Baseball In a Pool?
Pitching in baseball is one of the if not the most important part of the game. Keeping pitchers as healthy as possible is a multi-million dollar area of health and human performance. Baseball players are taught from a young age when your arms hurt you should run. “After a pitching session, it is important for a pitcher to do some maintenance work on their arm. A good recuperating exercise is running foul poles” (1). But what if there was a more beneficial way of doing the cardio that is needed after a pitching outing. Swimming should be done by pitchers on their off days and off-season.”
“As a pitcher, swimming is one of the best methods to build shoulder strength, endurance, and stability” (2). The shoulder for a baseball player is something that needs to stay healthy and swimming promotes this. Swimming is low impact and promotes full range of motion (ROM). Not only does swimming promote optimal ROM and shoulder endurance, but also cardiovascular strength and endurance.
With new research cardio after throwing has been shown to be more effective than icing. “that athletes who iced sore muscles after strenuous exercise — or, for the masochistically minded, immersed themselves in ice baths — regained muscular strength and power more slowly than their unchilled teammates.” (3). So if cardio is increased it will keep up muscular strength rather than contradicting it while increasing cardiovascular endurance.
Overall if a pitcher were to look towards new ways of getting rest and recovery other than running it will have a more optimal affect on that individual. Pitchers need to make sure that they not only keep up their cardio up but keep their strength up, and swimming is a positive way of doing both of these at the same time.
References
[1] Ellis, S. (n.d.). Running Poles. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/running_poles.htm#:~:text=Many%20coaches%20require%20their%20pitchers,poles%20is%20an%20easy%20task.
[2] Cavalea, D. (n.d.). Swimming For Baseball Pitchers? Retrieved May 9, 2022, from http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/pitching_swimming.htm#:~:text=As%20a%20pitcher%2C%20swimming%20is,a%20tremendous%20amount%20of%20benefits.
[3] Reynolds, G. (2021, April 21). Ice for sore muscles? think again. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/well/move/exercise-icing-sore-muscles.html