APPLICATIONS OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN THE THROWING SHOULDER

In the complex movement that makes up the baseball pitch, shoulder mot ion is a single link in an orderly chain of events, It can be argued, though, that herein lies the weakest link and by far the most commonly affected cog in the spectrum of overuse injuries in pitchers, Just wh y the shoulder receives the brunt of the stress has been the subject o f numerous studies in the past several years, The tools of choice in m any of these articles have been electromyography and high speed photog raphy which have enabled researchers to study dynamically the phases o f the pitch and the sequential firing of the muscles involved, With th is information and the knowledge gained from studies looking at muscle activity during specific exercises, the clinician should be able to t ailor a rehabilitation program that meets the needs of his or her pati ent, What has been learned from these articles as applied to the biome chanics of the pitch and the rehabilitation of the athlete who throws and the limitations of this form of study need to be clarified.