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A Kinematic Comparison Of Shoulder And Elbow Dynamics Influenced By The Shoe-Surface Interface In Youth And Adolescent Baseball Pitchers, Jacob Richard Gdovin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 1994-2006, 1.5 million baseball injuries were treated within emergency departments across the United States while the upper extremity was the second most commonly injured body part. Although it has been determined that pitch count, pitch type and pitching mechanics are the main contributors to upper extremity pain in baseball pitchers, footwear has not been considered a potential factor. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine how baseball-specific footwear [turf shoes (ts) and molded cleats (mc)] affects the shoulder and elbow dynamics of youth and adolescent pitchers during an overhead pitch on various surface inclinations [flat ground (fg) …