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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Scapular position and orientation in throwing athletes.

BACKGROUND: Despite the recognized importance of proper 3-dimensional motion of the scapula in throwers, minimal research has quantified scapular position and orientation in throwing athletes. HYPOTHESIS: Throwing athletes exhibit scapular position and orientation differences when compared to nonthrowing control subjects. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. METHODS: Scapular position and orientation during scapular plane humeral elevation were assessed with electromagnetic tracking in a group of 21 throwing athletes and 21 control subjects. Scapular upward/downward rotation, internal/external rotation, anterior/posterior tipping, elevation/depression, and protraction/retraction were assessed. RESULTS: The throwing athletes demonstrated significantly increased upward rotation, internal rotation, and retraction of the scapula during humeral elevation. No differences in anterior/posterior tipping and elevation/depression were present. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that throwing athletes have scapular position and orientation differences compared to non-throwing athletes. This suggests that throwers develop chronic adaptation for more efficient performance of the throwing motion. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Clinicians evaluate scapular position, orientation, and movement in throwing athletes as part of the evaluation of shoulder injuries associated with the throwing motion. The current study provides clinicians with an understanding of the types of adaptations that may be observed in normal, healthy throwing athletes.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2003

Elbow disorders in throwing athletes.

Skeletally immature throwing athletes are injured when they throw too frequently or use throwing styles and pitches that overstress their elbows. Despite safety guidelines for throwing that recommend throwing more than 300, but less than 600, pitches per season, compliance is almost impossible to monitor, given multiple opportunities for throwing abuse away from organized, supervised league play. All throwers should avoid the side-arm throwing style. Pitchers should not play in multiple leagues, should not play hard-throwing positions when not pitching, and should not pitch when having elbow or shoulder pain. When the elbow becomes painful, pitching should cease and a thorough evaluation performed. Once the diagnosis is made, appropriate nonoperative treatment is undertaken. Operative intervention in this age group uncommonly is needed. Rehabilitation includes identifying and eliminating causative risk factors. Educating the athlete, coach, and parents results in a longer, pain-free throwing career and enhanced enjoyment of the sport.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Control of finger grip forces in overarm throws made by skilled throwers.

In an overarm throw, as the hand opens and the ball rolls along the fingers, the ball exerts a back force on the fingers. Previous studies suggested that skilled throwers compensate for this back force by producing an appropriate finger flexor torque to oppose the back force, but it was unclear how this is controlled by the CNS. We investigated whether the increase in finger flexor torque is timed precisely to occur late in the throw as the fingers open or whether the increase occurs throughout the throw to anticipate the increase in hand acceleration. Recreational ball players threw balls of different weights and diameters at different speeds from both a sitting and standing position while arm joint rotations were recorded with the search-coil technique. Force transducers were taped to the distal and middle phalanges of the middle finger and subjects released the ball from this finger. Passive forces on the finger were also recorded in "fake" throws in which the ball was taped to the finger and subjects did not grip the ball. These skilled throwers correctly anticipated the magnitude of the back force from the ball on the finger because the mean amplitude of finger extension did not increase in throws made with a large range of increasing back forces. This was achieved by subjects gripping the ball during the backswing with a force proportional to ball weight and intended ball speed (acceleration) and progressively increasing the grip force throughout the backswing and forward throw. The magnitude of this grip force during the forward throw was not affected by ball texture. After ball release from the fingertip, the finger flexed in proportion to the peak force on the finger before ball release. It is concluded, in a skilled fast overarm throw where large, fast-changing forces on the fingers result from the sum of motions at all arm joints, that finger flexor torque is progressively increased throughout the throw in an anticipatory (predictive) fashion to counteract the progressively increasing back force from the ball.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Increased variability in finger position occurs throughout overarm throws made by cerebellar and unskilled subjects.

