As you read this, I’m presenting at the Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp in Houston, TX.  As such, it seems fitting to devote today’s blog to some pitching content.

A question I get pretty often is what I think of light band work for pitchers the day after pitching.  The truth is that I’m pretty apathetic about the use of bands, but I am adamant about the inclusion of post-throwing stretching to regain lost flexibility.  Research from Reinold et al. demonstrated that pitchers lose both elbow extension and shoulder internal rotation range of motion (ROM) over the course of a competitive season, and it’s no surprise, given the huge eccentric (deceleration) stress those arms encounter during the throwing motion.  Anecdotally, my experience has been that they also lose hip internal rotation and knee flexion on the front leg.  So, you don’t just want to take care of shoulder range of motion; you also want to attend to hip ROM.

Here’s the side-lying cross-body stretch, one of my favorite self-stretches for improving shoulder internal rotation.  I tend to use it more than the sleeper stretch nowadays because it’s generally a lot tougher to butcher the form.  It’s important to stabilize the scapula down and back before the cross-body pull.  This should not be an aggressive stretch!  If you are gentle but consistent with it, the ROM will come around in time.

You can find more ways to both identify and address shoulder and hip rotational imbalances in Assess & Correct.

So, flexibility is a must, but light band work may have a place as well.  There’s a lot of muscular damage, and some very light bloodflow work may assist in rotator cuff recovery, as it tends to have a poor blood supply.  I go into more detail on how we train our pitchers after an outing in A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2.

For more information, check out Optimal Shoulder Performance.

Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance – From Rehabilitation to High Performance.

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