It’s around this time of year that high school baseball players deal with higher incidents of arm pain
Many have been throwing in tournaments, games and practices nonstop January into October, and now aches, pains and discomforts become common-particularly in the front part of the shoulder
Irritation in the front part of the shoulder is usually diagnosed as “bicep tendinitis”
And while it’s often true that the bicep tendon is irritated, addressing the problem for baseball athletes is much more complicated
What’s often actually causing the issue for baseball players is GIRD: Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit
GIRD is that the athlete has lost enough degrees of internal rotation in their throwing shoulder, that now the gap between their non dominant arm internal rotation, versus throwing arm internal rotation, exceeds 19-20 degrees (13-17 is the optimal range)
It’s the loss of internal rotation in the shoulder that’s causing the irritation; however, because there’s often a lack of understanding of the uniqueness of throwing athletes, only the symptoms of “bicep tendinitis” are addressed
And because the GIRD is never identified and addressed, the shoulder irritation becomes a persistent problem, as so many baseball players unfortunately experience
The good news is GIRD is correctable in typically a short period; we’ve had success correcting GIRD in as little as a few weeks
What’s important to remember though is that the aches, pains, and even injuries that all come from throwing a baseball are unique to baseball; and baseball players require a deep understanding of the nature of how the shoulder and elbow work specific to baseball, in order to stay healthy
-Fenske
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