We investigated the ability of cerebellar patients and unskilled subjects to control finger grip position and the amplitude of finger opening during a multijoint overarm throw. This situation is of interest because the appropriate finger control requires predicting the magnitude of back forces from the ball on the finger throughout the throw and generating the appropriate level and rate of change of finger flexor torque to oppose the back force. Cerebellar patients, matched controls, and unskilled subjects threw tennis balls and tennis-sized balls of different weights. In all cases angular positions of five arm segments in three dimension were recorded at 1,000 Hz with the search-coil technique as subjects threw from a seated position. When the hand was stationary, cerebellar patients showed a normal ability to grip the ball and open the fingers and drop the ball. In contrast, in overarm throws where a back force occurred on the fingers, cerebellar patients showed an abnormally large variability in amplitude of the change in finger position when gripping, in amplitude of finger opening, and in amplitude of the change in finger position 10 ms after ball release. This was not due to more trial-to-trial variation in throwing speed. When throwing balls of increasing weights, both controls and cerebellar patients had increasing finger flexions after ball release that indicated that, on average, both scaled finger force in proportion to ball weight during the throw. Unlike skilled controls, cerebellar patients showed a small (<20 degrees ) increase in the amplitude of finger opening with balls of increasing weight. However, neither the increase in variability of finger position nor the increase in finger amplitude with balls of increasing weight were unique cerebellar signs because both were observed to various degrees in unskilled throwers. It is concluded that in the absence of either normal cerebellar function or skill, the central neural activity that controls finger opening in throwing can increase finger flexor force to oppose an increase in back force from heavier balls and can open the fingers but cannot control finger force or finger opening precisely and consistently from throw to throw. These results fit with the idea that cerebellar disorders are greater in multijoint than single-joint movements because control of force is more complicated. They are also consistent with the hypothesis that the cerebellum produces skill in movement by reducing variability in the timing and force of muscle contractions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Upper-body power as measured by medicine-ball throw distance and its relationship to class level among 10- and 11-year-old female participants in club gymnastics.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between upper-body power and class level among female club gymnasts. Sixty female gymnasts between the ages of 10 and 11 and between class levels 5 and 8 participated in the study. The distance of a medicine-ball throw was used to measure upper-body power. Three types of throws--overhead forward throw, overhead backward throw, and chest pass--were performed with a 6-lb rubber medicine ball. The mean distances of 2 trails were calculated and categorized into age group and class level. An analysis of variance design was used to determine the relationship between mean throw distances and throw type, age, and class level. No significant differences were found between mean throw distances and throw type, age, or class level. The results of this study show no relationship between upper-body power of female gymnasts and throw type, age, and class level.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2006

Muscle-contraction properties in overarm throwing movements.

On the basis of dynamic and kinematic data, this study identifies the type of muscle contraction in unloaded overarm throwing movements. An unloaded throw or nearly unloaded throw is defined as the throw in which the external resistance is too small (e.g., the team handball, baseball, and water polo throws as well as the tennis and badminton smashes). A special arm-force-measuring apparatus was constructed to imitate an overarm throw. Forty-two subjects were placed into 3 groups: untrained subjects, weight-trained athletes, and team handball players. The measured parameters included the velocity of the initial movement, the release velocity, the velocity of the first 50 milliseconds of the concentric phase, the force value at the moment of deceleration of the initial movement, and the impulse values during the eccentric and concentric phases of the test movement. Statistically significant higher values of the above parameters (p < 0.05) were determined in that test at which the initial speed of movement was higher. Also, the correlation coefficients of the parameters of the initial phase of the throw movement were very high (p < 0.001), especially the parameters related with the movement's first 50 milliseconds. The results support the thesis that the stretch-shortening cycle is the type of muscle contraction in unloaded overarm throws. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the throw velocity by increasing the velocity of the initial movement (i.e., by provoking higher inertia forces).

Acceleration↗

PubMed1999

Finger opening in an overarm throw is not triggered by proprioceptive feedback from elbow extension or wrist flexion.

Accuracy in an overarm throw requires great precision in the timing of finger opening. We tested the hypothesis that finger opening in an overarm throw is triggered by proprioceptive feedback from elbow extension or wrist flexion. The hypothesis was tested in two ways: first, by unexpectedly perturbing elbow extension or slowing wrist flexion and determining whether changes occurred in finger opening, and second, by measuring the latency from the start of these joint rotations to the start of finger opening. Subjects threw balls fast and accurately from a sitting or standing position while joint rotations were recorded with the search-coil technique. Elbow extension was unexpectedly blocked near the start of forward motion of the hand by a rope attached to the wrist that passed through a catch mechanism located behind the subject. In spite of a slowing or complete block of elbow extension, and in some cases a replacement of elbow extension by elbow flexion, finger opening always occurred and at the same latency as for normal throws. Wrist flexion was slowed in seven of eight subjects when subjects changed from throwing with a light ball (14 g, 70 mm diam.) to a heavy ball (210 g, 65 mm diam.). For the first throw with the heavy ball, this slowing was neither fully anticipated by the subject nor compensated for by the changed proprioceptive feedback associated with the slowing. Consequently, the timing of finger opening was unchanged and (to the surprise of the thrower) the ball went high. Furthermore, in unperturbed throws with tennis balls, the latency from onset of wrist flexion or elbow extension to onset of finger opening was too short for either to have triggered finger opening (across subjects means were 4 ms for wrist flexion and 21 ms for elbow extension). In additional analysis, no relation was found between the time of onset of earlier occurring rotations at the shoulder and the time of onset of finger opening. We concluded that, although a role for all proprioceptive feedback in triggering finger opening cannot be disproved by these experiments, it can be ruled out for feedback arising from elbow extension and wrist flexion, and it seems unlikely for feedback arising from events occurring very early in the throw. The more likely possibility is that finger opening in an overarm throw is triggered by a central command based on an internal model of hand trajectory.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

