Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD shares a few solutions for baseball pitchers to help restore range of motion and improve some of the requisite mechanics for throwing. Each mobility exercise should only take about 2 minutes, so you can wrap this whole thing up in ten minutes or less.
1. Anterior Barbell Smash
Consistent throwing often causes the shoulder to develop into a weakened position (shoulder “cheating” forward). This compromised position puts a lot of tissues into untenable situations that is not only mechanically ineffective, but can also lead to elbow injuries. The first mobility exercise in this routine is an easy way to address some of the soft tissue dysfunction and soft tissue restriction that may be limiting your shoulder’s rotation.
- Grab a barbell (or kettlebell or use someone’s foot) and lay it where the bicep meets the shoulder cap to pin the tissues down.
- Your upper arm should be pointing straight out from your body with the elbow bent at a 90-degree angle so that your arm is sticking straight up into the air.
- Actively work on your internal rotation by bringing your hand forwards toward the ground. With a normal range of motion you should be able to go about 70 degrees without your shoulder popping off the ground so make that the goal for the exercise.
2. Rotator Cuff/Subscapularis
Throwing can cause the muscles in the armpit region to become very stiff. The subscapularis is one of those muscles that is often affected since it branches from the rotator cuff. The magic of this next mobility exercise is to address the relationship of the subscapularis to the rotator cuff and restore rotation.
- Grab a lacrosse ball and find a location such as a racked barbell or fence
- Put the lacrosse ball in your armpit and use the barbell to dig the lacrosse ball into your subscapularis.
- Work through some different positions such as moving arm back and forth along the bar and shearing and pressing through (check out video around 3 mins in for a better visual).
3. Scapula
An important part of being able to rotate thoroughly is maintaining a healthy relationship between the scapula and the rest of the body. In order to maintain a healthy connection, you need to provide some input to the soft tissues between the scapula and spine. This third mobility exercise will help provide the necessary input for the area while also mobilizing the ribs, which sometimes get stiff.
- Take a lacrosse ball and lay down
- Place the ball about halfway down your scapula
- Slide your hand (from the same side as the scapula you are targeting) under your lower back and lay on top of it. The key is the keep your ribcage down.
- Roll around and wobble back and forth on top of the ball while taking massive breaths.
- Take a big breath in, contract your arm into your back, then exhale for 8 seconds and soften.
Check back in soon for part II that focuses on pre and post arm care!
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The Tech Tool that’s Helping Athletes Throw Harder & Recover Faster
Driveline Baseball | Baseball Pitcher Arm Recovery Tips
“No body part has been as scrutinized, analyzed, and mythologized as the baseball pitcher’s throwing arm.”
Stack Media looks into the EMS device that is changing the way baseball pitchers train and recover. They interviewed Kyle Boddy, owner of Driveline Baseball, to better understand how this technology is revolutionizing the sport. Read the full article here.
How does Driveline manage to keep players healthy while they grind their way through a high-intensity program filled with 90-minute workouts? They make recovery a priority. “Our guys are training harder than your average baseball pitcher,” Boddy says. “Potentially, that’s putting themselves at more risk, but 60 percent of any athlete’s training program is recovery. We have three days a week dedicated to recovery.”
Those recovery days include the use of a bevy of tools and techniques, none of which is more important than a portable electrical stimulation unit called the Marc Pro. The Marc Pro has become invaluable not only to Driveline, but to much of the baseball world. According to the company’s official website, 27 MLB teams (now 30) currently use the Marc Pro. Here’s why it is revolutionizing pitcher recovery at every level of baseball.
But many EMS units are available for purchase online, and many of them don’t carry the hefty $650 price tag of the Marc Pro. What makes the Marc Pro worth it?
According to the company, it’s their patented dynamic decaying waveform. With a traditional EMS unit, muscle contractions are sudden and severe—you feel the muscle get grabbed and then quickly released, in what is known as a “square waveform.” The Marc Pro’s dynamic decaying waveform grabs the muscles and gradually and gently releases it. From their official website: “Marc Pro’s waveform used in combination with a long pulse duration allows for non-fatiguing muscle contractions, which is critical for recovery.” Sounds like mumbo jumbo, but there’s logic behind their claim.
The harshness of square waveforms can quickly fatigue the muscles. So while you might at first be reaping the recovery benefits of EMS, extended and repeated use tires out your muscles before you achieve the full effects. That’s not the case with dynamic decaying waveforms, which create non-fatiguing muscle contractions.
Discover which professional baseball teams use Marc Pro and learn more about the technology and science behind the device.