CLEAN PITCHING PROTECTION SYSTEM
The Clean Pitching Protection System
(CPPS) is a comprehensive education and certification program designed to prepare coaches and health professionals for working with baseball players. The CPPS mission is to provide coaches and players the tools and education to identify key areas that increase the time under tension and provide a corrective strategy. The CPPS system is designed to address pitching issues from little league up through college.
The CPPS program’s goal is the prevention of baseball-related injury and the maximizing of pitcher performance. We advise professional athletes, but our mission, focus, and passion is to help children and teenagers.
Why does the elbow take the stress with poor pitching mechanics?
The human elbow was not designed to throw fastballs, curve-balls, or sliders. Overuse can cause the ulnar collateral ligament to fray or snap, which requires surgery to reconnect the ligament and tie the elbow back together. Nearly 30 percent of Major League pitchers have had ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery, which is commonly referred to as Tommy John surgery. More pitchers had Tommy John surgery in 2014 than the entire decade of the 1990s combined. That’s a problem in and of itself, but the bigger problem is that many of the affected pitchers are children and teenagers.
Why are we seeing so many more elbow injuries today?
Kids are more vulnerable than ever before since they are increasingly playing baseball year-round. Kids used to play a variety of sports, which developed a more diverse and balanced athlete. It allowed the body to rest, heal and develop. With the development of year-round baseball and travel teams, kids can play several games in a row without proper rest and recovery.
How did Clean Pitching Protection System come about?
CPPS is based upon the extensive studies and video analyses of players with ulnar collateral ligament injuries (UCL). These studies and analyses have led to the identification of six checkpoints that contribute to the time under tension upon the UCL. Whereas forces will always be placed upon the UCL during the throwing motion, we have learned that if the time under tension can be reduced, the risk of injury to this ligament is also reduced. CPPS is focused on isolating the six checkpoints, identifying problems leading to excessive time under tension, and teaching techniques and forms that minimize such time. It typically takes a couple of months for pitchers to re-tool their deliveries to be consistent with CPPS’s standards for minimizing the risk of injuries.
Why is using Spark Motion such an important part of identifying pitching faults?
Pitching is a very complex movement pattern. It is important to slow down the sequences and identify energy leakages that place excessive stress on the elbow. Video analytics software allows for the athlete to be captured, analyzed, and documented the progress over time. Spark Motion Pro provides the analytic toolkit needed to accurately and repeatedly analyze a pitcher’s delivery points, providing CPPS practitioners a consistent and easy way to identify and show energy leaks and areas of inefficiency.