Purpose
To determine the cumulative elbow varus torque (EVT) experienced during created interval
throwing programs (ITP) and derive innings pitched equivalent for each step.
Methods
High school pitchers wearing the motusBASEBALL sensor who had at least 50 throws at
90, 120, 150, and 180 ft and game pitches were included in this analysis. Means for
EVT per throw and torque per minute were calculated at each distance. Three throwing
programs were created using a template of 1 phase at each distance with 2 steps per
phase. Programs varied only by number of throws per set (20, 25, and 30 throws for
Program A, B, and C, respectively). Total EVT for each step, phase, and program were
calculated using mean EVT per throw at each distance. Total EVT for each step and
program were converted to a mean inning pitched equivalent (IPE) and maximum pitch
count equivalent (MPE), respectively, using in-game pitching torque values and expected
mean pitch counts (15 pitches/inning and maximum 105 pitches/game).
Results
In total, 3,447 throws were analyzed from 7 subjects (16.7 years ± 0.8 years). EVT
per throw increased at each distance (range 36.9-45.5 N·m), comparable to game pitches
(45.7 N·m). Mean EVT per minute was highest for 90 ft throws (193.4 N·m/min) and lowest
for game pitches (125 N·m/min). Throwing Program A had the lowest range of IPE (Step
1: 2.0 and Step 8: 3.7), and Program C had the highest range (Step 1: 3.0 and Step
8: 5.6). The phases of Program A never exceeded 1MPE. Program B exceeded this threshold
after Phase 1, and Program C exceeded 1MPE at every phase. Total program MPE ranged
from 3.5 to 5.2 (Program A and C, respectively).
Conclusions
Programs requiring 25 or more throws per set reached approximately 5 IPE per day.
Increasing throwing repetitions by 10 throws resulted in a nearly 50% increase in
IPE and MPE.
Level of Evidence
IV, retrospective cohort study.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 01, 2022
Accepted:
May 12,
2022
Received:
October 9,
2021
Footnotes
See commentary on page 2647
The authors report the following potential conflicts of interest or sources of funding: J.S.D. reports personal fees and other from Arthrex, personal fees from Linvatec, Merck Sharp ∗ Dohme, Trice Medical, Wright Medical Technology, and Conmed, and nonfinancial support from Horizon Pharma , outside the submitted work. ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
This study was a poster at the combined AANA/American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Meeting.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the Arthroscopy Association of North America
