Today's Advocate article RE: LSU's procedures for pitchers to prevent and treat sore arms

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LSU uses the term “arm soreness” to describe an injury that does not definitively require surgery or rule a player out for the season. It’s chronic pain, more difficult to treat because the source of the injury may come from a different area of the body.

Arm problems extend past LSU, affecting pitchers throughout the country, from little league to professional baseball.

Georgia ace Emerson Hancock missed a second straight start this weekend. Oregon State’s Kevin Abel, who threw a complete-game shutout to win the 2018 College World Series, announced last month he needed Tommy John surgery.

When players arrive at LSU, Couture performs a full-body screen.

Using a laser protractor, Couture measures the players' joints to find an arm’s range of motion.

Pitchers throw so much that over time, Couture said, one of the joints in their shoulder rotates toward their back. It can create muscle fatigue.

“It makes you asymmetrical,” Couture said, “which isn't necessarily a good thing.”

The screens give LSU a base point, sometimes showing if a player is more susceptible to injury, which helps the medical staff individualize training.

LSU pitchers visit the training room inside Alex Box Stadium twice per week, whether or not they have an injury.

The medical staff measures the pitchers’ joints, either with the laser or their hands. Then they work on soft tissue. LSU also contracts a massage therapy company.

When a pitcher develops an arm injury, Couture examines the shoulder blade, hips and ankles. With a chronic injury, Couture said, there’s probably something else creating pain.

LSU puts its pitchers through a series of steps after an injury.

First, pain must subside.

Second, the medical staff restores range of motion.

Then the pitcher has to regain his strength.

Next comes a series of exercises before picking up a baseball.

Only when the pitcher does not feel pain as he performs these drills can he play light catch.

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