Jed Lowrie. Baseball Player Mechanics Analysis - Oakland A’s

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The analysis of some aspects of the technique can help to explain the athlete’s performance, injuries and his/her future possibilities. With the information that we present in this blog I’m not intended to replace a scientifically organized evaluation process, but just to play with the available information.

Mr. Lowrie has a history of left wrist and shoulder problems since 2006. At the end of 2012 he stayed more than 50 days in DL for right ankle injury.
Analyzing his running technique we can observe an extreme extension of both knees before landing. The first contact with the ground is always in front of his body with the heels. His flying phase is short what creates a long ground contact increasing stress in his legs.

Lack of knee extension
Knee extension in front of the hip. Landing with heel in front of the body
Lack of knee extension
Knee extension in front of the hip. Landing with heel in front of the body center of gravity


In relation to his batting technique: 1) the right knee tends to hyper extend during the body rotation, finishing with an external rotation of the right foot. This change in foot position increases stress at the ankle level.
Initial position
Hyper extension of the right knee
Hyper extension of the right knee
Hyper extension of the right knee and beginning of foot rotation
Hyper extension of the right knee and foot rotation continuous
Hyper extension of the right knee and end of foot rotation
2) At the shoulder level we can infer a concentric force after the bat contacts the ball thanks to the position of the body backwards and the small space between left arm and neck (however this point should be carefully evaluated to confirm this hypothesis). This force will increase stress in the shoulder joint together with the tension generated in the posterior shoulder by the rotational force (when the arm tends to be stopped and actively elevated during rotation, the posterior aspect of the shoulder joint suffer two forces in opposite direction).

Opposite forces applied from shoulder tension and body sent backwards against the direction of the bat (hypothesis to be tested)
Tension caused by rotational force in opposition to the stopping force generated by the shoulder (hypothesis to be tested)

Conclusion: high risk of injury in the right knee and ankle. Moderate risk of injury in the left knee. High risk of injury recurrence at the left shoulder level.

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