Abstract
According to a survey completed by the National Federation of State High School Associations, baseball is the third most popular boys sport played. In the 2012-2013 year season, 15,632 schools played high school baseball across America. These schools' teams were comprised of 474,791 student athletes. A recent study reports that 63.3% of injuries in high school baseball are to the upper extremity. (Shanley, Rauh, Michener, & Ellenbecker, 2011). Bonza, Fields, Yard, and Comstock (2009) reported that 17.7% of high school baseball players injure their shoulders. This is a greatest percentage of injuries among baseball players. It is for this reason that shoulder injury prevention is of the upmost importance for baseball pitchers. This following scholarly paper provides a review of the phases of the baseball pitch including the structural and muscular requirements of each phase. The paper also reviews current literature used to produce an evidence based shoulder strength and conditioning program that may be implemented by institutions with limited financial resources, limited facilities, and without a qualified strength and conditioning professional. The case report describes how this program was implemented as part of the overall strength and conditioning program used during the fall baseball season at Gordon State College in Barnesville, GA. The development of the shoulder strength and condition program took into account current research as well as the financial and equipment limitations, availability of qualified strength and conditioning professionals, and training time allotted for the strength and conditioning of National Junior College Athletic Association student athletes.