Those muscles might not be designed to handle this much load, and she develops more and more compensation. The knees and lower back begin to issue warning signs in the form of pain. A pitcher does the same thing, pushing hard on one part of the hip, landing with force on the opposite side of the opposing hip, and soon the forces overwhelm the natural balance of the pelvic area. This causes pain, lack of speed, inability to hold the landing, or loss of explosiveness.
Most of the time the warning signs are pain in the following areas:
-lower back
– between the shoulder blades
-front of the shoulder
– hips
-knees.
The symptoms of poor strength include the following;
-ankle braces-
-you can slide your fingertips under her shoulder blades
-her posture is very poor and she has trouble keeping it correct
-if she walks casually toward you her footfalls are not balanced (one may point forward and the other inward or outward)
-shoes exhibit uneven wear
-when she wears a tight shirt you notice an obvious lack of balance in the different shoulders
-she looks strong at top but very weak at the base
-when she lands the pitch she rolls through it instead of landing firm
-she has difficulty bending to touch her toes
-she lifts the throwing shoulder during a pitch engaging the trapezius muscle.
A great trainer can perform a more thorough assessment, but finding a trainer on that level is not easy. This topic is so important that I suggest kids put just as much effort into proper strengthening as they do into pitching practice. In fact, if money is an issue, cut your lessons in half and spend the extra money on great training.
If your body can support the proper motion, your pitching will improve far more quickly and you can afford to spend less time practicing. For more information visit the Strength Training tab on our website.