In this article, we will discuss baseball and hip stiffness.
Have you ever played baseball?
I have never played baseball, but I have had the opportunity to learn about it through therapeutic interventions with baseball players and youths.
At that time, I learned that hip flexibility is necessary to prevent shoulder and elbow injuries in baseball.This is the reason why I have heard him working hard on opening his legs.
When I thought about it, I understood the need for hip flexibility, but what does it have to do with baseball? I wondered.
In fact, I have never encountered a clinical case where the ability to spread the legs led to the prevention of shoulder or elbow injuries, and there are also examples of people with stiff hips who have never suffered shoulder or elbow injuries.
The study presented here was investigating such a relationship and which part of the hip joint's range of motion limitation leads to injury.
The study
Shoulder and elbow injuries have become a major problem for baseball players, and upper extremity strain has sometimes been reported as a risk factor for shoulder and elbow injuries in elementary and middle school students.
However, little research has been done to investigate the relationship between decreased hip range of motion (ROM) and shoulder and elbow injuries.
The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the relationship between hip ROM and pitching-related shoulder and elbow injuries in elementary and middle school baseball players.It was hypothesized that players with unrestricted hip ROM would have a lower risk of upper extremity injuries.
The study included 263 baseball players in the city and the following physical parameters were assessed
1: Hip flexion ROM measured in the supine position
2: Internal and external rotation of the hip in the supine position
At the end of the season, players completed a questionnaire about their shoulder and elbow injuries.
For comparison, players were classified as injured (unable to play for more than 8 days due to shoulder or elbow problems) or uninjured.
As a result, 52 players sustained shoulder or elbow injuries during the season.
Comparing the injured and non-injured groups, there was a significant decrease in dominant side hip flexion (121.5° vs. 126.7°), non-dominant side hip flexion (119.6° vs. 126.0), and dominant side internal rotation (52.5° vs. 56.8°) in the injured group.
Discussion
As a research model, there are several areas that are questionable. The study was a prospective study, so it is difficult to draw definite conclusions.
Injury predictors included limited hip flexion and internal rotation, and height and weight gain were also considered to be good predictors.
However, looking at the angle of the key range of motion, the angle could not be described as restricted? It is not an angle that can be said to be "restricted", and I think it can be judged as not a bad angle as a reference range of motion.
And since the paper does not follow up on whether the reason for the injury was due to limited range of motion of the hip joint, it only explains that the result of the injury was such a difference in range of motion.
In the paper, it seems that there was no investigation of the injury history, so the research is full of points to ponder.This means that it may not be possible to say that limited range of motion leads to injury.
Hamano N, Shitara H, Tajika T, et al. Relationship Between Upper Limb Injuries and Hip Range of Motion in Elementary and Junior High School Baseball Players. Orthop J Sports Med. 2021;9(2):2325967120970916. Published 2021 Feb 10. doi:10.1177/2325967120970916
Conclusion
The results of the study showed a decrease in the range of motion of the hip joint in terms of flexion and internal rotation, but if you read the paper carefully, you will find that this is not the case.
However, when I read the paper carefully, I found it difficult to say for sure. This is what I thought.The content of this article is somewhat informative.
