How to Boost Performance of your Shoulder for Throwing Sports

How to Boost Performance of your Shoulder for Throwing Sports

Many sports involve repeated high-intensity movements of the shoulder. Such sports include cricket, tennis, and baseball. Having a strong and stable shoulder is a key to both performance and injury prevention. Unfortunately, shoulder injuries are common, especially amongst sports people.

People often talk about having a “strong arm” for throwing or serving sports. In fact, the “arm” is one of the smallest contributors to the force produced. The arm and shoulder act as a lever. This allows the force produced to exit the body and be transferred into a ball/racquet etc. The force produced actually comes all the way from the ground up. The greatest contributor to the force when throwing and serving is your legs. In particular your quadriceps (anterior thigh) and gluteal (bottom) muscles. Following this the force flows through the bodies core. The core and trunk rotate and then flex to add more momentum. These motions are where the major majority of force will come from. So if you are looking to add a few extra kilometers per hour in your sport the following exercises will help you to do so:

Legs
· Single leg lunges (both sides)
· Standard squats
· Jump squats

Core
· Core plank
· Russian twists
· Sit ups
· Dead-lifts
There is another significant muscle group in throwing and serving. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that sit closely around the shoulder and help to provide support to the joint. These muscles play a key role in any kind of throwing or serving type motion. The cuff muscles will subconsciously contract during throwing and serving to slow down your arm. Here is the dilemma between shoulder stability and sporting performance. This is obviously not helpful regarding sporting performance. The cuff muscles hold your shoulder in place. Without the rotator cuff, the shoulder would have far less support in these motions. The stronger your rotator cuff is, the quicker and easier it will be able to slow down your arm. The moral of the story here is you need strength and stability of your rotator cuff. Here are my suggestions to improve your performance:
· Theraband external rotations with the elbow at 90°
· Theraband external rotations with arms by side.
· Prone overhead reaches
The rotator cuff muscles are small. There are many larger muscle groups involved in throwing and serving. Consider the amount of force your body produces from your legs and trunk. It is easy to see why the rotator cuff is often and rather easily injured. These small muscles are working to counteract the force of all the other muscles involved. For injury prevention, it is imperative to make sure that your rotator cuff muscles are strong. Otherwise, they become injury prone. It is important to build strength evenly on both sides. Try not to focus on one side of your body when training. It may lead to further complications down the track.
Together with strengthening your rotator cuff, athletes must warm up. A proper warm up (including stretching) helps to avoid injury. Work within your bodies limits. If pain occurs then, it is important to stop and rest until pain subsides.
Following these steps will improve your shoulders performance and improve joint stability. This will reduce the risk of injury and prolong your time as an athlete.
Consider calling Greensborough Osteopathy if you have an old or new shoulder injury. Perhaps you are looking to improve your shoulder mechanics and performance? Come and enjoy the relief osteopathy can provide.

Written by Samuel Thompson Osteopath and Baseball Player