Mary Broyhill

Professor Jizi
UWRT 1102
27 April 2016
The Research Essay
I have been playing softball for 8 years and I have pitched on and off during those 8
years. During those times that I pitched, I would always come home from practice and games
with a sore shoulder and elbow and sore muscles. I never really had any serious injuries come
from pitching but I have had teammates who threw out their shoulders or even had to go to the
doctor to get their arm looked at and sometimes even had to get surgery because their injury was
that serious. Ive always wondered why our shoulders and muscles hurt after pitching for long
periods of time. I thought maybe I was pitching incorrectly or I was just trying too hard. So I
started to wonder what caused all the injuries in the windmill pitching technique and what could
be done to prevent future injuries. Why would they come up with a pitching technique that is so
dangerous to young athletes?
Almost half of the injuries in softball are to the shoulder and elbow. Pitchers everyday
are being forced to pitch by their coaches while the muscles in their shoulder and elbow are
hurting because of the lack of a pitch count rule in softball. Pitchers in softball have a
recommended maximum number of pitches they should throw a day, based on their age, in order
to help prevent injuries. But a lot of coaches bypass this recommendation because they want
their pitcher to keep on pitching in a game and some coaches dont think about the consequences

that this can bring onto the pitcher. So many pitchers are required to get surgery because of an
injury to their arm and due to them over using their arm with pitching.
James R. Andrews gives a lot of contribution to this subject because he was talked about
in all my sources. Andrews is an orthopedic surgeon and is the co-campaign chair of STOP
(Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention) Sports Injuries. Andrews had decided that injuries in
young athletes was becoming too big of an issue so he decided to create the STOP Sports Injuries
(Mary Lloyd Ireland). In the article from the Washington Times, Andrews states that just
because the windmill pitch is an underhand throw does not mean the pitchers are safe from
injury. Also that the repeated movement and velocities of the windmill pitch are very dangerous
and are now causing the tearing of the Tommy John ligament resulting in an UCL injury.
Andrews does help explain the reasoning behind the causes of pitching injuries because of the
high force and velocity used in the pitch (Yorio). The Andrews Institute of Orthopedics and
Sports Medicine also claim that injuries in young athletes are on the rise and on the verge of
becoming epidemic (Andrews Institute). In the article from The American Journal of Sports
Medicine, it goes in detail about the windmill itself and compares the muscles used in the
windmill pitch to the muscles used in the overhand throw. The maximum muscle usage in the
windmill pitch is during the 9 oclock stage and the follow through phase while the maximum
muscle usage during an overhand throw is during the arm cocking and 3 oclock phase. The
windmill pitch still has higher bicep muscle activity than the overhand throw (Rojas). All of my
sources mention the importance of having a pitch count limit and even give a recommended
number of pitches per game and how many days of rest needed based on a pitchers age. The
number one prevention is to know your pitching limit so you dont over use your muscles. This
does make me wonder why they chose such a dangerous and risky pitching technique for

softball. I also wonder if baseball has the same risks for pitching because I know they have
pitching limits for baseball pitchers. It also makes me wonder why they have never created a
pitch limit rule for softball based on all the injuries that can be caused from overuse of a muscle.
I think Dr. James Andrews was the most convincing when researching about the causes
and preventions of softball pitching injuries. He understood the risks that came with pitching the
windmill because of the high forces and velocities used during the pitch. He also understands
how severe some of the injuries can become so he is very adamant about pitchers knowing their
limits and concerned about the rise of injuries recently. Every website had a recommended max
pitch count per game based on a pitchers age, also they had recommended rest period which was
also based on a pitchers age. Overall, I think having a pitch count limit in softball games would
help prevent a lot of the pitching injuries because pitchers are pitching for the whole seven
inning game when in reality they should be pulled out once they reach a maximum of 100
pitches for that game to prevent severe injuries. Also considering most softball teams will have a
two to three games in a three day span and making a pitcher pitch in every game can cause an
injury to become worse.
After researching this topic I have learned to know my limits with pitching and if I feel
my shoulder or arm is hurting then I should stop and tell my coach so I can make sure not to
make the injury worse. This research will also help other pitchers know how to prevent future
injuries from pitching. It is really important to follow the recommended pitch count since there
is no pitch count limit in softball. To help prevent these pitching injuries I believe they should
create a pitch count limit like they have for baseball.

Having a pitch count limit will lower the

risks of an injury happening and the number of softball pitching injuries in the future. I am still

curious how the windmill pitching technique came about and why they would come up with a
pitching technique that is so easily prone to injury.

Works Cited
Rojas, I. L., M. T. Provencher, S. Bhatia, K. C. Foucher, B. R. Bach, A. A. Romeo, M. A.
Wimmer, and N. N. Verma. "Biceps Activity During Windmill Softball Pitching:
Injury Implications and Comparison With Overhand Throwing." The American
Journal of Sports Medicine 37.3 (2009): 558-65. Web.
"Preventing Softball Injuries." Softball Injuries. STOP Sports Injuries, n.d. Web. 03 Apr.
2016.
"Softball Injuries." Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine. Andrews Insitute
Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
Yorio, Kara. "Lack of Softball Pitching Limits Can Lead to Injuries." Washington Times. The
Washington Times, 1 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
"Common Softball Injuries - North Central Surgical Center." North Central Surgical Center.
N.p., 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.