Shoulder joint flexibility in top athletes

Joint range of motion (ROM) is very important in daily activities, sport and in clinical diagnosis. Many factors have been reported to influence joint ROM. Musculoskeletal adaptation and some special side effects due to his or her physical demands and movement patterns in professional athletes are very important subjects in sport sciences. The present study is a comparison of shoulder joint ROM in elite athlete and non-athlete groups and its relationship to their age, post and years of their tournament play. The subjects in this study included 106 men with mean age (23.65 +/- 3.45) and mean years of tournament play (5.60 +/- 2.23). The groups of subjects included 26 handball players, 25 volleyball players, 25 soccer players and 30 non-athletes. Data were collected through questionnaires and inspection, and subjects' ROM was measured by "Leighton flexometer" (r = 0.90 - 0.99) in external rotation and abduction of shoulder joint in dominant and non-dominant hands. Data were analyzed by correlation coefficient, t - test, ANOVA and post hock Schaffe test. The results showed that an increase in age and years of tournament play reduced the shoulder ROM of subjects (p less than or equal to 0.05). There were significant differences in shoulder ROM among athletic groups. Additionally, there are significant differences between dominant and non-dominant hands (p less than or equal to 0.05). It can be concluded that more specific stretching exercises and warm-up for shoulder in all athletes and especially in older and experienced players should be performed by coaches. The results also emphasized routine screening, corrective exercise programs and a design of preventing strategies by athletic trainers and coaches.