A Pitching Mechanics Fault That Leads To Arm Surgery

by Dick Mills on February 08, 2009

Pitching arm injuries including elbow surgery are a concern for many pitchers at all level of baseball.  During a recent seven year period arm injuries are up ten times for high school pitchers. Even Little League pitchers are having elbow surgery.

Here is a video of Toronto Blue Jays left-handed closer B.J. Ryan who has had constant elbow problems in his career including a recent Tommy John surgery that kept him out of action for a year.

The video clip reveals three major pitching mechanics faults that can lead to arm injury.  

Three Major Mechanical Faults All Pitchers Should Be Aware Of 

The first one is that B.J. Ryan breaks his hands high on his chest and secondly he then lifts the ball up to the cocked position using his elbow instead of swinging his arm down, back and then up into the cocked position.  And finally he has a very short stride.

All three of these actions contribute to extreme stress on the elbow and shoulder. 

If your son is what I refer to as an "elbow lifter" like B.J. Ryan instead of arm swinger" he could very well be headed for elbow surgery sooner than later.  I explain the difference between "elbow lifting" and "arm swinging" in my Explosive Pitching instructional DVD's.  

Pitchers can dramatically reduce the risk of arm injuries by using their bodies to produce velocity instead of their arms. They can do this by building more momentum into a stride that is at least 100% of their height.