Baseball Pitching: What Causes a Baseball Pitcher to Throw Hard? By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC In baseball, it is often said that the pitcher has a strong arm. However, this phrase is a misnomer. Research clearly shows that the arm musculature (hand, forearm, and arm) contributes only about 20-25% of throwing velocity. (Gretchen […]
By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC Worldwide, 55 to 80 million people from 136 countries play golf. (HSBC Group, 2020) With this popularity, golf has been among the most highly studied sports. Advances in technology and sports science have allowed healthcare providers to use this information to create specific sports performance exercise programs to […]
Single-limb exercises mean that the individual moves with one limb vs. two limbs—for example, a single-arm curl vs. a double-arm curl. There are many advantages to unilateral exercise training that I will highlight in this article. Benefits of unilateral exercise: 1. Increase motor unit recruitment: There is more significant muscle firing during the unilateral exercise. […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock In organized sports from youth to pro there are approximately 4-6 million injuries each year. The majority of these injuries occur as sprains and strains of the upper and lower extremity. (Hopkinsmedicine.org) Many of these injuries are preventable with proper exercise training and load management of training/competition volume, which ultimately […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock, PT, DPT, DC When watching professional athletes play their sport, we marvel at how they effortlessly hit a baseball over 400 feet, throw a baseball a 100 mph, jump over 40 inches to dunk a basketball, and run sub 4.2 sec on the football field. Advancements in strength and conditioning […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock, PT, DPT, DC Lower extremity injuries make up 66% of all sports injuries, the knee being the most commonly injured joint. (Med Sci. Sports Exerc. 2002) The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four ligaments in the knee that holds the thigh and leg bones together. The ACL ligament […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock There is a belief that resistance exercises or weightlifting create muscle damage, leading to tightness and limiting function in sports such as baseball, basketball, golf, and others. Does resistance exercise damage muscle? Can the muscle damage be helpful? When exercising, there is micro-damage or small amounts of physiological tissue change […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock Today’s elite-level basketball player needs high-level athleticism with elite-level skills in shooting, ball handling, and passing. When I was growing up, it was a common belief that lifting weights would make you too bulky and tight, negatively impacting your shooting form and accuracy. Some basketball coaches and trainers still hold […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock, PT, DPT, DC Overuse injuries in the shoulder and elbow are the most common problems in baseball players. Injuries of the shoulder account for 14-21%, whereas the elbow account for 16%-22% of all baseball-related injuries. (Agresta et al. Orthop. J Sports Med, 2019, Posner et al. Am J Sorts Med, […]
By Dr. John R. Mishock, PT, DPT, DC In sports, most high-level athletes (70-90%) and elite sports coaches (94%) report using motor imagery (mental or kinesthetic imagery) to enhance sports performance. (Ridderinkhof et al. J Physiol, 2015) There have been over 122 studies demonstrating the effectiveness of motor imagery in basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, […]
