Identification

• Many softball-related shoulder injuries involve the rotator cuff, the group of muscles and tendons that holds the shoulder joint together.
  
  

Causes

• Injury often occurs by impingement, excessive rubbing of the shoulder muscles against the top of the shoulder blade, the acromion. Although not as frequent, instability and dislocations can occur, often when sliding into bases or fielding a ball.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• The easiest way to prevent shoulder injuries sustained in softball is to not overuse the joint. Both coaches and players should monitor the amount of pitches that are thrown.
  
  

Considerations

• The percentage of shoulder injuries is higher in baseball than on softball. Although both sports feature pitching, boys who play baseball have more upper body strength than girls who play softball. This allows them to accelerate their arms faster, placing more pressure on the rotator cuff.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Softball, like all sports, should follow a significant warm-up period. A minimum of 20 minutes of stretching, jogging and light throwing should proceed any game.