“Baseball’s Injury Crisis: Understanding the Rise of Throwing Injuries”
In baseball, throwing-related injuries have increased dramatically since 2000, making it more important than ever to prioritize player development and health. This highlights the importance of understanding and working with an individual’s natural motor preferences.
Coaches, instructors, data analysts, and biomechanical analysts who attempt to instruct, manipulate, and force an athlete’s posture outside of their natural motor preferences, can lead to several problems.
These can include injuries, as the athlete may not be able to perform movements that are unnatural to them, and a lack of flow, as the athlete may not be able to perform in the way that feels most comfortable and natural to them.
A fundamental question that Major League organizations, Colleges and all those engaged in personal training and instruction have to ask themselves is what their priority is in player development and what they want to achieve with it.
Some teams may prioritize having players that fit their ‘numbers philosophy’, while others may prioritize having healthy and durable players to save money in the long run.
However, if a team’s priority is to have players that fit their numbers philosophy, they must keep in mind that changing the way players throw, swing, catch, and run outside of their natural motor profile in an attempt to “improve” or “fix” their mechanics or movement patterns is often met with failure.
This is because those attempting to make the changes do not understand the complexities of changing individual motor patterns.
On the other hand, if a team’s priority is to have healthy and durable players, then #BaseballActionID can help profile players and make personal development plans on both the motor and cognitive-emotional side of the individual.
This is an unbreakable rule for player development and can help teams save money in the long run while also ensuring the health and well-being of their players.
An athlete’s natural motor preferences are an important aspect of their innate inner structure. These preferences include the way an athlete perceives, feels, thinks, and moves. Ignoring or working against these preferences can impede an athlete’s ability to perform at their best and reach their full potential.
Coaches and instructors need to understand that every athlete is unique and has their own set of natural motor preferences.
These preferences may be influenced by factors such as genetics, past experiences, and even personality. By taking the time to understand and work with an athlete’s natural motor preferences, coaches and instructors can help the athlete reach their full potential, while also reducing the risk of injury, ultimately leading to a more successful and sustainable career in baseball.
Factors such as being a vertical or horizontal-oriented athlete and having either a high or low mobile point in the spine will influence your most effective, energy-saving and healthy armslot! Attempts to alter these preferences or changing this ‘healthy’ arm slot to get more vertical break on the breaking ball or more horizontal movement on the sweeper is a huge risk for creating a severe injury, as we see happening daily in today’s world of pitching.
Motor Preferences will highlight the uniqueness of each human being in his or her ability to make conscious or unconscious movements that use as little energy as possible while being as effective and efficient as possible.
The nature of the individual dictates these movements, his life experience, and interactions with his environment.