Strength in Numbers #125
I don’t go by Dr. Crotin. My father was in the medical field and went by that prefix, but I have a multidisciplinary PhD. I had to write two competency exams, one to become an Exercise Physiologist and another to become a Biomechanist.
I am saying this to you so you won’t be alarmed when I tell you that biomechanics has a MINIMAL effect on preventing injuries, but muscle physiology has a MAXIMAL effect on preventing injuries.
Over 500 articles on biomechanics as a cause of injury have been written in the mainstream. Yet, no one has a solution, and they won’t because biomechanics are individual, laboratory studies are not game-based, and markerless motion capture at stadium scale is not as accurate by marker-based standards.
Essentially, cookie-cutter deliveries crumble. No two bodies are identical, and no two pitchers throw the same, so we cannot think there is anything close to “perfect mechanics.”
However, we have defined optimal mechanics later in a link associated with this article, but you have to go through strength first.
If you don’t believe me, research has a 36x greater risk of surgery when throwing with a tired arm. Yet, no study has ever supported anything of that magnitude as a risk factor for surgery.
If you find an article with that kind of injury statement, please change my mind, but first, I will point you to the previous articles that I wrote on the topic:
THE HORROR SHOW
Now, if you want to shake up a room, deliver this message to one of the premier baseball sports science conferences hosted by one of the best biomechanics labs stationed among one of the top baseball programs in the country.
That’s exactly what I did a the Bridge Presentation at Wake Forest University.
I was the last in-person speaker on the docket, and 70% of the audience had gone home, which could be by design because the title of my presentation did not mention anything about biomechanics.
My message was simply: “Strength Matters Most.”
For my presentation, I had a two-sided whiteboard.
I left one side blank, and on the other side, I put in big letters on the back “Innings Pitched” and shielded it from the audience.
I asked MLB coaches, high school coaches, scouts, sports scientists, and even one athlete with the team, “In your opinion, what is the most important metric for pitchers?”
With growing ball flight technology, the crowd had a deep sense of knowledge in that department, and I was feverishly writing with a dry-erase marker – IVB, Spin Efficiency, Stuff+…
I wrote about ten, then turned the board to reveal the IP metric and said, “Do any of these metrics matter if your pitchers cannot pitch?”
What I thought was intuitive was not, as there were a few nods but primarily blank stares. Without pitchers being able to pitch, ball flight metrics do not matter, and I continued my talk, professing why Strength Matters Most.
Here’s just a clip of what I presented, and please ignore the colorful language. I am just passionate about what I am talking about and even more excited with an audience who may have opposing views.
Going through self-potentiation strategies with some of the most accomplished people in baseball sports science in the audience who may or may not believe that Strength Matters Most.
To make a long story short—I went to a Biomechanics Conference and talked about strength.
Almost every presentation was about biomechanics or ball flight, and I likely offended everyone who attended or spoke at the event when I told them none of this matters without a strong and resilient arm.
Still, our company is hellbent on not only performance but how to gain more innings pitched by having better preparation, a better understanding of arm fatigue, a better understanding of recovery, a better understanding of weakness, and a better understanding of how to prevent stress overload to the joint.
If you read the previous two Great Debates above and are ready to optimize pitchers by looking at a strength and coordination lens, we spell it out here.
Those who stand for nothing fall for everything
– Alexander Hamilton
– Alexander Hamilton
Just remember the next time you’re caught up in an intense debate on pitching mechanics, that Strength Matters Most. This holiday season, go out and horrify someone who thinks otherwise, or they may be horrified by the sight of blood and stitches.
