THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PITCH VELOCITY AND SHOULDER DISTRACTION FORCE AND ELBOW VALGUS TORQUE IN COLLEGIATE AND HIGH SCHOOL PITCHERS

The purpose of this study was to 1) determine the relationship between baseball pitching velocity, shoulder distraction force, and elbow valgus torque, and 2) compare these relationships between college and high school baseball pitchers. Biomechanical pitching reports from collegiate and high school baseball pitchers were analysed with linearity not assumed. A total of 273 pitches were included in this study. Pitching velocity exhibits a positive linear relationship with both shoulder distraction force and elbow valgus torque among high school and college pitchers. However, when only examining pitches thrown above 85 mph, only high school pitches have a positive linear relationship between pitching velocity and elbow valgus torque. Despite assuming non-linearity, pitching velocity exhibited a positive linear relationship with both shoulder distraction force and elbow valgus torque. Lower powered secondary analyses should be interpreted with caution