What can shooting a basketball teach us about protecting the pitching elbow in baseball?
Let’s break it down by focusing on the three main joints of the throwing arm: the wrist, elbow and shoulder. Analyzing these movements can provide valuable insights into reducing stress on the arm, in particular, the elbow joint, while pitching. I'll use the accompanying video below for visual reference.
First - the wrist:
As Klay Thompson sets up for his jump shot, the weight of the basketball is positioned at the top of the palm and extends over the fingertips, which naturally hyperextends his wrist. Hyperextension is the bending back of the hand at the wrist by the weight of the ball itself.
As such, hyperextension is a passive process. By contrast, dorsiflexion is the active process of pulling back the hand at the wrist via muscular contraction of the extensor muscles of the forearm. When Klay goes into his jump shot, he actively pulls his shooting hand back - hence, dorsiflexion of the wrist. The greater the dorsiflexion, the more energy is releasedinto the shot via the forearm and wrist.
Let's examine wrist actions in some detail (see video)
The human wrist has six key actions:
Supination and Pronation
Dorsi-flexion and Palmar flexion
Radial-deviation and Ulnar-deviation
It's important to note that supination and pronation also engage the forearm, and the neutral wrist is simply the starting position for all these actions, not a separate movement.
To the jump shot:
When the wrist is dorsi-flexed the shooting hand is pulled back into position; thereby contracting the forearm extensors and stretching the forearm flexors.
Energy from muscular contraction and stretching (elastic energy) is released into the shot as the hand actively pulls forward via the wrist action palmar-flexion (the flopping forward of the hand). It is this sequence of wrist movements along with their associated muscle synergies, which drives the jump shot from the perspective of wrist-actions.
Try flopping your wrist quickly from back to front. Do you will feel a loose "whippy" effect?
For pitchers, maintaining a secure yet flexible grip on the baseball will allow for all 6-actions of the wrist in various capacities and pitches, particularly fastball, curve, slider, changeup, etc.
Second - the elbow:
When Klay Thompson and Steph Curry raise their throwing elbow into the jump shot position, they enable the triceps muscle to power the motion of the forearm upward and forward toward the basket. This movement of the forearm whereby the elbow is the fulcrum - the forearm (consisting of the ulna and radius) is the lever, and the triceps muscle, the power source, is called 1st Class Leverage (1CL).
Here we find that the function of 1CL is to change the direction of the applied force (triceps) and/or increase the range of motion of the load (basketball). Hence, we are using 1CL to lift the basketball into the basket over a modest distance.
Similarly, pitchers must position their elbow forward to release the ball toward the catcher. Would 1CL be useful for pitching a baseball? No, not with sufficient power or, more importantly, speed. If not 1CL, how does a pitcher direct the pitching elbow into a position of leverage advantage? The answer is 3rd Class Leverage (3CL).
In 3CL, the shoulder is the fulcrum, the humerus (upper arm) is the lever, and the muscles that feed into the shoulder joint are the power source.
The elbow acts as a guide (a direction vector) for placement of the humerus. Here we find that the function of 3CL is to convert power generated at the shoulder into increased speed of the lever (humerus). As such, everything attached forward of the elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, and baseball must speed up and speed up significantly. In fact, there is no way humanly possible to throw a baseball faster than using 3CL.
When we examine the forward position of the elbow for the jump shot and the baseball throw you may ask: What's the difference? They both look basically the same. The difference is the 1CL elbow versus the 3CL elbow: (1) In the jump shot, the elbow remains stationary; the elbow is the fulcrum in 1CL and the forearm moves radially away from it.
In the baseball throw or pitch, the elbow does not remain stationary - it moves forward and across the body (adduction) after releasing the baseball. In 3CL, the shoulder (not the elbow) is the fulcrum and the humerus (not the forearm) is the lever.
Third - the shoulder:
The shoulder joint is the most mobile in the human body. It is a ball-and-socket joint that serves as the fulcrum for the upper arm's 3CL. Not only mobile, the shoulder is supplied with numerous muscles to both move and support movement through this powerful joint.
By contrast, the triceps being the primary mover of the forearm in 1CL is weak in comparison to the power potential generated at the shoulder. Put into perspective (as we stated previously) although 1CL is useful to the jump shot in basketball only 3CL would be of practical use for throwing a baseball at high-speed. Again, the function of 3CL is to convert power to speed. It's simple physics at work for you.
Conclusion:
If you want to throw harder, have a longer career and secure your financial future in baseball, understanding pathways for body and arm movements is essential.
The optimal path for throwing effectively begins with efficient sequencing (and early in the delivery - well ahead of foot strike) to direct the body into a power position before bringing the elbow forward to throw. Similarly, in basketball, the jump shot requires preparation before releasing the ball: getting the body into a power position before raising the elbow to shoot.
It's about feel.
Growing up playing both basketball and baseball, like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax, ingrains an intuitive understanding of these wrist actions in both sports.
Look at Aroldis Chapman. He still throws over 100 mph in his mid-30s without ever having had Tommy John (TJ) surgery. How is this possible?
Watch the clips of Chapman and Koufax. You'll notice two key factors at play:
External rotation of the torso and arm
Use of 3CL.
The First Factor
Curiously, as pointed out by Prof. Don R. Mueller (Physics of Sports) Chapman externally rotates his torso as his arm goes into lay-back to a greater degree (angle) than most pitchers who have faced TJ surgery (whereas thus far he has not).
The forces on the elbow (in particular the UCL) during lay-back can be dangerously large as warned by groups such as ASMI (American Sports Medicine Institute). Mueller postulates that these forces experienced during forearm lay-back can be absorbed in-part during the external rotation of the torso (thus preserving the elbow).
The great Sandy Koufax also exhibited an inherent ability to externally rotate his torso. It is interesting to note, that Koufax (and later Chapman) engaged wrist lay-back in the form of dorsi-flexion, which Mueller has shown to be of significant value in reducing the forces directed at the elbow - again during forearm lay-back.
The Second Factor
Chapman's elbow position as he goes into release of the baseball indicates 3CL. Koufax also utilized 3CL at the highest level. In his strikingly beautiful pitching delivery Koufax brought his elbow into a 3CL position; then aggressively pulled his throwing arm down and across his body during deceleration.
To some in baseball, this discussion may seem all too technical, but having a deeper understanding of the physics involved with human body mechanics (i.e., biomechanics) can only be of benefit.
As Don R. Mueller, Ph.D. and Rob Semerano demonstrated in August 2023, combining some physics know-how with Rob's hard work helped the 42-year-old former minor league pitcher throw 101 mph for the first time in his life.
As the professor says: Physics know-how if they only knew-how.
