Here's a reality check: just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And just because a test is easy to implement doesn't mean it's going to tell you anything worth knowing. This pilot study on sideline hand-grip dynamometry testing in high school baseball players is a perfect example of that disconnect. The researchers set out to see if they could measure grip strength changes throughout a season to catch early signs of fatigue or injury. And they succeeded in proving one thing: yes, you can perform the test without disrupting practice or games. But that's where the good news ends.

Because when you dig into what the test actually revealed, the picture gets a lot less encouraging. Fatigued athletes showed less strength changes, while athletes reporting pain showed more strength changes. Read that again. If the test only picks up changes when someone's already hurting, you're not preventing anything. You're just documenting what's already gone wrong.

This feasibility study tracked varsity baseball players throughout one high school season, testing hand-grip strength five times on a bi-weekly basis. The goal was straightforward: determine if on-site strength testing could identify early warning signs of fatigue or injury before athletes ended up sidelined. No players lost time due to injury during the season, which sounds great on the surface but doesn't validate the tool when your sample size is small and you have no control group. Fatigue and pain were each reported nine times (18 total reports), with pitchers being the most likely to report either. And here's the kicker: the test showed good consistency and was easy to administer, but it didn't actually help coaches make better decisions about managing their athletes.

What The Study Found

The researchers performed hand-grip dynamometry testing on varsity baseball players five times throughout the season at the high school, testing every two weeks. The study showed good test-retest consistency in measurements, and the protocol itself was straightforward enough that teaching appropriate usage was quick and performing the actual testing was rapid. From a logistics standpoint, it worked. You could integrate it into practice or pregame routines without causing disruptions or adding significant time to the day.

But the utility of the data? That's where things fall apart. No player reported loss of time due to injury, which initially seems like a win until you realize that with such a small participant pool and only one short high school baseball season, you can't draw any meaningful conclusions about whether the testing actually prevented injuries. Fatigue and pain were both reported nine times throughout the season (18 total instances), and pitchers were the position group most likely to report either. The concerning finding was that fatigued athletes actually had less strength changes on the grip test, while players reporting pain had more strength changes. A small negative correlation between strength changes and pain was observed, though it wasn't statistically significant.

So what does that tell us? If your test is showing bigger changes in athletes who are already in pain and smaller changes in athletes who are fatigued, the test isn't sensitive enough to catch the problem early. It's reactive, not proactive. You're getting confirmation of what the athlete is already telling you, not actionable information that allows you to intervene before things escalate.

Why This Information Matters

To be honest, this reminds me of a 2025 study published in The Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine that examined fatigue of the dynamic stabilizers of the medial elbow in baseball pitchers. After just four innings (roughly 64 pitches) of a simulated game, 56% of the 18 adolescent pitchers analyzed showed significant middle finger fatigue, with strength losses exceeding 20%. Another 33% showed moderate fatigue between 10% and 20% strength loss. Some athletes showed marked middle finger fatigue after just one inning, highlighting how quickly these muscles can break down. And here's the critical part: traditional grip strength testing does not capture this decline. That leaves a massive blind spot in fatigue and injury surveillance.

The muscles tasked with resisting elbow gapping, primarily the flexor carpi ulnaris and flexor digitorum superficialis, fatigue far more rapidly than previously appreciated. Finger-specific testing, particularly of the middle and ring fingers, appears to offer a more accurate window into medial elbow stabilizer fatigue than gross hand-grip strength. Younger pitchers showed greater fatigue than older counterparts in prior research, even with lower pitch velocity, suggesting that skeletal maturity and experience influence fatigue resistance. That study raised the potential for integrating finger flexor testing into regular monitoring protocols, ideally using baseline values to personalize risk thresholds so that interventions could happen before mechanical compensation or tissue failure develops.

So when you're using a gross grip strength test that doesn't pick up on these specific changes, you're missing the entire signal. You're looking for smoke when the fire's already burning. And if the only time your test shows changes is when someone's already in pain, what's the point? You're not getting ahead of the problem. You're confirming what the athlete already told you when they raised their hand and said something hurt.

