Little
By SHELLEY K. WONG
Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn. - With
baseball glove in hand, 13-year
old Jason Moore stood shirtless
in a lab at Connecticut Children's
Medical Center, his arm raised as
he poised to deliver a pitch.
His father, Chris Moore, a coach
for 10 years, chuckled at the
sight.
"What have I got you into,
Jay?"
With 40 reflective balls stuck
to his body and 12 cameras
recording his every move,
Jason threw pitch after pitch as
researchers at the Center for
Motion Analysis watched.
Jason is part of an ongoing
hospital study, one of several at
motion analysis centers across
the country, that looks at factors
behind Little Leaguer's elbow _
elbow injuries affecting young
baseball players. Researchers
are expanding their biomechanics
studies to include children in an
effort to reduce injuries in athletes
of all ages.
"There are a lot of theories but no
actual clear understanding of the
causes of these problems," said
Dr. Carl Nissen, an orthopedic
surgeon at the University of
Connecticut Sports Medicine.
Nissen is conducting the study
in response to the sharp increase
of elbow injuries in young players
Lions' ferocity keeps them ahead
By Matthew Miller
Sports Columnist
mgmsooo@psu.edu
If you had to describe the style
of play the Nittany Lions' football
team employs, it may read like an
old Batman comic. There would
be a lot of SMASH, POW, and
BAMS!
Their name does them justice;
these Lions play with an intense
ferociousness matched by few
in the country. This team plays
to hit, and believe me, they hit
hard. Whether it's junior tailback
Tony Hunt leveling tacklers, or
senior defensive end Tamba
Hali decapitating opposing
quarterbacks, players on both
sides of the football play with
reckless abandon.
The defense has been
dominating once again. Led by
captains Paul Posluszny and
Alan Zemiatis, this defensive unit
is out for blood. No quarterback is
safe, whether he is in the pocket
league, long term effects
over the last decade
"If I saw a dozen elbow problems
in the first few years I worked, I
now see well over a 100 a year
and the number of times I have to
operate has exponentially grown
more than that," he said. "It's not
just the number of injuries but the
severity of them."
CCMC is one of a handful of
centers at children's hospitals
technologically and financially
capable of doing motion analysis,
Nissen said. Other centers
capable of doing similar research
are in San Diego, Philadelphia,
Birmingham, Ala., and St. Paul,
Minn.
The Hartford center uses
imaging technology to translate
the player's body and motion onto
a computer in three-dimensional
form. A computer program then
processes the data to measure
aspects like movement and
throwing patterns. The technology
used to collect data is the same
used in video games.
Arnel Aguinaldo, director of the
Center of Human Performance
at the Children's Hospital in San
Diego, said recent technological
advances have helped increase
interest in studying little leaguer's
elbow.
"For those in the field, the
technology has caught up to
where we can look now with a
certain amount of confidence and
reliability when before we were
running away from pass rushers
Tamba Hati and Matt Rice, or
throwing the ball into the Big
Ten's best secondary. This unit is
just fun to watch; they are reeking
havoc in the backfield and forcing
turnovers left and right. Each
player is always extremely aware
of his surroundings, and their
heads are always in the game.
Need some evidence? When Hali
forced the fumble that ended the
Ohio State upset, Scott Paxton
was right there to fall on the ball.
When the game was hanging in
the balance at Michigan, Alan
Zemiatis stripped the ball from
quarterback Chad Henne and
returned it for the go-ahead
score. This is a team that plays to
win; they go hard on every play
and it is evident when you watch
them play on Saturdays.
Penn State's tenacious play isn't
limited to defense, it can clearly
be seen on offense as well. It
almost looks as if the offense Hard-hiding Liniba Hali crushes Purdue's Curtis Painter. The
and defense have contests to Lions has c been plasing, with aggressive ferocity all season.
Aguinaldo said.
His center mainly studies the
mechanics of adult pitchers,
including major and minor league
baseball players, but has begun
work with an orthopedic clinic
in Los Angeles to determine
what factors relate to elbow and
shoulder injuries in younger
players.
And though the study is not
complete he said he has noticed
that young players with more
experience have less shoulder
and elbow stress because they
use a correct pitching form.
"There is a certain pattern in
order for the stresses on the elbow
and shoulder to be minimized."
Aguinaldo said.
He believes pitching technique
combined with excessive arm
use cause elbow problems.
Like Aguinaldo, Nissen
postulates the chief cause behind
elbow injuries is overthrowing.
"When I was growing up you
played three sports," Nissen said.
"Right now these kids are playing
soccer for 11 months out of the
year or baseball 11 months out of
the year and the body never gets
to recover. The repetitive motion
eventually wears down a young
body. I think that's what causes
it."
Among the questions the center
hopes to answer is whether
throwing curveballs increases risk
of elbow injuries in adolescent
pitchers.
Sports
Little league pitchers participate in a study to see if their love of baseball will hurt them later in life.
A 1999 epidemiology study done
on young players by the American
Sports Medicine Institute in
Birmingham hoped to answer the
same question. Instead of using
computers and cameras to get
results, it used a questionnaire
Photo courtesy of The Patriot-News
The Capital Times, November 7, 2005
to interview subjects. The study
showed the curveball did not put
more stress on the arm than a
fastball but that a slider did.
"To get to the bottom of this,
ASMI and other researchers
need to provide epidemiology/
see who can hit more during a
game. It appears as if Tony Hunt
is extremely angered when he is
handed the ball due to the fact
that he breaks around 3 tackles
every play. His combination
of balance and power is really
impressive and is rarely tackled
after the first hit, almost looking
for contact rather than running
away from it.
Saying Michael Robinson is a
freak is a slight understatement,
he has to be one of strongest
quarterbacks in the nation. It is
amazing to see a quarterback
break tackles the way he does.
Sure, others can be faster and
more elusive than defenders, but
rarely can a quarterback break
tackles one on one as he does. His
most impressive display of power
came verses Minnesota this
season. Robinson scrambled to
the right side of the field, lowered
his shoulder and annihilated
safety Brandon Owens. When
Robinson stood over his victim,
Photo courtesy of google.com
clinical research together with
biomechanical research," said
Glenn Fleisig, chairman of
research at the Alabama institute.
"It's good to have different centers
to open the doors and test people
out and come up with answers."
the crowd went wild as they
saw their quarterback effectively
end that poor defensive back's
season. It's sad, but really an
impressive display of how strong
Robinson is.
All across the field, and on both
sides of the ball, PSU is playing
with a purpose. Whether it's a
high flying tackle or a massive
block from the line, the Lions are
tearing and clawing their way to
the top..
Look for more
articles from
Matthew Miller here
in the Sports
section of
The Capital Times