Pitching and Catching same practice glove side injury?

[Lreeve]

DD was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome at around 12. Under Purple Hand post. It was her glove hand. She is a senior now and when sore normally on her glove side shoulder blade area. I think some of it is genetic and some probably because how much force she uses on her glove hand/arm side. She doesn’t necessarily swim the arm but very violent with the glove side.

My daughter doesn't really swim but she if a forceful pitcher in general. She has an issue with throwing her shoulder into her pitch, I assumed this would cause throwing arm issues, didn't expect glove side.

She said she has no pain when laying on the ground doing stretches and has full above head range. However, while standing she is having the most pain with her arms up in an overhand throwing position. She was able to go up without much pain above her head from the front but not with arms to side.

 

[RADcatcher]

Her backpack is very heavy. They have to carry a big Chromebook back and forth everyday for school. I carried her bag for her yesterday and was shocked how heavy it was. We have a massage gun so I am going to see if she just has extreme tension built up. She pitched Monday and was a little off, but didn't have any big red flags.

Good you are looking for solution!


I remember this story from years ago a friend of mine had a work truck that had a little table thing in it to hold up a laptop that she worked off of. But it was to the side not in front so she had to twist sideways to use it. A lot of times she had her right elbow up while doing that. She ended up getting this severe pinching in her back the middle of her scapula by her spine. It was so severe keeping her up at night. It limited her range of motion and extending her arm she became almost immobile. And she had went to numerous doctors she started getting these injections to help alleviate this spasm nerve issue thing.

As it turns out it wasn't from an injury that happened because there wasn't any. It wasn't from repeated heavy movements cuz there wasn't any. After eliminating everything she could to figure out what was impacting this area. It was actually the workstation environment in the cab of her truck. I think she suffered with that situation for something like 8 months.

 

[Lreeve]

This was her last week. I am not noticing any major issues with her glove hand. She does tend to throw her shoulder which we are working on. I have no idea how fast she pitches so can't say if she has been losing speed or anything lately.

 

[Shawn]

Overuse, the front arm and side is front side resistance. It’s the same in throwing over or pitching overhand and of course the windmill. It’s not just the front leg, the glove arm is very important in FSR.

Might want to appointment.

 

[RADcatcher]

This conversation brings up the importance of
Balanced Muscle Training.

Things you can do to help with that are, squats,
pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and planking.

 

[uncdrew]

I agree about choosing a position. She always just wanted to catch but is becoming a good pitcher. Being left handed also makes pitching more long term for her. She is often the workhorse of her teams so transitioning to taking care of her body is new for her.

I hear ya. The best players who love the game just wanna play, touch the ball a ton, etc. Love that about the girls.

Pitching is an interesting one. As you know and have seen, many 12U girls are already very accomplished at pitching. But of course you can certainly pick it up at any age and excel if you have the right lessons, time and drive.

Lefty pitching isn't as valuable in softball as it is in baseball, but it can help some. Most batters barely even notice and of course location, spin and speed matter more than anything. But I do think most will agree that if you want to play in college, being a pitcher probably helps your odds.

 

[uncdrew]

This conversation brings up the importance of
Balanced Muscle Training.

Things you can do to help with that are
pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and planking.
View attachment 29501

Yup. We're doing that pretty big time. We honestly spend more time stretching/conditioning and balancing her body than we do actual softball.

I told her: "You've learned how to pitch, hit, field and run bases. Always more to learn and work on, but your priority now is your overall health, strength, stamina and flexibility. And your grades."

 

[RADcatcher]

This was her last week. I am not noticing any major issues with her glove hand. She does tend to throw her shoulder which we are working on. I have no idea how fast she pitches so can't say if she has been losing speed or anything lately.

If I am seeing that video correctly it appears that her glove arm is not extending out in front of her body. That would mean that she is holding that arm in and potentially that would reflect on the shoulder scapula backside holding that back. (? Pinch hold knot formed?)

Whereas is more commonly seen where when the pitcher is initiating their pivot coming forward their glove arm would (at the beginning) be extended toward the catcher.

 

[Lreeve]

If I am seeing that video correctly it appears that her glove arm is not extending out in front of her body. That would mean that she is holding that arm in and potentially that would reflect on the shoulder scapula backside holding that back. (? Pinch hold knot formed?)

Whereas is more commonly seen where when the pitcher is initiating their pivot coming forward their glove arm would (at the beginning) be extended toward the catcher.
View attachment 29502

I grabbed some stills. She is coming up but that glove hand is coming back pretty far making her arch her back. This could be causing some of the pain if it is repetitive.

 

[RADcatcher]

I grabbed some stills. She is coming up but that glove hand is coming back pretty far making her arch her back. This could be causing some of the pain if it is repetitive.

Are those stills from that same video clip you shared? Because I could not get the slow-mo to stop in those positions.

Good stuff to snap those stills! See details