Shoulder Health 101

By thebaseballstore.net added on Thu, 23 Oct 2008



No matter what your position is on a baseball team, the biggest risk you have is that of a shoulder injury. All baseball players, regardless of whether pitcher or batter, will have to train and take care of their shoulders properly in order to minimize the risk of injury and to play at peak performance. Before being able to do this you must first learn about and understand the shoulder joint and how it works and then follow a few simple steps that will help keep it healthy.

The first important thing to know about your shoulder is that it is considered to be a weak joint which is held together by muscles that allow it a wide range of movement. This is a good thing, but also the reason that it is more susceptible to injury and wear and tear and that is especially true of baseball players. The muscles holding together the shoulder joint are called the rotator cuffs and they are small, weak muscles and also tend to get strained faster than other muscles. In baseball, a sport which requires explosive force from the shoulder joint and muscles, the player will have to both strengthen and maintain these muscles and movements.

A healthy shoulder has to be strong, but not overly flexible and this is achieved by using warm-up techniques before playing baseball. The best warm-up stretches are to circle arms both forwards and backwards, rotating externally and internally and arm pumps. Stretching exercises that are appropriate for the shoulder health of baseball players include pectoral stretches, deltoid stretches and rear deltoid stretches. Neglecting to do any of these stretching exercises before starting any baseball training or game playing is a bad idea, since they will prepare your body for the upcoming activity and keep injuries at a minimum.

Once the baseball training has started, it is important that the player pay attention to any warning signs that the shoulder may give. If a player notices that the workout is too strenuous and feels the shoulder fatiguing, then it is time to stop that particular exercise before the shoulder ends up injured. Likewise, while playing a game it is important that a player not exceed a certain amount of actions, such as pitching too many balls. All baseball drills must also include a certain level of resistance training in order to be effective. This can be achieved with a medicine ball and there is no need for expensive equipment or complex techniques.

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