PubMed2002

A comparison of peak power in the shoulder press and shoulder throw.

The ability to generate peak power is central for performance in many sports. Currently two distinct resistance training methods are used to develop peak power, the heavy weight/slow velocity and light weight/fast velocity regimes. When using the light weight/fast velocity power training method it was proposed that peak power would be greater in a shoulder throw exercise compared with a normal shoulder press. Nine males performed three lifts in the shoulder press and shoulder throw at 30% and 40% of their one repetition maximum (1RM). These lifts were performed identically, except for the release of the bar in the throw condition. A potentiometer attached to the bar measured displacement and duration of the lifts. The time of bar release in the shoulder throw was determined with a pressure switch. ANOVA was used to examine statistically significant differences where the level of acceptance was set at p < 0.05. Peak power was found to be significantly greater in the shoulder throw at 30% of 1 RM condition [F, (1, 23) = 2.325 p < 0.051 and at 40% of 1 RM [F, (1, 23) = 2.905 p < 0.05] compared to values recorded for the respective shoulder presses. Peak power was also greater in the 30% of 1 RM shoulder throw (510 +/- 103W) than in the 40% of 1 RM shoulder press (471 +/- 96W). Peak power was produced significantly later in the shoulder throw versus the shoulder press. This differing power reflected a greater bar velocity of the shoulder throw at both assigned weights compared with the shoulder press.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Immediate and delayed bilateral transfer of throwing accuracy in male and female children.

In the present study, an attempt was made to examine the nature and persistence of bilateral transfer of a throwing skill for a large sample of male and female children. One hundred sixty children ages 6, 8, 10, and 12 years were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group with an equal number of boys and girls in each group. The experiment lasted 2 days and consisted of a pretest, a practice phase, an immediate transfer test, and a delayed transfer test. On the pretest, each participant performed 10 trials of a novel one-hand throwing task. Following the pretest, participants in the experimental group practiced the skill with the hand opposite the one used during the pretest until they had successfully reached a designated criterion for their age. Participants in the control group performed a balancing activity. Following the practice phase, all participants performed immediate (10 min later) and delayed (24 hr later) transfer tests under the same conditions as the pretest. The results revealed no group differences on the pretest but significantly higher throwing accuracy for the experimental group than the control group on both transfer tests. In addition, boys' throwing accuracy was significantly superior to the girls. It was concluded that bilateral transfer of throwing accuracy can be both a temporary and relatively persistent phenomenon for children and the superior throwing accuracy for boys is consistent with similar gender differences in throwing distance and throwing velocity (Thomas & French, 1985).

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2003

Release parameters at the foul line and the official result in javelin throwing.

Range in javelin throwing is determined by the release parameters and aerodynamic factors. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of release speed, release angle and uncorrected angle of attack measured at the foul line on the official javelin throwing result. The data were collected in international competitions for 26 elite male and 15 elite female javelin throwers (total 248 throws). Multiple regression models were constructed to predict the range of throw for a) individual throwers, b) a group of throwers using the mean value for each thrower in the analysis, and c) all individual throws registered for each gender separately. The data collection was carried out using a computerised photocell gate that consists of two invisible infrared walls two metres apart, perpendicular to the throwing direction. Release speed was found to have the highest correlation with the official throwing result. The three release parameters accounted for 56% of the variance in the official result for the male and 51% for the female throwers. For individual male and female throwers, the variance explained by the model was between 46 and 87%. Among the individual male throwers an increase of 1 m.s-1 in the release speed from 29 to 30 m.s-1 was calculated to increase the official result between 2.12 to 6.14 m while among the female throwers the effect of increase from 24 to 25 m.s-1 in the release speed was from 2.25 to 3.68 m. The study emphasises the importance of investigating javelin throwing biomechanics on an individual thrower basis.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

PubMed1999

Eye-dominance, writing hand, and throwing hand.

