Abstract
Because pitch counts do not exist for softball, pitchers may throw between 1200 and
1500 pitches over 3-day tournaments. With this workload, a common symptom among softball
pitchers is anterior shoulder pain. The purpose of this study was to examine long-head
biceps tendon (LHBT) changes in youth softball pitchers following an acute bout of
pitching. Nineteen softball pitchers (11.89±1.2 years; 158.23±9.71 cm; 61.59±14.76 kg)
participated. Images of the LHBT were obtained prior to and immediately following
a simulated game protocol. Repeated-measures MANOVA was used to determine if there
was a difference in LHBT size before and after the simulated game protocol. There
were significant increases in both transverse thickness (t
18=–2.76, p=0.013, 95% confidence interval=–0.050 to –0.007) and longitudinal thickness
(t
18=–2.64, p=0.016, 95% confidence interval=–0.060 to –0.007) of the LHBT following an
acute bout of pitching. Longitudinal and transverse thickness of the biceps tendon
significantly increases following an acute bout of softball throwing. These changes
may indicate an inflammation response of the biceps tendon and the biceps pulley.
Key words
injury - ultrasound - windmill softball pitching
