Poster 380: Does Foot Function Affect Pitching Performance? Players with Impaired Foot Function Shows Decline in Pitching Performance

Objectives: It is well known that baseball pitching requires correct function of the entire body from the lower to the upper extremity for its execution. From the kinetic chain standpoint, efficient transfer of the ground reaction force is necessary. Functional impairment and mechanical deterioration in any parts of the body can decline the efficient energy transfer. Since the foot works as the initial point of the pitching motion and kinetic chain, it must work as a stable yet dynamic base of support. From our retrospective study, players with disabled throwing shoulder and elbow tended to have high rates of impaired foot function in both feet, which insisted that these pathologies may have a relationship with the occurrence of throwing injuries. Furthermore, we have recently reported that players with disabled throwing shoulder/elbow had higher prevalence of impaired foot function and floating toes compared with those without it. In addition, we have gathered a data that those with impaired foot function showed inconsistency in pitching motion compared with those without it. However, there are no reports regarding how impaired foot function affects the pitching performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between foot function and pitching performance. Methods: This study consisted of 15 youth male baseball players (age: 14.9 ± 1.7 years, height: 170.3 ± 6.3 cm, height: 66.2 ± 10.2 kg), who had no history of foot and/or ankle surgery or injury. None of the players had complaint of neither shoulder nor elbow pain at the time of measurement and evaluation. Foot function was evaluated by floating toes according to the previous reports. Instructions were given to the players to stand on a solid mat on both feet, having them in shoulder width apart and gaze at a marker 2 m ahead at eye level while standing in upright position. Floating toes were defined if all the toes were not in contact with the mat during the evaluating position. Players pitched from a standard elevated outdoor ...