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Inside Hokie Sports
that perfect number, they would be extremely
rich. You have to have a good relationship
with your pitcher. You have to have an honest
dialogue with your pitcher.”
Other ways to decrease an athlete’s odds
of injuring the arm include the forbidding of
throwing a curveball at a young age, as many
young pitchers still lack the ability to throw
a curveball with the proper mechanics. Also,
young pitchers need to limit the amount of
“full-effort pitching.” This means playing
different positions or different sports.
Tech’s sports medicine staff always tries
to be proactive in dealing with injuries. This
group, led by Griesemer, implemented a system
hoping to decrease the chances for injury.
“We have all of our pitchers come in, and
we measure them,” Griesemer said. “We look
for different ranges of motion in the wrist,
shoulder and elbow. We look at grip strength.
We put those all in a spreadsheet and compare
their numbers to see if guys gave deficits in the
internal rotation of their shoulder, extension of
the elbow, or extension of the wrist, which may
put increased risk on their shoulder or elbow.
We have a designed program for them to come
in here and do some corrective exercises.”
Schools throughout the ACC compare notes
and hold conferences throughout the year.
This creates an open discussion, and ideas
get shared. Protecting the next generation of
pitchers remains a top priority, and it starts
with creating a dialogue between the athletes
and doctors.
There may never be a universal answer
as to why the UCL tears. So many variables
make it difficult to pinpoint a single reason.
It can happen on one pitch or over time. In
the cases of McDonald and Enright, neither
had dealt with previous arm issues. Doctors
and scientists continue to flood the field with
studies and ideas in search of an answer
because they know that athletes will continue
CAREERS
to develop and throw harder.
The rehab following the injury remains
the hard part. Athletes must work to get back
on the mound. McDonald and Enright put in
that work.
“Both guys are pretty militant when it
comes to doing their rehab,” Griesemer said.
“They’re in here every day. They do their extra
work, and they don’t try to push past what we
recommend to them. Both are extremely hard-
working kids.”
McDonald and Enright didn’t let Tommy
John surgery end their careers. Now, they have
their eyes set on the future.
Continued
from page 43
NIC
ENRIGHT