Erickson Brandon J, Buchheit Paul, Rauch Joseph, Ciccotti Michael G, Paul Ryan, Cohen Steven B
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, New York, New York.
Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sports Health. 2024 Dec 23:19417381241305401. doi: 10.1177/19417381241305401.
Baseball pitching injuries can be related to fatigue. Changes in grip and pinch strength over the course of professional baseball games are unknown.
Grip and pinch strength will decrease as the number of innings pitched increases; injured pitchers will have a lower grip strength than uninjured pitchers.
Prospective cohort study.
Level 3.
Minor league pitchers for 1 affiliate of a single organization were included. Changes in dominant and nondominant grip, and middle and index finger pincer strength were recorded pregame and after each inning, and compared between players who sustained a shoulder/elbow injury and those who did not.
Of 41 pitchers included, 6 sustained a shoulder (n = 2) or elbow (n = 4) injury during the study period. Average grip strength for all pitchers was 124.5 ± 17 lb pregame and increased slightly after the first inning (125.2 ± 17 lb), then declined slowly after the second (120.7 ± 18.5 lb), third (119.2 ± 24 lb), and fourth (113.1 ± 19.6 lb) innings. There was a slight uptick in grip strength in the fifth (118.5 ± 23.6 lb) and sixth (121.3 ± 21.8 lb) innings, but pregame levels were not reached. Evaluating uninjured and injured pitchers, the grip strength of injured pitchers was lower at all timepoints. As a percentage of uninjured pitchers grip strength, injured pitcher grip strength was 94.8% pregame, and 97.9%, 95.4%, 81.8%, 87.7%, 82.3%, and 74.5% after the first to sixth innings, respectively.
Dominant arm grip strength generally declined over the course of a game in professional baseball pitchers. Injured pitchers generally had weaker grip strength and a steeper decline in grip strength during games compared with uninjured pitchers.
Incremental loss of grip strength may increase injury risk in professional baseball pitchers.
棒球投球损伤可能与疲劳有关。职业棒球比赛过程中握力和捏力的变化尚不清楚。
随着投球局数的增加，握力和捏力会下降；受伤的投手握力低于未受伤的投手。
前瞻性队列研究。
3级。
纳入单一组织的1个附属小联盟的投手。在赛前及每局比赛后记录优势手和非优势手的握力以及中指和示指的捏力变化，并对肩部/肘部受伤的球员和未受伤的球员进行比较。
在纳入的41名投手中，6名在研究期间出现肩部（n = 2）或肘部（n = 4）损伤。所有投手的平均握力在赛前为124.5±17磅，在第一局后略有增加（125.2±17磅），然后在第二局（120.7±18.5磅）、第三局（119.2±24磅）和第四局（113.1±19.6磅）后缓慢下降。在第五局（118.5±23.6磅）和第六局（121.3±21.8磅）握力略有上升，但未达到赛前水平。评估未受伤和受伤的投手，受伤投手在所有时间点的握力都较低。与未受伤投手握力的百分比相比，受伤投手的握力在赛前为94.8%，在第一至第六局后分别为97.9%、95.4%、81.8%、87.7%、82.3%和74.5%。
职业棒球投手的优势手臂握力在比赛过程中总体上呈下降趋势。与未受伤的投手相比，受伤投手的握力通常较弱，且在比赛中握力下降幅度更大。
握力的逐渐丧失可能会增加职业棒球投手的受伤风险。
