How to Prepare Your Shoulder For Softball, Baseball, or Adult Leagues

May 9, 2023

As we work to wrap up spring ball and get into summer ball activities it is important to remember to take care of our throwing shoulders. In the spring as we ramp up our throwing activities it is easy to remember to get your shoulder ready for the seasons. However, as the season progresses and it gets warmer outside it is often forgot to take care of our shoulders as well as we did before. We all know about pitch counts and how important they are, but just as important is a proper warm up before throwing, cool down after throwing, and icing after activity.

An easy program to remember to help get our shoulders strong, warmed up, and to try to avoid injury is the Thrower’s Ten program. This program was been developed over the years to work on all aspects of shoulder strength and stability. Addressing scapular strength, tracking, rotator cuff strength and stability, and all accessory muscles it ensures that your arm is ready for the season.

A great resource for diagrams and descriptions of each exercise of the program can be found at: https://www.ortho.ufl.edu/sites/ortho.ufl.edu/files/handouts/Throwers-Ten_0.pdf

It is important to note that to fully maximize the benefits of this program is should be tailored to what you need. Exercise adjustments, set and reps, and frequency should all be set by an appropriate medical professional so that you get what you need. The therapists at Witte Physical Therapy can help with this!