Hey baseball players! I’m conducting a research study on throwing and the value of weighted balls. Are you interested in being a test subject? Have some fun trying out cutting edge baseball technology all while helping improve throwing training for the entire sport! Hit me up, if you are in the Tri-county area and want to participate.
Here’s the backstory to this project.
As the popularity of weighted baseballs increased over the last few years, I made the transition from using them daily as an athlete to wondering if they had a place in the rehabilitation world.
This new perspective came from the physical therapist and baseball performance specialist I was aspiring to become. The rising weighted baseball use instigated several research papers attempting to explain what they actually do. Experts concluded that weighted ball training improves throwing mechanics and velocity, while other experts claimed that weighted ball training is deleterious and downright harmful to the throwing athlete due to the stress it places on the elbow and shoulder. As with most things, the answer was unclear.
One question stuck in my head, “Can these things help rehab injuries, and to what extent?”
I got tired of not knowing, and decided to take matters into my own hands. I researched a new sleeve and sensor combo that was on the market by a company called Motus, that allows for the forces at the elbow to be measured when throwing a ball. I bought the sleeve, grabbed my old set of weighted baseballs, and went searching for answers. I made some really interesting discoveries that ultimately motivated me to develop a research project with a classmate, Mike, to hopefully shed some more light on these topics.
Currently, my research partner and I are in the final stages of planning and are about to begin data collection on several high-level high school and collegiate baseball players. It is our hope that the data we collect will open the door to a more thorough understanding of the potential benefits of weighted ball training in the field of rehabilitation.
*If you are interested in participating or know someone that is, please feel free to reach out. Also, if there is interest in further discussion of weighted baseball training, I am always interested in discussing the topic*