Functional Hip Characteristics and Their Relationship With Ball Velocity in College Baseball Pitchers.

CONTEXT: Compared to shoulder and elbow functions, the hip functional characteristics of baseball pitchers have not been fully investigated. Therefore, little is known about the relationship between hip function and pitching performance.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of hip flexibility and strength, focusing on their influences on the ball velocity in baseball pitchers.

DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study.

SETTING: Laboratory and university baseball facility.

PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-three college baseball pitchers.

INTERVENTIONS: Passive hip range of motion (ROM) and isometric hip muscle strength were bilaterally measured. The pitchers threw 20 fastballs at an official pitching distance.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Bilateral hip ROM and strength in flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and external and internal rotation; the maximal ball velocity.

RESULTS: The pivot side showed smaller hip external rotation ROM (P < .01), larger hip internal rotation ROM (P = .03), and greater hip adduction strength (P = .03) than the stride side. The hip extension ROM on the stride side had a negative correlation with the maximal ball velocity (r = -.58, P < .01). The maximal ball velocity (135.3 [4.1] km/h) positively correlated with the hip extension (r = .59, P < .01), flexion (r = .57, P < .01), abduction (r = .55, P < .01), and adduction (r = .55, P < .01) strength on the pivot leg, and the hip flexion (r = .53, P = .01), abduction (r = .67, P < .01), and adduction (r = .46, P = .03) strength on the stride leg.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that baseball pitchers do not have marked side-to-side differences in hip flexibility and strength, and that an important fitness factor for increasing ball velocity is not the hip flexibility but the hip muscle strength of both legs.