Shoulder proprioception in male adolescent tennis players and controls: The effect of shoulder position and dominance

Abstract

Proprioceptive information appears to play an important role in stability and movements of shoulder joint in sporting activities especially in tennis. The purpose of this study was to measure the shoulder proprioceptive sense differences between male tennis players and control group, in sitting and standing positions. 15 young male tennis players with a mean age 14.6 ± 0.7 years and 15 young male sedentary individuals with a mean age 14.8 ± 0.9 years participated in this cross-sectional descriptive study. Proprioceptive sense was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Measurements were made in two positions: 'sitting' versus 'standing' for forehand and backhand positions. Service motion was measured in sitting position. There was no statistical difference between players and non-players in means of age, body height, weight, and BMI. The study revealed the following results: 1) there was a significant difference between shoulder proprioceptive senses of players and controls (p<0.05). 2) significant difference between dominant and non-dominant shoulders at 15°and 30°was not observed (p<0.05). 3) no significant difference was observed between sitting and standing positions at 30°(p<0.05). It was concluded that tennis players had better proprioceptive sense than their age matched sedentary controls. © 2007 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.