Weighted Baseball Training Affects Arm Speed Without Increasing Elbow and Shoulder Joint Kinetics.

Long-term training effects of weighted ball throwing programs have been well documented. However, the mechanisms that facilitate these effects are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to investigate within-session effects of throwing overload and underload baseballs to provide mechanistic evidence for weighted baseball training methods.

Exploring wearable sensors as an alternative to marker-based motion capture in the pitching delivery.

Background: Improvements in data processing, increased understanding of the biomechanical background behind kinetics and kinematics, and technological advancements in inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors have enabled high precision in the measurement of joint angles and acceleration on human subjects. This has resulted in new devices that reportedly measure joint angles, arm speed, and stresses to the pitching arms of baseball players. This study seeks to validate one such sensor, the MotusBASEBALL unit, with a marker-based motion capture laboratory.

Effects of a six-week weighted-implement throwing program on baseball pitching velocity, kinematics, arm stress, and arm range of motion.

Background: Weighted-baseball training programs are used at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels of baseball. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a six-week training period consisting of weighted implements, manual therapy, weightlifting, and other modalities on shoulder external rotation, elbow valgus stress, pitching velocity, and kinematics.

Hypothesis: A six-week training program that includes weighted implements will increase pitching velocity along with concomitant increases in arm angular velocities, joint kinetics, and shoulder external rotation.