Injury To The Throwing Arm: A Study Of Traumatic Changes In The Elbows of Boy Baseball Players
In 1964, dating to the nationwide genesis of organized youth baseball, Dr. Joel Adams of California undertook the first meaningful study of throwing injuries. One hundred percent of pitchers in his study, ages 9-14, had some form of structural deformity or damage attributed to pitching. On top of that, over 25% of the youngsters who were position players only had the same types of injuries. Forty years later it still seems we're not really listening.
Someone might argue that this study is outdated. Consider these points: youngsters played far less ball forty years ago than they do today; studies like this using x-rays are not possible today since the FDA prohibits them, and; current studies suggest that injury rates among youth pitchers have increased five-fold in the last few years. It's obviously not possible for injury rates to rise to 500%, so it's very apparent that we're not calling 'injuries,' 'injuries.' Something's really wrong.
I encourage you to read through the Adams study, join in the forum discussions and ask questions or share your expertise. If you don't understand the scientific and medical language, together we can unravel it, helping you learn why it's important to protect your son or your players. (Click here to see the entire study.)
I am indebted to the BMJ Publishing Group for permission to host the Dr. Adams article on the RPM™ website. The original content was published by California Medicine in February 1965, Volume 102.2, pages 127-132. Please note that the copyright of all material in this article remains with the BMJ Publishing Group. --Bill Peterson
