Efficacy of Arm Care Programs for Injury Prevention.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Arm care programs for baseball players are an increasingly popular area of interest for players, parents, coaches, sports performance staff, and team physicians. Once a general afterthought, the design of arm care programs is now heavily scrutinized in order to maximize performance and help reduce injury risk. Given the recent spike in interest for arm care programs for baseball players of all ages, the purpose of this work is to review the relevant literature regarding the efficacy of arm care programs and to discuss the authors' preferred, evidence-based principles for arm care programs. RECENT
FINDINGS: Arm care programs appear to provide favorable results for performance, maintenance of strength and flexibility, and reduced injury risk. These programs should be tailored to the demands of the athlete, which can change based on the time of year and physical demands of the player's position. A good program will incorporate flexibility, strengthening, proprioception, and joint mobility for the entire kinetic chain. Appropriate warm-up and cool-down periods are also important. Arm care programs should start with basic movement patterns before progressing to more advanced, coordinated exercises. Arm care programs are an important piece of a holistic approach to caring for the throwing arm of baseball athletes. In general, they appear to be a safe and efficacious way to help prevent a portion of throwing arm injuries. Further research is needed to determine the optimal arm care program for each athlete.