Tommy John Surgery : An Epidemic Of Professional Baseball Pitchers

Snap, crackle, and pop. Those aren't the sound of rice crispies in milk; it’s the sound a pitcher hears after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. This injury used to be career ending but is now almost standard. This has saved countless dreams for many baseball players of not just playing baseball but to have complete function of their right arm. Today, sports fans and athletes hear the term Tommy John surgery and don't flinch. There are currently 29 active ballplayers in the major leagues who have already have had Tommy John surgery. That includes the Chicago White Sox'

Thesis: The Fundamentals of baseball can result in a successful pitcher is proper mechanics, good arm motion to hit your target and lots of flexibility/mobility that can result in high velocity meaning speed.

You must follow every direction clearly. Not try and recover with a couple month such a Miguel Sano a victim now of Tommy John and also a rookie in his first year. All of these result come intact with pitcher mostly, its proven in the numbers and all of the internet such as Jonah Keri states in her article “The Tommy John Epidemic: What’s Behind the Rapid Increase of Pitchers Undergoing Elbow Surgery?” The title proves my point with who this surgery mostly effects it the pitchers the ones who do all the throwing even though a catcher throws more then a pitcher technically, but that’s for another story. You must look at the little details in order to see the big picture of Tommy John. I get that there are pros and cons of surgery, but who is too say that surgery is right or wrong. None of us can its all a preference, a personal belief that each and every one of us has. Tommy John is not the answer to all your prayers if a athlete one day reads this paper. The answer is take care of you body and ask your yourself “How can I keep taking care of my body so I don’t have a bionic elbow such as Miguel Sano or even Kerry

It is extremely difficult to maintain arm health for a full season. Because of the increased average velocity and innings thrown throughout pitchers in the major leagues, a higher percentage of pitchers have encountered injuries in the elbow and UCL reconstruction is necessary to continue their baseball career. Tearing of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) is a very severe injury and requires surgery or reconstruction of the ligament in order to throw again.The recovery process is long and grueling and can have an effect on the mental aspect of throwing a baseball with intent or maximum effort. In “ Biomechanical Performance of Baseball Pitchers with a History of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction” Fleisig, Laughlin, Aune, and colleagues claim that this tentative attribute inhibits biomechanics of throwing the baseball such as stride length, tilt of pitch, velocity, and noticeably different shoulder and elbow mechanics (Fleisig, Laughlin, Aune, et. al., 2015, page 1045). However, these Orthopedic Surgeons and Baseball Medical Officials performed a study that demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the biomechanics of pitchers with reconstructive surgery and those without it. Being able to return to an equal or higher level of play after surgery and rehabilitation is possible and players are not at a

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There are a few pitchers who have to undergo Tommy John surgery. Most of the time after Tommy John surgery the pitcher is out for a year or two. “There is a growing belief, though, that recovery time isn't sufficient after many Tommy John procedures, thanks to an erroneous idea that crept into the sport in recent years that pitchers need only 10-18 months to come back from a UCL replacement, whereas accepted standard time to return from a Tommy John procedure in medical circles is 16-20 months.” Many pitchers come back before they are assigned. That is why they have so many arm injuries in the long run. "There are more guys going through this and it's better to err on the side of giving more time. Even with a first Tommy John, people expect a 100-percent success rate, and while the odds are very good, it's not 100 percent.” They come in expecting to able to be the way they were before the surgery. Pitchers need to slow down after they

In Drew Marcos presentation, were first introduced to one athlete, in particular, Tommy John, an American professional baseball (left-handed) pitcher, who permanently damaged his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm, leading to a revolutionary surgical operation. known as Tommy John surgery. It replaced the ligament in the elbow of his pitching arm with a tendon from his right forearm. The surgery was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974. After the surgery, the odds were against John, since there was a 1 in 100 success rate for that operation. But, he took a season off to recover and worked with a kinesiologist, who taught him a completely different way to pitching, eliminating the chance of him hurting his knee and arm. Before his surgery he won 124 games after his surgery 164 games won, John continued to play for 14 more years, retiring in 1989. Marcos, went on to discuss scapular strength and positional impairments such as scapular dyskinesia, insufficient posterior tilt, excessive abduction and prominent inferior medial border, which are all factors that play a part in the inverted “W” pitching position; that Marcos believes, is one of the driving forces behind the some pitcher’s injuries and the Tommy

Coaches are more than just experts at game-day strategy. They’re also highly knowledgeable in the techniques pitchers can use to maximize their potential on the field. At the middle and high school level, many coaches and P.E. teachers are people with advanced degrees in education and exercise science. At the college and professional levels, coaches tend to be even more highly educated and experienced. Pitchers can take advantage of this wealth of knowledge to reach their peak playing ability. Not to mention, pro-level pitchers often work with personal trainers, physical therapists, and other professionals to bulk up and protect their

Common injuries coaches must prepare for with a position baseball player include but is not limited to overuse injuries, those to the lumbar region, shoulder, elbow, hamstrings, and knees. Over half of reported injuries occur before the midpoint of the season (Rhea & Bunker, 2009), making it extremely important to emphasize prehab. An example of a training regime that could be done for a position baseball player in the in-season can be found in ………….

Along with the throwing arm, one of the largest areas where injuries occur happens to be one of the largest parts of the body, the trunk. Trunk injuries have one of the highest percentages of any injuries in major league baseball. With the help of measurements that can be taken between the pelvis and upper trunk, Exercise Scientists are able to calculate measurements including the maximum trunk rotation and angular acceleration of the trunk. Front foot contact for pitching, and after ball contact for batters is the most demanding instance for the trunk and spine, thus placing more stress on those areas during that time. Although it is impossible to calculate the amount of stress the abdominal muscles repetitively go through during pitching

Once upon a time, in a place not so far away called Overland Park, Kansas, there was a boy named Billy. He loved baseball. Really, he loooved baseball. He knew every statistic (piece of data) there was to know about baseball, including all of his own stats. He batted right-handed, threw right-handed, weighed 130 lbs. and was 5 '9” tall. He also played first base and batted fourth in the order; cleanup. He had a .515 batting average and was nicknamed, “The Cleanup King,” by his teammates. He was only 14, and he had scouts after him! Everyone had high hopes for him, and many thought he had a good chance at making it to the MLB. His concussion changed everything.

I would come back in three months and go back to pitching. I would only throw one or two innings here and there coming back off of my injury. I was in my fifth game pitching from three month leave. I went into relieve a game in the fourth inning. I would go onto throw about eight pitches when I felt the familiar “pull” in my arm. I would go to throw two more pitches and have the same sharp stinging pain to follow. I pulled myself from the game.

Some players are usually first treated with conservative (non-surgical) therapies. These therapies include: rest, ice and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (Tommy). However, “when rest and physical therapy are unsuccessful in treating shoulder pain or if an injury is discovered on MRI, surgical treatment may be needed (Baseball). Do you know that, “each year nearly 6 out of 10 young pitchers hurt their elbow” (Understanding). Do you understand

The article I read discussed the differing methods of treating muscle, tendon, joint, and ligament injuries in athletes. It highlighted four different techniques that have become more popular in the last 30 years.

As mentioned by Wilk and Leonard4 it has been found most shoulder lesions can be rehabilitated conservative without requiring operation.4 Furthermore, it can be speculated that rehabilitation after a required surgery is critical to return the patients to their functional goals. Additionally, a concrete designed rehabilitation program to increase the range of motion, strength, endurance while increasing the stability of the shoulder is a determinant factor as seen in athletes.4