Effects of Scapular Kinetic-Chain Exercise on Muscle Activity in Overhead-Pitching Baseball Players

We aimed to demonstrate the effect of 8 wk of scapular kinetic-chain exercise on muscle activity in collegiate baseball players diagnosed with scapular dyskinesis. The subjects were career baseball players with at least a 7-year career assigned into either a SICK (S; scapular malposition, I; inferior border prominence, C; coracoid process pain, K; scapular dyskinesis; n=7) group or a normal group (n=16), respectively. The groups were further divided into SICK-Dominant, SICK-Non-Dominant, Normal-Dominant, and Normal-Non-Dominant to examine the dominant and non-dominant deviation of each group. Twenty-three subjects finally recruited through the Sports Science Institute of Korea National Sport University, Seoul, Korea in Sep 2014. Subjects were only allowed drug treatment for acute injuries during matches or training, and matches, training, and diet were controlled by university dormitory life. There was a significant increase in maximal muscular activation (MA) in elevation motion of Normal-Dominant upper trapezii (UT), mean MA of SICK-Dominant UT, and mean MA of SICK-Dominant lower trapezii (LT) (