Overhead athlete rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the influence of core muscle training (CMT) on throwing ball velocity among overhead throwing athletes. DESIGN: A literature search was performed from inception to July 2023 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of CMT on overhead throwing ball velocity. The primary outcome was the change in standing throwing ball velocity. The secondary outcome focused on the enhancement of step/jump throwing ball velocity...

OBJECTIVE: To systematically scope the literature on posterior shoulder tightness (PST) and define a therapist-instructed and therapist-administered management framework. DESIGN: Scoping review. LITERATURE SEARCH: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar from inception to December 2021. STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA: Peer-reviewed studies written in English, French, Greek, Japanese or Tamil, with extractable pre- and post-intervention data...

BACKGROUND: Rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathy is the most reported shoulder disorder in the general population with highest prevalence in overhead athletes and adult working-age population. A growing body of evidence support exercise therapy as an effective intervention, but to date there are no prospective randomized controlled trials addressing pain as an intervention variable. METHODS: A single-site, prospective, pragmatic, assessor-blinded randomized controlled superiority trial...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the organized training of softball players, similar to the abrupt cessation of sports participation that can happen after an injury. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique model to study how sudden detraining influences softball players. METHODS: We recruited a sample of convenience of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 softball players. They participated in three data collections: pre-lockdown (Jan 2020, T1), post-lockdown (Sept 2020, T2), and before the 2021 season (Jan 2021, T3)...

Volleyball players with supraspinatus tendinopathy commonly present with a spectrum of symptoms, including shoulder pain, especially during the overhead phases of the game. They may experience pain during serves, spikes, or attempting to block at the net. Weakness in the affected shoulder and limited range of motion can impede performance and overall playing experience. Physiotherapy plays a crucial role in managing supraspinatus tendinopathy, focusing on reducing pain, improving shoulder joint range and function, and preventing recurrence...

INTRODUCTION: Sport-specific adaptations of the glenohumeral joint may arise in adolescent overhead athletes who begin high-performance sports early in life. Research mainly addresses overuse injuries, leaving gaps in prevention, with adults studied more than youths. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate sport-adaptations of the glenohumeral joint in asymptomatic adolescent volleyball players to identify potential shoulder injury risk factors. DESIGN: Observational study...

INTRODUCTION: Effective rehabilitation strategies for upper extremity injuries in softball pitchers are scarce in current literature, especially among youth athletes. Additionally, there continues to be ambiguity regarding the interpretation and clinical practicality when treating an overhead athlete with scapular dyskinesis. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the examination and treatment of a youth softball pitcher referred to physical therapy with the diagnosis of scapular dyskinesis...

BACKGROUND: Physical therapists use tests that could determine strength and weaknesses of the shoulder for overhead throwing athletes to enhance performance, prevent injury, and safely progress rehabilitation. The Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test (CKCUEST) has been proposed to assess muscular capacity and dynamic shoulder stability in overhead athletes, which could provide information to determine a risk of injury. PURPOSE: To investigate if the CKCUEST is an appropriate test to implement within team elite handball players to evaluate dynamic shoulder stability across sexes and in the screening of shoulder pain...

BACKGROUND: Structural muscle injuries are characterized by acute and localized onset of pain. Abdominal muscle injuries are an insidious pathology in overhead athletes. However, only a few cases are reported in literature related to volleyball players, where clinical presentation may not have reflected the severity of the lesion. CASE PRESENTATION: An elite volleyball player, a 21-year-old Caucasian female, reported the onset of mild abdominal muscular pain, confirmed on clinical evaluation findings and self-reported symptoms...

The incidence of upper extremity (UE) injuries in sport, particularly with the shoulder and elbow in baseball/softball players, appears to be increasing yearly, especially in younger age athletes. Improving the objective criteria and testing methods used to determine return to play (RTP) readiness following non-operative or post-operative management of UE injuries is one aspect of the rehabilitation process that may significantly help in reducing reinjury rates. Currently, the majority of clinicians are still using post operative time frame and/or strength/range of motion as their main criteria for clearance to RTP following UE injury...

BACKGROUND: Padel players commonly suffer from shoulder pain and the particularly high incidence is probably linked to the high frequency of strokes. In addition, due to the repetitive technical gesture, an adequate technique is essential in terms of performance and injury risk prevention. Aim of this study was to objectively evaluate shoulder kinematic during the athletic gesture to analyze the risk factors linked to padel strokes. METHODS: Professional and amateur padel players underwent a three-dimensional motion analysis of the padel strokes utilizing optoelectronic and surface electromyography systems (BTS Bioengineering, Garbagnate Milanese, Milan, Italy)...

