Publications by authors named "Anthony Fava"
The baseball remains unchanged across age groups. This study investigated how ball size impacts throwing patterns to establish if youth players might benefit from using more appropriately sized balls. Throwing patterns for 79 participants (11 ± 2 years; 1.
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- More than half of youth baseball pitchers experience throwing-related pain, prompting an investigation into the role of elbow flexion during pitching.
- The study assessed 38 pitchers, comparing those with throwing-arm pain to matched pain-free pitchers regarding their elbow flexion throughout a pitch cycle.
- Results showed no significant differences in elbow flexion or peak elbow flexion between the two groups, contradicting previous studies that linked elbow pain to differences in pitching mechanics.
Article Synopsis
- High-volume pitching can lead to changes in mechanics, fatigue, and injury risk, but little has been studied about the kinetics involved in different pitch types in softball.
- A study involving 19 high school pitchers examined the peak kinetics of their shoulder, elbow, and wrist by having them pitch various types of pitches across multiple innings, simulating a game and doubleheader scenario.
- Results showed significant decreases in joint kinetics from the first inning to the last and during the doubleheader, particularly for elbow and wrist forces, with lower kinetics observed for changeups compared to fastballs and breaking balls, indicating a potential injury risk as the game progresses.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how two pitching techniques, "tall and fall" and "drop and drive," affect pitch velocity and elbow stress in college baseball pitchers.
- It involves 64 collegiate pitchers and utilizes motion capture data to analyze how body movements during pitching influence performance metrics.
- Results show that the "tall and fall" method is associated with increased pitch velocity and specific dynamics of body center of mass displacement, suggesting its potential advantages over "drop and drive."
This study compared lower extremity, trunk, and upper extremity kinematics between tee and front toss hitting in youth baseball athletes. Twenty youth baseball athletes (14.3±2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Softball research has investigated changes in physical characteristics, mechanics, and ball speed as elements of fatigue. However, the influence of pitch volume on ball metrics is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of pitch volume on ball performance and release metrics in softball pitchers across different pitch types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring throwing, the lower extremity assists in the generation and transfer of momentum. Lower extremity stability assists in this transfer by providing a base for distal mobility of the arm segments. This study aimed to determine differences between hip rotational range of motion and strength based on the presence of throwing-arm pain (yes/no) and throwing sport (baseball/softball).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Increased shoulder distraction force during a baseball pitch may make a pitcher susceptible to rotator cuff or glenohumeral labral injuries. A precursor to a pitching injury may be pain experienced in the throwing arm.
Purpose: To (1) compare peak shoulder distraction (PSD) forces in youth baseball pitchers with and without upper extremity pain when throwing a fastball and (2) assess if PSD forces across trials differ between pain and pain-free groups.
Background: Motion of the pelvis and trunk during baseball pitching is associated with increased upper extremity (UE) kinetics. Increased kinetics on the UE may lead to throwing-arm pain in youth pitchers. Limited biomechanical comparisons have been conducted on youth pitchers with and without throwing-arm pain to identify mechanical risk factors associated with pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Single-leg squat (SLS) performance is related to altered mechanics related to injury during the windmill softball pitch; however, it is unknown if SLS kinematics differ between softball pitchers with and without upper extremity pain.
Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to compare knee valgus, trunk rotation, trunk lateral flexion, and trunk flexion during an SLS in collegiate softball pitchers with and without self-reported upper extremity pain. It was hypothesized that those who reported upper extremity pain would show increased compensatory trunk and knee kinematics compared with those without pain.
Background: Inconsistent findings exist between drive-leg ground-reaction forces (GRFs) and pitching mechanics. Previous literature has largely reported drive-leg mechanics and GRFs at the start of the pushoff phase for their role in initiating force development. Little research has assessed drive-leg kinematics that includes a pitcher's windup motion to determine its effects on subsequent phases in the pitching motion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High shoulder distraction force has been observed in softball pitchers during the acceleration phase (top of the pitch to ball release) of a pitch. Increasing elbow flexion may reduce shoulder forces and the susceptibility to pain by shortening the lever arm of the throwing arm.
Purpose: To determine the association of peak elbow flexion during the acceleration phase of the pitch with peak shoulder distraction force and ball velocity.