Why softball pitches underhand

And, say the researchers, those injuries may well be due to excessive pitching, particularly during tournaments where pitchers often pitch several games in succession. When they tracked pitchers before and during two- and three-day tournaments they found progressive increases in shoulder pain, fatigue and weakness. Furthermore, there have been biomechanical studies in recent years indicating that the stresses on the shoulder are very similar, regardless of whether one is pitching overhand or underhand.

On a fast-pitch softball team, the pitcher is throwing or pitches in a game. The center fielder may only throw four or five times in a game. Posture is definitely a factor in baseball and softball.

You have poor posture for the majority of the day, and then you try to go out and throw a ball when your shoulders have been hunched forward most of the day.

That makes it hard for the muscles in the back to operate efficiently. We need the muscles in the back and shoulder to brace the shoulder when a pitcher is throwing, so we often prescribe physical therapy and conditioning exercises to get the shoulder prepared to throw. We also found that the majority of injuries among the pitchers we studied occurred during the first six weeks of the season. That suggests part of the problem may be that some pitchers go from doing a little bit of training — or maybe nothing at all — to throwing a great deal in a short period of time.

And many break down. Baseball pitchers get elbow injuries, such as ligament tears that require Tommy John surgery. What brings softball pitchers in to see you?

The fact remains that softball pitchers are doing the best they can in a game whose rules are stacked against them. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. The Straight Dope homepage. Filed under:. Why do pitchers throw overhand in baseball but underhand in softball? By Straight Dope Staff May 3, Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share All sharing options Share All sharing options for: Why do pitchers throw overhand in baseball but underhand in softball? And when the researchers looked more closely, they found that part of the reason may be that softball pitchers frequently pitch several games in succession, particularly during tournaments.

The dogma involving throwing athletes is that the underhand pitch is thought to be safer, but there have been biomechanical studies in recent years indicating that the stresses on the shoulder are very similar, regardless of whether one is pitching overhand or underhand. On a fast-pitch softball team, the pitcher is the player doing most of the throwing. Meanwhile, the center fielder may only throw at peak effort four or five times in a game.

There is some data suggesting that fatigue is a precursor to injury. What did you find when you went to softball tournaments and evaluated pitchers as they pitched consecutive games on the same day or multiple games in a few days? We used a device called a dynamometer that allows us to test strength. They push against it, and it gives us an objective measurement of strength.

We also asked them how they felt, how tired they were, and how much pain they were in. We can correlate objective measures of strength and associate those with how the athletes say they feel.

Usually during a tournament, we compare these things at the beginning of a day of playing to these same measurements at the end of the day. Then we ascertain their strength levels at the start of the next day and determine whether they recover their strength.