10 months post-partial UCL tear, this athlete is still in pain and 20mph off his goal. His numbers tell the story.
Our approach to partially torn UCL rehabs is outdated and fails to reflect the demands of throwing. Here's why we need to rethink it—and how we can do better. 🧵
Dylan Newcomer
533 posts
Owner of Athletic Potential PT | Physical Therapy Provider of @DrivelineBB
- Replying to @GernaderJakeWhen I was 19 or 20 I did the same thing on a weekend trip to Seattle. Ran into Dave Samuel on the staircase, knocked on the door and security told me to leave, then a dude from Xbox said “naw, I’ll give him a tour”. Got to see everything, it was great haha.
- Over the last year+ I’ve been using the @FlexProGrip to help pitchers resolve chronic elbow pain. One of the key insights from working with the FPG team has been identifying a common deficiency in the FDS in athletes post-Tommy John. I recently tested another professional
- Casey Sadler strikes out the side in the 8th.
00:00 - Rotator Cuff/Scapular endurance means nothing if your arm is weak. Train with intensity, raise the ceiling of your output, measure the progress, then train it to have high repeatability. Endurance is built on a foundation of strength. Not the other way around.
- How do you keep your UCL protected? Train the finger flexors (FDP, FDS, FCU). However, you can do all of the finger flexor exercises you want…but if INTENSITY isn’t high enough (or frequent enough) you won’t create physiological change in the tendon structure to support the
- Varus torque is produced by 3 main muscles during the throw that stress shields the UCL against valgus stress: - Flexor Digitorum Profundus - Flexor Digitorum Superficialis - Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Here’s 4 ways to train them to help build armor around the UCL 🎥⬇️
- Many athletes face challenges in returning to peak performance after Tommy John surgery. Here's a detailed guide to my four essential elements of an effective rehabilitation plan for Tommy John recovery:
- Re-Introducing and Progressing Valgus Stress in Tommy John Rehab ⬇️ An often misunderstood and undertrained component of Tommy John rehab is Internal Rotator (IR) strength. The Internal rotators are solely responsible for eccentrically absorbing and redirecting the force of the
00:00 - This is exactly how rehab throwing programs should be written and managed. Love seeing this at the highest level. @DrivelineBB we’ve been using PULSE, Velo Zones, objective strength measures such as @ArmCarecom and @FlexProGrip and plyocare balls in a specific and intentionalAs my time with LA comes to a close, a recap on the new rehab throwing program we implemented: - Velocity driven - No distances prescribed - Plyos and weighted balls early (lower arm speed = potential of less stress) - ~75 total mound sessions for enhanced skill work Cont. 1/2
- 🧵 Late Stage Shoulder Rehab - Reactive Isometrics 🧵 I’m not a fan of traditional perturbation type exercises. Having someone hold a position while you rapid fire slap them around doesn’t accomplish much in my opinion - why? They know it’s coming. They just lock down and
00:00 - Rehabbing from Tommy John? Check out my 5 biggest tips for maximizing recovery and coming out stronger in the thread below.
- Injuries don’t happen because you didn’t do enough massage, cupping, needling, etc. and thus weren’t recovered. It’s because the load you placed on yourself exceeded your capacity. Capacity can only be raised by training. So get in the weight room, and raise your ceilings.
- The most common focus of the early stages of a Return to Throw is reacquiring a more efficient arm path. In the first clip, you see an arm path that is pushing through layback and ‘pie throwing’ at the target. In the second clip, we see a more efficient arm spiral and
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