Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers
# Background Upper extremity injuries are common in baseball spanning from youth through professional leagues, especially in preseason. Although there are some arbitrary guidelines for number of throws during practices and games, there is no current information on workload during preseason in baseb...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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North American Sports Medicine Institute
2025-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.128051 |
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| _version_ | 1832575542887448576 |
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| author | Bennett Tabaracci Shraddha Sudhir Matthew Gauthier Lindsay Hannigan |
| author_facet | Bennett Tabaracci Shraddha Sudhir Matthew Gauthier Lindsay Hannigan |
| author_sort | Bennett Tabaracci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | # Background
Upper extremity injuries are common in baseball spanning from youth through professional leagues, especially in preseason. Although there are some arbitrary guidelines for number of throws during practices and games, there is no current information on workload during preseason in baseball pitchers.
# Hypothesis/Purpose
The purpose of this study was to quantify the number of throws and workload, as defined by angular velocity, during preseason training in a collegiate baseball season.
# Study Design
Descriptive Epidemiology Study
# Methods
Nine baseball pitchers wore an inertial measurement unit on the forearm during all preseason training. Movements were captured at 100Hz and classified as a throw when the forearm velocity was greater than 800°/second. Peak angular velocity was exported for each throw and total workload was calculated as the median angular velocity multiplied by total throws for each day. Chronic workload was calculated as the rolling 28 days average workload and acute workload was calculated as the average seven-day workload. Acute to chronic workload ratio (ACWR) was calculated for each week. A repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons was used to compare throws, acute workload, and ACWR between weeks. Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated for all significant differences.
# Results
The pitchers averaged 1990.6 ± 881.7 throws throughout preseason at an average angular velocity of 1686.2 ± 334.9 m/s. Acute workload was reduced in Week 4 compared to Week 2 (p=0.018, d=1.73) and week 3 (p=0.007, d =2.30). ACWR was above 1.27 on weeks 1,2,3, and 5. ACWR was significantly reduced in week 4 (0.79) compared to week 3 (1.50; p=0.021, d =0.71).
# Conclusion
ACWR was above 1.27 for four of the six weeks of preseason, suggesting that there may be a need to reduce workload and progressively build during the preseason. Clinicians should consider monitoring workload during preseason throwing to decrease risk of chronic overuse injuries.
# Level of Evidence
2c |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b939895a378a4976ad59ea4cc4b3d167 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2159-2896 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | North American Sports Medicine Institute |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy |
| spelling | doaj-art-b939895a378a4976ad59ea4cc4b3d1672025-02-01T02:57:05ZengNorth American Sports Medicine InstituteInternational Journal of Sports Physical Therapy2159-28962025-02-01202Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball PitchersBennett TabaracciShraddha SudhirMatthew GauthierLindsay Hannigan# Background Upper extremity injuries are common in baseball spanning from youth through professional leagues, especially in preseason. Although there are some arbitrary guidelines for number of throws during practices and games, there is no current information on workload during preseason in baseball pitchers. # Hypothesis/Purpose The purpose of this study was to quantify the number of throws and workload, as defined by angular velocity, during preseason training in a collegiate baseball season. # Study Design Descriptive Epidemiology Study # Methods Nine baseball pitchers wore an inertial measurement unit on the forearm during all preseason training. Movements were captured at 100Hz and classified as a throw when the forearm velocity was greater than 800°/second. Peak angular velocity was exported for each throw and total workload was calculated as the median angular velocity multiplied by total throws for each day. Chronic workload was calculated as the rolling 28 days average workload and acute workload was calculated as the average seven-day workload. Acute to chronic workload ratio (ACWR) was calculated for each week. A repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons was used to compare throws, acute workload, and ACWR between weeks. Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated for all significant differences. # Results The pitchers averaged 1990.6 ± 881.7 throws throughout preseason at an average angular velocity of 1686.2 ± 334.9 m/s. Acute workload was reduced in Week 4 compared to Week 2 (p=0.018, d=1.73) and week 3 (p=0.007, d =2.30). ACWR was above 1.27 on weeks 1,2,3, and 5. ACWR was significantly reduced in week 4 (0.79) compared to week 3 (1.50; p=0.021, d =0.71). # Conclusion ACWR was above 1.27 for four of the six weeks of preseason, suggesting that there may be a need to reduce workload and progressively build during the preseason. Clinicians should consider monitoring workload during preseason throwing to decrease risk of chronic overuse injuries. # Level of Evidence 2chttps://doi.org/10.26603/001c.128051 |
| spellingShingle | Bennett Tabaracci Shraddha Sudhir Matthew Gauthier Lindsay Hannigan Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy |
| title | Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers |
| title_full | Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers |
| title_fullStr | Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers |
| title_short | Preseason Workload in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers |
| title_sort | preseason workload in collegiate baseball pitchers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.128051 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bennetttabaracci preseasonworkloadincollegiatebaseballpitchers AT shraddhasudhir preseasonworkloadincollegiatebaseballpitchers AT matthewgauthier preseasonworkloadincollegiatebaseballpitchers AT lindsayhannigan preseasonworkloadincollegiatebaseballpitchers |