Full dxa-driven inverse dynamic analysis of youth pitching arm kinetics

Inverse dynamic (ID) analyses of baseball pitchers have assumed body segment inertial properties scaled from total body weight and segment lengths. In our recent study [1], use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) segment masses produced higher shoulder kinetics than use of scaled masses. The aim of this study was to calculate participant specific segment inertial properties using DXA data and compare pitching arm kinetic predictions using DXA vs. scaled inertial properties for youth baseball pitchers. The two major results were that 1) DXA and scaled inertial properties were different and 2) use of DXA segment inertial properties resulted in higher maximum shoulder internal rotation torques (SIRTs), but similar values for elbow varus torques (EVTs).