ATTACKING THE INJURY EPIDEMIC IN YOUTH BASEBALL

Increasingly high number of players are having Tommy John surgery because of an injury in their elbow to the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) including Ivon Nova of the NY Yankees and Matt Harvey of the NY Mets.

This preseason over sixty Rockland and Westchester county doctors and baseball coaches came together at the home of the Provident Bank Park to learn from Major League Baseball affiliated physicians on how to help their athletes and patients reduce their likelihood of sustaining an overuse injury.

Dr. Alexander Rosado, director of rehabilitation at Bardonia Physical Therapy spoke about how to identify the physical limitations that correlate with faulty throwing mechanics that increase torque to the elbow.

“Too many kids are getting hurt,” said VP of New City Little League, John Resciniti.  “We all want to have fun but not at the expense of getting hurt.”

Dr. Christopher Ahmad, head physician of the New York Yankees presented on the biomechanics that lead to a torn UCL and explained the surgical procedure that is known as Tommy John Surgery.

“I felt that the information at the talk gave an in depth evaluation of proper pitching mechanics and how they relate to injury prevention. A must for anyone involved in youth baseball.” from Kerry Donovan Nurse Practioner for Clarkstown Pediatrics.

Dr. Richard Popowitz, assistant team physician for the Miami Marlins presented on injuries in the adolescent shoulder.  Dr. Popowitz spoke on how to strengthen the rotator cuff to avoid injury. The rotator cuff is primarily responsible for the stability of the shoulder joint.

Steve Stavros from the Stony Point Little league said, “this talk was very insightful and provided a thoughtful approach to baseball. Not only for little league players but also to little league coaches on how to talk about baseball injuries.”

For more information on how to reduce youth baseball injuries please go to www.pitchsmart.org