# Softball pitchers not seeming to have arm problems

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [September 15, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575 "2014-09-15T17:41:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575/1 "2014-09-15T17:41:56Z")

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Not that I follow the sport closely, but I never hear of a pitcher blowing out her elbow or shoulder. I can think of 2 reasons:

1. They throw from a flat surface
2. Their pitching motion is how God intended us to use our arm

Any other reasons? Am I even correct softball pitchers ARE healthier?

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575/2 "2014-09-15T17:49:01Z")

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There’s less injury risk from a softball pitching motion, but it’s not zero risk.

> **[External rotation, number of pitches affects shoulder injury rates in...](https://www.healio.com/news/orthopedics/20120511/external-rotation-number-of-pitches-affects-shoulder-injury-rates-in-softball-pitchers)**
>
> Orthopedics Today | Compared to uninjured pitchers, injured softball pitchers have less external rotation in their dominant arm and throw in more practices, according to investigators from New York. “Shoulder injury is associated with less external...

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**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575/3 "2014-09-15T17:59:57Z")

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Thanks. Even softball pitchers can have overuse injuries.

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**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/softball-pitchers-not-seeming-to-have-arm-problems/698575/4 "2014-09-15T19:05:44Z")

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> [@etv78](#):
>
> Thanks. Even softball pitchers can have overuse injuries.

And yet, while the organization that publishes high school baseball and softball rules “strongly suggests” that states adopt limits on pitchers for baseball (and most, if not all, do - as examples, the last time I checked, California has a 10 innings/calendar week limit, and Florida has 10 innings/game and 14/week), there is no such suggestion for softball, even if the first game of a doubleheader goes 14 innings and the same pitchers are expected to throw in the second game.