The Effects of Softball on your Body
Playing softball has a heavy demand on your hips and shoulders! Managing strength and mobility in athletes is crucial in optimizing performance. A cool new study called “Shoulder and Hip Range of Motion and Strength Changes Throughout a Season in College Softball Players” was just published in theInternational Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Changes in range of motion and strength at the hip and shoulder were tracked for an entire season in 54 female softball athletes. Throwing a softball has a huge demand on the external rotators. The infraspinatus and the teres minor are the external rotators, and they are 2 of the 4 rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus and subscapularis being the others). The external rotators are attached to the shoulder blade on your upper back. These muscles work eccentrically. Quick review on an eccentric contraction – if you were to do a bicep curl, and then let the weight down slowly, the biceps muscle is working while lengthening. This is an eccentric contraction. During the follow through of any throw – baseball, softball, football, etc. the external rotators of the rotator cuff have to control the follow-through motion. So what happens after an entire season of softball? External rotators were weaker compared to pre-season. They were working HARD!
Let’s talk about the hip. In this study, hip range of motion decreased in all directions. Decreased hip range of motion can contribute to hip, groin, and lower extremity injury. Glute (hip abductor) strength on the non-dominant side also got weaker over a season. Your glutes play a huge role in strength, power, and performance. Softball pitchers (when tested pre-season in this study) have greater strength in their non-dominant side glutes due to the demands of the windmill pitching motion. The gluteus medius muscle activation peaks during the planting phase of the pitch, providing power for the pitch and stabilizing the body.
If you’re a softball athlete, come see us for a shoulder in-season maintenance program and glute strengthening program! If you’ve had an injury or struggling with shoulder pain or hip pain, our sports performance rehab can get you back to playing at your best!
1. Guy CR, Zeppieri G Jr, Bruner ML, Davis K, Farmer KW. Shoulder and Hip Range of Motion and Strength Changes Throughout a Season in College Softball Players. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2021 Dec 1;16(6):1492-1503. doi: 10.26603/001c.29515. PMID: 34909255; PMCID: PMC8637248.
2. Figure 1 - Boyce, Lee. “Training for a Healthy Shoulder Joint.” National Strength and Conditioning Association Personal Trainers Conference, 2019.
