Orthopedic Surgeon and Puget Sound Hall of Famer David ‘Doc’ Kuechle, M.D. Outlines Interval Throwing Program for Injured Athletes

“This post describes a program designed to return an athlete back to throwing following an injury or surgery,” said Doc.  “As such, if you are here to read about an off-season throwing program designed to turn your noodle arm into a massive, fire-breathing cannon of baseball manliness, you are out of luck. Throwing is a highly demanding activity. For a throwing athlete attempting to return from injury, getting back to throwing can be difficult. If the athlete attempts to progress too quickly, recovery can be slowed or worse, recurrent or more severe injury can result.

In this post, I will try to synthesize from available research the basics of an interval-throwing program (ITP) designed to return athletes to throwing in a safe, structured way. I borrowed heavily from work done by UF Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute (Go Gators!) The essential goals of the program are to restore motion, strength, endurance, and confidence to the throwing arm. This is done by throwing a set number of reps at graduated distances during the flat ground program. There is also a mound program for pitchers.” (Read more)