Overview

Sports medicine has traditionally been reactive, dealing with injuries and medical conditions after they occur. While there is no denying the skill and dedication of sports medicine practitioners in treating injuries, ignoring or overlooking data means that we end up treating many injuries that could have been prevented.

Sports physicals are meant to screen athletes for potential high risk issues. However, they are often not thorough enough to address musculoskeletal conditions that plague athletes’ performance. Each position in sports presents its own challenges and risk factors.

Our goal with this program is to offer an open door, low cost, comprehensive and objective screen for arm health in baseball and softball pitchers, volleyball, and tennis athletes.

Assessment

Advancements in technology have significantly enhanced the precision and scope of shoulder assessments. What used to only be an option in research and university or professional level evaluations has become a tool for clinicians worldwide.

With technology and advancements in research we can:

• Quantify shoulder function through objective data;

• Calculate asymmetries between left and right sides and imbalances within the shoulder joint;

• Monitor significant changes in strength, power, and range of motion;

• Provide benchmarking to compare similar ages, sizes, and competition levels.

Testing Analysis

Utilizing technology, like a digital dynamometer pictured above, we can categorize athletes into four quadrants. Each quadrant tells us a story about what it is that athlete needs moving forward. Strength testing (Force) focuses on evaluating the force-generating capacity of the shoulder muscles, particularly the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers. Rate of Force Development (RFD) measures how quickly force can be produced, which is crucial for explosive movements, especially in sports like baseball or tennis that demand rapid acceleration and deceleration of the upper limbs.

Athletes who have enough strength may struggle with explosiveness if RFD lags behind, potentially leading to pain or instability during rapid movements. Therefore, achieving peak force and high RFD is crucial for full function.

Other analysis conducted include:

• Between-Limb Asymmetry

  For athletes with asymmetrical sports demands, such as throwers, it is valuable to assign sided dominance. While some asymmetry is expected and even normal, monitoring changes over time helps prevent injury.

  However, asymmetries can be large in those with asymmetrical demands. To a certain degree, significant asymmetries in these athletes warrant tracking in case the magnitude becomes too great.

• Strength Ratio

  There is a metric we use to determine shoulder balance within the throwing arm called the ER:IR ratio. It represents the strength balance between the external rotators and the internal rotators.

  A balanced ER:IR ratio helps ensure that the shoulder can generate enough ER torque to decelerate the arm during throwing.

  An imbalance, particularly when internal rotators are significantly stronger than external rotators, is associated with an increased risk of shoulder injuries.

  Injuries like little league shoulder (proximal humeral epiphysitis) often show significant reductions in ER:IR ratios.

• Active Range of Motion

  The onset of injury or pain often sets the body into a protective state. By measuring an athletes shoulder range of motion we can grade the brain’s perceived level protection.

  By measuring total range of motion, ER gain (the imbalance in throwers to develop more ER than IR), and pathological glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (pGIRD) factors we can isolate physical limitations to the throwing motion.

HOw can we Help

By utilizing the above information we can monitor an athletes health and performance through strength, power, and range of motion measurements. The goal with these evaluations is to address some key variables that lead to higher level injuries.

You can get started today by booking one of three visits -

Initial Exam - If you are dealing with pain or want a comprehensive evaluation (full-body movement) this hour long evaluation will help us collect data points that will aid in an individualized program to help move and feel your best.

Free Discovery Visit - we’ll spend 10-15 minutes chatting about health history and current state of sport or pain.

Arm Care Program (at the bottom of booking page) - the FREE evaluation is simply a monitoring program that an athlete can use to check in throughout the season. It includes the strength, power, and range of motion testing for the shoulders.