BACKROUND: The return to field is a critical moment for an athlete who has dislocated his shoulder as there is a significant risk of recurrence. The decision to return to field made by the doctor will therefore be crucial for the smooth continuation of the athlete's career. HYPOTHESIS: This objective is to compare the criteria most used by specialists in clearing an overhead athlete to return to competition after a first episode of antero-internal dislocation of the glenohumeral joint with or without surgery and those mentioned in the literature...

BACKGROUND: In baseball players with elbow injuries, towel drills are clinically used before initiating active throwing exercises to gradually increase stress across the elbow. However, elbow valgus torque during towel drills remains unknown. Moreover, towel drills and active ball throws might have different relationships between biomechanical metrics, such as elbow stress, arm slot, and arm speed. Therefore, the aims of this study were 1) to demonstrate the difference in elbow valgus stress between towel drills and active ball throws and 2) to evaluate the correlation between elbow valgus torque and other biomechanical metrics including arm slot and arm speed in towel drills and active ball throws...

Although pitching-related injuries in the overhead athlete have been studied extensively, injuries associated with windmill pitching are not as clearly elucidated. Windmill pitching produces high forces and torques in the upper extremity, and studies have shown it creates similar shoulder and elbow joint loads to those reported in baseball pitchers. Studies have shown that the windmill pitching motion generates high levels of biceps activation with an eccentric load, placing the biceps at increased risk for overuse injuries...

BACKGROUND: While there have been reliability studies conducted on several upper extremity functional performance tests (UEFPT), there are several complicating factors that inhibit the ability to draw definitive consensus about the reliability of the tests in both females and males. Having reliability estimates for UEFPT in the same cohort facilitates direct comparison of their relative and absolute reliability. PURPOSE: To establish the test-retest reliability of the closed kinetic chain upper extremity stability test (CKCUEST), seated medicine ball chest pass test (SMBCPT) and hands-release push-up test (HRPUT) in a cohort of males and females with a history of non-overhead sport participation...

CONTEXT: There are no available questionnaires in Spanish that assess the function and performance of shoulder and elbow in overhead sports. The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic (KJOC) score is a reference tool for this purpose. We aimed to cross-culturally adapt and investigate its measurement properties in Spanish overhead athletes. DESIGN: Cross-cultural adaptation followed the steps of direct translation, back translation, comprehensibility analysis, and review by the Committee of Experts...

PURPOSE: Overhead squat assessment (OHSA) is a pre-activity dynamic movement analysis tool used to define deviations from an ideal motion pattern which known as compensation. Compensatory movements may result from abnormality in myofascial activity, length-tension relationships, neuro-motor control strategies, osteokinematics and arthrokinematics. The aim of this study is to identify the association between selected biomechanical variables of the ankle, knee, hip, pelvis, torso during OHSA and 16 km/h treadmill running tasks...

CONTEXT: Scapular dyskinesis is a shoulder dysfunction that can be asymptomatic or associated with pain or weakness. Reduced strength and fatigue resistance of the scapular protractor and retractors muscles that stabilize the scapula might contribute to dyskinesis. OBJECTIVE: To determine the strength and fatigue resistance profiles of subjects with symptomatic and asymptomatic scapular dyskinesis, and to compare them to healthy controls using isokinetic assessment...

Paget-Schroetter Syndrome (PSS) is a rare condition characterized as a spontaneous thrombosis of the axillary-subclavian vein that occurs predominantly in young athletes engaged with repetitive overhead upper extremity motion, for instance weightlifting, swimming, baseball, and tennis. PSS is usually a consequence of chronic repetitive microtrauma to the vein intima due to compression of the axillary-subclavian vein by the thoracic outlet structures. This chronic injury can then be acutely exacerbated by vigorous exercise done over a brief period, accelerating thrombus formation...

Although lateral elbow pain and medial ulnar collateral ligament injury are common musculoskeletal pathologies in overhead athletes, the evidence supporting specific interventions for managing these conditions is scarce. Management of these conditions has been guided mostly by expert opinion rather than empirical evidence, yet the lack of comparative data in the literature has not negatively affected return-to-play rates following surgery. However, an understanding of what is known regarding unimodal and multimodal treatments for lateral elbow pain and medial ulnar collateral ligament injury is needed for clinicians to select evidence-based treatment pathways and highlight what is not known to develop future high-quality investigations...