Prevention of overuse injuries in young baseball pitchers.

With millions of athletes participating in baseball in the United States annually, overuse injuries are common occurrences. Epidemiological studies, including surveys of orthopaedic surgeons, coaches, and athletes, indicate that injuries such as those to the ulnar collateral ligament are increasing in incidence. Many risk factors for throwing injuries have been proposed-including the immature skeleton, throwing mechanics, glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, pitch type, velocity, and counts-but little evidence is available to support the majority of these factors.