By: Dr. David C. Dalgardno
Your mom always told you, usually amid tears and feelings of self-loathing: “it’s okay honey, you’re special just the way you are. You can be great at anything you want to be, you just have to put your mind to it…” Although it’s good to have a positive self-worth, she misrepresented the facts: some of us are naturally just better.
What?!
Case in point: me. I am 5’9”, 209, stocky build, and am good at lifting heavy weights. I spend much of my time soon after awaking each day in the gym, where I weight train. I am naturally good at this sort of stuff. I am comfortable doing these activities. I am NOT a world class swimmer. I sink. Fast.
So, you’re reading a baseball blog and you’ve just asked yourself: “What is this chiropractor kid talking all about himself for, and why did he insult my mom?!” Here’s the ticket: The things that give an elite pitcher his edge are anatomical. They were built in naturally as he grew.
There are two distinct anatomical differences between an elite pitcher and a little-league pitching coach, and both of them are in the shoulder, and they are equal parts Nature AND Nurture…
The first, has to do with the biceps muscle, rather; the groove that muscle sits in. The biceps tendon lives partly in your elbow, and partly in your shoulder. When inflamed or frayed, as is common in overuse injuries such as from pitching, contributes to shoulder pain. Here’s a picture. Check it out:
So. Now that you’re intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the way your shoulder is hooked up, here’s the implication that this anatomical feature has on pitching: a deep bicipital groove will hold onto the biceps tendon better than a shallow one. The shallow ones tend to wear out a bit more quickly, and thus the unfortunate person who’s shoulder has a shallow groove will not likely make it through the rigors of following their dreams to the major leagues.
So kids, if you’ve got a shallow groove, you’re never going to make it. No matter what your mom says. Your shoulder WILL explode at some point, likely before you make it to the bigs. Sorry.
That’s the NATURE part. So, if you’re 10, and you’re taller than the rest of the class… And somehow, you’ve gotten imaging to show that you’ve got a deep bicipital groove, here’s the next bit: your arm is going to mutate. In a good way, but the only way to make this happen is to pitch. Pitch a lot.
Pitching puts a lot of rotational stress and long-axis stress on the humorus bone, more specifically, the growth plate. This lengthens and twists the actual growth of the bone through something neat called Wolff’s law. Look it up.
In an interesting article on pitching performance training by Zach Dechant Shoulder rotation was measured in the dominant and non dominant arm of throwing athletes. What was found was grossly more external shoulder rotation on the dominant arms of pitchers. This is why baseball cards of pitchers look super gross like this:
As my musculoskeletal disorders instructor would say, “Here’s the take-home”: pitchers are mutants. They have a twisted upper arm bone, allowing for more rotation (greater wind-up), and a deep bicipital groove (so that their biceps doesn’t just fall off their arm).
These two features, as well as laser-focus, tireless dedication, weird wind-up habits, and a girlfriend played by Kelly Preston are the makings of that Mutant of the mound:
The pitcher.
Dr. Dave is a chiropractor in Longview Washington, and has been practicing since 2011. He loves all forms of athletics, and uses his knowledge and example to promote wellness in his patients. Recently, he was appointed to the medical staff at the Regional CrossFit Games 2013. He is super stoked about this.
Chiropractor, Summit Chiropractic Clinic www.SummitChiropracticClinic.com