Effects of Back Pain on Overhead Hitting and Throwing

What effect does back pain have on the movement pattern of the upper limb and trunk during overhead hitting or throwing?

During throwing the thoracic spine influence the scapulo-thoracic position and glenohumeral motion. A thoracic kyphosis produce both abduction and protraction of the scapula and changes the orientation of the glenoid. This reduces the clearing space for the humeral head and increase anterior translation.

Thoracic rotation

Trunk pre-rotation towards the dominant side adds force that obliques externus may be able to generate increased force due to greater ROM. Counter-Clockwise Thoracic rotation limitation (for right handed pitchers in the late cocking phase) will reduce forward acceleration of the throwing arm Continue reading

Prevention and Rehabilitation of Thrower’s Elbow

1. What is Thrower’s elbow?

Medial or inside elbow pain may be caused by performing repetitive badminton overhead smashing. These forceful strokes cause inside elbow stress on the elbow (or medial valgus stress), (Fleisig et al., 1996), and may have the following consequences: golfer’s elbow (flexor-pronator tear or tendinosis), nerve irritation (ulnar neuritis), or Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) sprains or ruptures, (Bell, 2006). This ongoing stress on the elbow causes further damage by overloading the bony elbow structures at the back and cause loose bodies and more instability Continue reading