To Stretch or Not to Stretch

Can your shoulder do this?!

A question we get frequently from baseball players: “Should I be stretching my shoulder?”

Well, if it moves like this one, probably not. This motion is called shoulder external rotation, and most baseball players have a TON of it. You can see on the left picture how far his shoulder externally rotates during a pitch. This happens with EVERY throw. So why would you want to stretch something that is already so flexible? Instead, to stay healthy we need to strengthen and stabilize.

The picture on the right is a strengthening exercise for this client’s shoulder that creates stability through his FULL range of shoulder external rotation, very important to train. This took a well designed strength progression before he was safe to perform this exercise, so please don’t try this one at home.

The main take away is that most baseball players have HYPERMOBILE throwing shoulders, and actually need extra stability and strength, not stretching. Stretching a hypermobile shoulder is asking for trouble.

Want to know if YOU have a hypermobile shoulder? Need a strength/stability program to keep your shoulder healthy? You know where to find us! Stop by and let’s chat!

We appreciate you being a part of the MVP family!