Abstract
Background: In order to remain healthy while performing at a high level, athletes must exercise in a manner that is functional and translatable to the movement being produced during sport. In order to accomplish this, exercises are often modified to meet the specific demands of different sporting activities. Purpose: Although many studies have been performed on several aspects of baseball pitching, few studies have focused on the submarine pitcher. This pilot study investigated the difference in the activation patterns of select muscles for subjects conducting two exercises: the cable retraction with external rotation exercise and the modified version of the same exercise, which had been tailored to the submarine pitcher. The following research was performed to advance the literature devoted to the specific needs of submarine pitchers, and to raise awareness on the lack of literature devoted to this style of throwing. Subjects: 16 healthy males ages 18-35 with previous high school, college, and/or professional baseball experience participated in this study. Methods: Each subject was observed performing five repetitions of the two exercises, while motion and muscle activation patterns of the posterior deltoid, the infraspinatus, the middle trapezius, and the lower trapezius were captured using the Qualisys Motion Capture System in conjunction with the Noraxon SEMG system. Results: No significant differences were found between the two exercises in terms of muscle activation patterns of the four muscles being studied. A positive correlation was found between the muscle activation patterns of the two exercises, indicating that both exercises may accomplish the same goal when it comes to strengthening the four targeted muscles. A significant difference was found in the angle of abduction in which peak muscle activation occurred for the posterior deltoid (13°), the middle trapezius (17°), and lower trapezius (14°).