Handedness and eye-dominance are undoubtedly associated statistically, although a previous meta-analysis has found that the precise relationship is difficult to explain, with about 35% of right-handers and 57% of left-handers being left eye dominant. Of particular difficulty to genetic or other models is that the proportions are distributed asymmetrically around 50%. The present study asked whether this complicated pattern of association occurred because, following Peters, it is necessary to divide right-and left-handers into consistent handers (who write and throw with the same hand) and inconsistent handers (who write and throw with opposite hands). In an analysis of 10,635 subjects from questionnaire studies, 28.8% of left-handers and 1.6% of right-handers by writing were inconsistent for throwing. Our results also showed that writing hand and throwing hand both relate independently to eyedness, that throwing hand is somewhat more strongly associated with eyedness, and that the awkward asymmetry around 50% is now removed, 24.2% of consistent right-handers being left eye dominant compared with 72.3% of consistent left-handers, and 55.4% of inconsistent right-handers compared with 47.0% of inconsistent left-handers. We conclude that eyedness is phenotypically secondary to writing and throwing handedness. In our discussion we note that eyedness runs in families, we present new data suggesting that writing hand and throwing hand are co-inherited, and we argue that further data are now required to model properly the associations of writing hand, throwing hand, and eyedness, as well as probably also footedness and language dominance.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Throwing behavior and mass distribution of stone selection in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

Cannell [Journal of Archaeological Science 29:335-339, 2002] argued that sex-based differences among humans in terms of the mass of chosen throwing stones could be used to infer body mass and patterns of sexual dimorphism in early hominids from Olduvai and Koobi Fora by examining the mass distributions of unaltered stone tools at those sites. We examined this hypothesis in tufted capuchin monkeys using a comparative approach, by investigating the relationships among body mass, sex, stone weight preference, and accuracy in a throwing task. The subject sample consisted of nine monkeys trained to perform an aimed-throwing task in which a food reward could be obtained by throwing a stone into a bucket. We found that 1) the subjects showed a strong mean stone mass preference; 2) the females chose heavier stones than the males, in terms of absolute mean selected stone mass and selected stone mass relative to body mass; 3) subjects threw more accurately when they used stones of preferred mass vs. stones of nonpreferred mass; and 4) overall, the males were more accurate in the throwing task than the females. We conclude that capuchins are highly selective when choosing throwing stones, and that this confers an advantage for throwing accuracy. Our results indicate that the sexually dimorphic pattern in stone mass preference observed among humans does not generalize to Cebus apella. We suggest that researchers examining this pattern in humans in an attempt to explain early hominid patterns of dimorphism and behavior should take into account not only stone weight preference, but also its adaptive advantage.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Overarm throwing speed in cerebellar subjects: effect of timing of ball release.

Cerebellar subjects cannot throw fast and show variability in ball speed from throw to throw. One possible reason is that they release the ball at times when arm speed is not at its maximal value. Therefore, we investigated the hypothesis that the slow and variable speeds of throws made by cerebellar subjects are caused by their known large variability in the timing of ball release. Eight cerebellar subjects and matched controls were instructed to make overarm throws fast and accurately. Angular positions of arm segments were recorded with search coils at 1,000 Hz. Timing of ball release was measured with respect to the time of occurrence of seven arm kinematic reference points. All cerebellar subjects showed strong relations between ball speed and the timing of ball release, with faster ball speeds associated with late ball release. In agreement, faster ball speeds were also associated with longer hand paths to ball release, and with balls which went low on the target. However, when timing of ball release was optimal for achieving maximal ball speed in the cerebellar subjects, their fastest ball speeds were on average only 67% those of controls. Similarly, peak forearm angular velocity (one measure of arm speed) in the cerebellar group was 58% that of the control group. It is concluded that the large variability in timing ball release in cerebellar subjects contributes to their variability in ball speed, but is only a minor factor in their inability to throw fast. The major reason why cerebellar subjects do not throw fast is that they do not generate fast arm speeds.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

A simple rule for controlling overarm throws to different targets.

