A pre-season strengthening program for throwing sport athletes.
As the spring high school sports season quickly comes upon us, it is crucial to recognize the importance of strengthening prior to spring sports starting to decrease risk of injury and improve performance to start the season without limitations. Research indicates arm fatigue in overhead athletes, especially at the youth level, is the primary predisposing factor to shoulder injuries. There are a number of causes of injury in this population including overtraining, poor throwing mechanics, not enough rest periods, poor flexibility and range of motion, decreased rotator cuff and scapular stabilizer strength, as well as decreased wrist strength and flexibility. We have seen an uptick in high school screens for elbow and shoulder injuries/pain during the first few weeks of the spring sports season in previous years, attributed to a rapid increase in throwing without proper warm up or pre-season strengthening.
One great way to combat these early season ailments is strengthening the rotator cuff and surrounding musculature prior to starting a throwing program. The Thrower’s Ten-exercise program is geared towards the throwing athlete (baseball, softball, etc.) with emphasis on strengthening the major muscles used in throwing. These exercises are designed to increase strength, power, range of motion, and endurance of the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint with use of minimal equipment (Theraband tubing and 2-5 pound dumbbell or weight). Below is a handout of exercises and recommendations for repetitions and frequency.
In addition to the improvements made in strength and power, The Thrower’s Ten Program has been scientifically studied and showed to significantly increase throwing velocity in high school baseball players. These exercises can also be used as a pre-practice or game warm-up, in addition to a full dynamic warm-up to increased blood flow to prepare the body to be able to throw.
Click here to view a great 3-minute shoulder warm up prior to initiating any type of throwing (the video is located at the bottom of the page). It is important to remember, “Warm up to throw, don’t throw to warm up.”
The Rehabilitation Department at Windom Area Health offers free high school athletic screens for any injuries. Please contact the Rehabilitation Department at 507-831-0634 with any questions.
By Joel Riordan, PT, DPT
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445080/
http://news.meyerpt.com/therapies/throwers-ten-program/
Wilk KE, Lupowitz LG, Arrigo CA. The Youth Throwers Ten Exercise Program: A variation of an exercise series for enhanced dynamic shoulder control in the youth overhead throwing athlete. IJSPT. 2021;16(6):1387-1395. doi:10.26603/001c