Shoulder Training for the Throwing Athlete

Using Body Weight

By: Tony Reynolds, MS, CSCS, YCS II (Pending)

In the final chapter of the shoulder training for the throwing athlete saga, I am going to discuss the use of the hand walk and its many variations.

The hand walk series is a creative way to train the shoulders.  I have incorporated many of these drills into my warm-up and workout proper.

Individual Vs Partner Drills

These drills typically fall into two categories.  First are the individual drills.  These drills are done without the aid of a training partner.  With individual drills, the upper body is used to drag the lower body, or more specifically the feet, across the floor.  These drills utilize greater horizontal and smaller vertical force manipulation than the partner drills. 

Partner drills require the feet to be held by a partner.  This increases the vertical loading of the shoulder and core musculature while changing the angle of the loading forces. 

All of the drills in this article can be performed as either partner or individual drills.

Basic Drills

These are the base drills that I used to prepare the athletes for the more strenuous drills discussed later in this article.  I would incorporate these drills into the warm up on the upper body days.  I would typically use 4-6 of these exercises for 2-3 sets of 20 yards.  These are nothing more than guidelines, and can be adjusted to fit your needs.  A good rule of thumb is to stay around ten minutes.

Here are some of the guidelines I use with these drills. 

1. Don’t get into a hurry; maintain a normal speed of movement. 

2. Don’t sag through the core. 

3. Don’t sway side to side or twist as you walk. 

4. Try to maintain that pillar posture and let the shoulder function naturally.

5. Do not let your scapula excessively retract or protract.  Keep them in a neutral position.

Here are the drills:

1. Forward-walking straight forward in a pulling motion

2. Backward-walking backward in a pushing motion

3. Close to Wide-starting with the hands close and step forward and out to a wide stance.  Now step back in to a narrow stance.

4. Lateral shuffle-do not let the hands cross,

5. Crossover-cross the trail arm over front or back.  Mix it up, but be consistent within the drill.

6. Carioca-Cross in front for one step and to the back on the next.

7. Obstacle Course-you can set up random obstacles such as cones, medballs, short boxes, etc, and have the athlete maneuver around or over them using any combination of the previous drills.  Below is an example I would use for an advanced athlete.

I also like to do the traditional ladder drills using hand walks. I have included a few basic ladder drills that you could incorporate into your program.

I have given you several basic ways to incorporate hand walk drills into your daily routines, and now I would like to give you a few ways to increase their difficulty.  You can add these modifications to any of the above drills.

1. Band Around Wrists-You can wrap a tight loop of elastic tubing around to increase muscular recruitment in shoulder.

2. Band Around Back-Wrap a band around your back and put a hand in each end.  This will increase the triceps activity considerably.

3. Band To Belt- Feed a band through a weight lifting belt that is around the athlete’s waist.  Hold both ends of the band into the air and adjust so both halves are the same length.  Now Place a hand inside each half.  This will cause the band to pull your arms back toward the waist.

4. Stairs-You can utilize stairs or bleachers as another variation.  Any of the previous drills (other than the ladder) or modifications can be used on the stairs.

5. Stair Climber and Treadmill-Have the athlete stair step or walk on a treadmill or treadmill. 

6. Modified Arm Ergometer-If you have on older bike, you can take the seat apparatus off, and have the athlete pedal the bike in a push-up position.  Make the athlete just push or just pull, or both.

Be creative and think outside of the box.  There are many variations I didn’t cover here, so use your creative juices and see what you can come up with.

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