We investigated the central programming of overarm throws by determining whether throws to spatially separate targets in the vertical direction (sagittal plane) are produced by changes in hand (i.e., finger) path direction or by changes in the timing of ball release. Six skilled throwers made 30 throws at the same speed with a baseball, from a sitting position with the chest fixed, at targets at different heights and distances. Arm segment angular positions in 3D were recorded with the search-coil technique. Videotaping revealed that ball direction was not, as commonly assumed, the tangent to the finger path at ball release. Rather ball direction was the tangent to the finger path at a point about half way between initial uncoupling of the ball from the hand and final ball release. When viewed from the side, finger paths were tilted upwards for the high and the far targets and downwards for the low and near targets. This was associated with changes in angular orientation of the upper arm in space. Throwing at spatially different targets was not associated with changes in the timing of ball release. We propose that there is a simple rule by which throws to targets in different directions and at different distances are controlled: throws of the same speed are produced by different finger path directions, but the same timing of ball release. Such a mechanism would simplify the neural control of throwing to different targets.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2005

Braking of elbow extension in fast overarm throws made by skilled and unskilled subjects.

A previous computer simulation study of overarm throws in 2D showed that reversal of elbow torque by antagonist muscle action late in the throw led to increased wrist flexion velocity and to increased ball speeds. We tested the hypothesis that the skill of making fast overarm throws in 3D involves deceleration (braking) of elbow extension before ball release, and that this is an active mechanism. Skilled and unskilled throwers were instructed to throw baseballs at a fast speed. Arm segment angular positions in 3D at 1,000 Hz were recorded with the search-coil technique (which records angular motions). In skilled throws, but not in unskilled throws, there was a period (mean 17 ms) of rapid elbow extension deceleration before ball release. However, there was relatively little biceps EMG activity associated with the very large magnitude of elbow deceleration. This finding and other work suggests that elbow extension deceleration results in part from interaction torques associated with late-occurring shoulder rotations, and only in part from elbow flexor contraction. During the period when elbow extension was decelerating, the forearm in space was undergoing angular acceleration (because of internal rotation at the shoulder) which would be expected to produce a torque at the wrist in the extensor (not flexor) direction. The results show that elbow extension deceleration occurs before ball release in fast (skilled) 3D throws, and that it does not produce forearm angular deceleration. Whether it produces forearm translational deceleration, which could increase wrist flexion velocity, remains to be determined.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Factors influencing the prevalence and handedness for throwing in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Humans throw right-handed, and it has been suggested that the neurophysiological demands of aimed throwing may have served as a precursor to the evolution of left hemisphere specialization for linguistic functions. Although there are descriptions of throwing by wild and captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), systematic observations of aimed throwing and handedness have not been reported. In this article, evidence of population-level right-handedness for throwing is reported in 2 samples of captive chimpanzees. It is further reported that right-handed throwing is more pronounced than other measures of handedness in captive chimpanzees. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of theories relating throwing to the evolution of lateralization for language functions.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Ritual and free-throw shooting in basketball.

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and effect of certain highly patterned behaviours utilized prior to free-throw shooting in basketball. Ten female basketball players comprising the varsity squad of Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA served as subjects for this study. Subjects were filmed with a high-speed camera and monitored for heart rate during the performance of 10 free throws in each of two conditions: ritual and non-ritual. For the ritual condition, subjects were given unlimited time and freedom of movement prior to each free-throw attempt. For the non-ritual condition, subjects were not restricted by time, but were instructed to shoot the ball without utilizing any movements other than those required to project the ball to the goal. Dependent measures were characteristics of behaviours, physiological changes measured by heart rates, mechanical data (speed, height and angle of release), and number of successful attempts. Condition x trials analyses of variance and low standard deviation concerning characteristics of behaviours indicated that the idiosyncratic behaviours prior to free-throw shooting were rituals of the auto-communicative type. Results indicated no significant difference between conditions for free-throw success. However, partial correlation between dependent measures and successful free-throw attempts indicated that duration of behaviours was most crucial to free-throw shooting success.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Mass and velocity: control parameters for throwing patterns.

The purpose of this study was to determine if change in segmental mass and increases in throwing velocity act as control parameters to alter throwing patterns. Twenty participants were categorized into four levels of throwing pattern. Each participant was required to make 10 throws at various velocities within 8 conditions. Conditions resulted from combinations of altered mass of the arm, forearm, and hand. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that changes in segmental mass and release velocity either increased or decreased levels of throwing pattern depending on the initial throwing level. It was concluded that mass and velocity may be control parameters which instigate changes in throwing patterns.

Acceleration↗