There's actually more research backing this up. A 2021 study in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning examined 90 professional pitchers and looked at the relationship between grip strength and spin metrics. Grip strength alone, the standard crush grip that most people test, was not significantly associated with spin rate or pitch quality. Pinch strength, on the other hand, showed stronger relationships because it's more closely tied to how well pitchers stay behind the ball and create efficient spin. The mechanics of breaking balls depend more on wrist extension torque and how efficiently force is applied through the middle finger, not how hard you can squeeze a dynamometer.

This isn't to say that grip strength has no value. It's to say that gross grip strength provides very little context to true fatigue measures. If you're trying to monitor fatigue and manage injury risk, you need tools that are sensitive enough to pick up changes before athletes are already compromised. Feasibility is great, but if the test doesn't give you actionable information, it's just busywork.

How You Can Apply This Information

If you're considering implementing grip strength testing as part of your athlete monitoring system, ask yourself what you're actually trying to accomplish. Are you trying to document fatigue after it's already happened, or are you trying to catch it early enough to do something about it? Because if your goal is prevention, gross grip strength testing isn't going to get you there.

Timing matters as much as what you're testing. If you're testing immediately post-game or post-practice when athletes are already fatigued, you might see acute changes. But if those changes don't persist or aren't sensitive enough to predict who's going to break down later, you're just adding noise. We've run testing protocols with both gross grip strength and pinch grip, and neither were sensitive enough to show warning signs of fatigue or upcoming pain during the same day. However, when pinch grip was taken the next day, it was actually a decent indicator of fatigue and a very good indicator of pain or injury. That tells you something about timing and sensitivity. Not just what you measure, but when you measure it.

If you're going to implement a monitoring system, it needs to be specific enough to the demands and the injury mechanisms you're trying to prevent. For pitchers, that means focusing on the dynamic stabilizers of the medial elbow, the finger flexors, not just general hand strength. It means understanding that fatigue doesn't always show up as a drop in gross strength. Sometimes it shows up as altered mechanics, reduced coordination, or changes in how force is distributed through the kinetic chain.

You also need a system that's individualized. Baseline testing is essential because athletes have different starting points and different rates of fatigue accumulation. What looks like a normal test result for one athlete might represent significant decline for another. Without knowing an athlete's baseline and tracking changes relative to their own norms, you're flying blind.

And finally, recognize that no single test is going to give you the full picture. Grip strength, finger-specific strength, range of motion, subjective reports of soreness or fatigue, workload tracking, sleep quality, and even tools like heart rate variability all contribute pieces of information. The goal isn't to find the one perfect test. It's to build a monitoring system that gives you enough signal to make informed decisions about when to push, when to back off, and when to intervene.

The Bottom Line

This pilot study proves that sideline hand-grip dynamometry is feasible at the high school level. It's easy to teach, quick to perform, and doesn't disrupt the flow of practice or games. But feasibility and utility are two completely different things. If a test only shows changes when an athlete is already in pain, you're not preventing anything. You're documenting what's already gone wrong.

The research is clear: gross grip strength lacks the sensitivity needed to catch early signs of fatigue in pitchers. Finger-specific testing, particularly of the muscles that dynamically stabilize the medial elbow, offers a more accurate window into what's actually happening. And timing matters. Testing at the right moment, the next day rather than immediately post-activity, can make the difference between catching a problem early and missing it entirely.

If your goal is injury prevention, you need tools that give you actionable information before athletes are compromised. That means choosing tests that are sensitive to the specific demands and injury mechanisms in your sport, individualizing baselines and thresholds, and integrating multiple data points to get a complete picture of athlete readiness. Convenience is great, but only if the information you're gathering actually helps you make better decisions. Otherwise, you're just adding steps without adding value.

References

1. Munro TM, Yoder JD, Lee BR, Harvey BS. A Pilot Study Using Sideline Hand-grip Dynamometry To Assess Strength Changes In A High School Baseball Season: A Feasibility Study. Children's Mercy, Kansas City, MO.
2. Mullaney M, Kwiecien S, Fink A, Brown K, McHugh M, Nicholas S. Fatigue of the Dynamic Stabilizers of the Medial Elbow in Baseball Pitchers. The Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2025.
3. Wong R, Laudner K, Evans D, Miller L, Blank T, Meiste K. Relationships Between Clinically Measured Upper-Extremity Physical Characteristics and Ball Spin Rate in Professional Baseball Pitchers. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning. 2021.