Shoulder Training for the Throwing Athlete

Using Weights

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

Over the past decade, many wonderful training techniques have evolved which have made training the throwing athlete more efficient and much more enjoyable.  Unfortunately, we have not been completely able to prevent injury to the throwing shoulder. 

Even though no program is perfect, many things that we can do improve the performance and longevity of our athletes.  I have put together a small list of exercise I like to utilize with my throwing athletes.  These exercises are by no means the answer to every problem, but I have found them to be fun and even better yet, highly successful.  By incorporating some of these exercises into your shoulder workouts, you can introduce some variety to a traditionally boring routine.

PNF Patterns

PNF patterns are great “educational” tools for the shoulders.  They help increase stability by improving neuromuscular control of the shoulder musculature during dynamic activity.

Exercises 1-3 require a partner.  Have the partner aggressively and rapidly push the arm in multiple directions (you could consider it more of a “slapping around” than a push).  There should be no rest between pushes, rather a constant “attack.”  The goal of the athlete is to maintain the arm in a centralized position.  Each barrage should last for an intense 10-20 seconds.

1. Throwing Pattern

Start at the beginning of your throwing stance. Utilize 3-5 positions of the throwing pattern. 

2. Vertical Response

Perform this drill either sitting or standing.

3. Horizontal Response

Perform this drill while lying on a bench or stability ball.  It is best to have the scapula unsupported so it can freely move.

4. 3 Dimensional Response

Attach heavy jumpstretch bands to the top of a squat rack.  Assume a push-up position with a hand in each band.  Your hand should not touch the floor. Slowly try to perform uniform arm movements while minimizing shaking and extra movement.

Strengthen Exercises

Strength in the shoulder of the throwing athlete should not only be thought of in the “linear” sense.  Since throwing is a rotational activity, certain aspects of the strengthening protocol should address the intermuscular orchestration of rotational strength.  Furthermore, there needs to be additional attention paid to the musculature that decelerates the arm (this is most important for sports that utilize high arm velocities with lighter implements). 

Here are a few exercises that I like to use.  These are by no means the only exercises I incorporate during a shoulder workout, but rather a group that may be unfamiliar to many coaches.

5. Row and external rotate

Tie a pair of bands or some elastic tubing at shoulder height (you can raise the attachment up and down to change the loading pattern in the shoulder). Grasp one in each hand.  Perform a rowing movement keeping the shoulder abducted to 90 degrees (upper arms stay parallel to the ground).  Once the upper arms are in line with the torso, perform a full external rotation.  Reverse the motion until the arms are fully extended back in front of the body.

6. Scapular Protraction and Retraction

Lie on the floor, bench, or stability ball, and hold a dumbbell in on hand.  Hold the dumbbell above your body at arms length.  “Punch” the dumbbell slowly into the air.  Tell my athletes to pretend they are trying to make their arm as long as possible.  The shoulder blade should pull as far from the midline as possible as the shoulder is pulled up.  The active shoulder should be the only thing to move.  Reverse the movement and try to touch the shoulder blade to the spine (figure of speech).

A partner can be used instead of the dumbbell.  Have the partner apply manual loading to the athlete.

7. Seated Dumbbell Cleans

The actual upper body response is visually similar to that of a standing db clean, but lacks the help of the leg and hip musculature.  The movement should be performed at a variety of speeds.  Spend time at slower speeds to improve strength and insure accurate form.

8. Prone Scarecrow

Lie face down on a bench or stability ball.  Grasp a pair of 1-5 lb dumbbells and perform a rowing motion with the upper arms abducted to 90 degrees (the upper arms should be in a straight line from elbow to elbow creating a “T” formation with the midline of the torso).  Once the elbows are in line with the body externally rotate.  Keeping the elbows “high”, bring the weights together and touch them behind the head concentrating on scapular rotation.  Reverse the motion until you are back to the starting position.

9. Plate Decels

Have the athlete assume the terminal stance of the throw.  Hold a 2.5 lb plate in your throwing hand.  Start in the initial position of the throw.  Have a partner forcefully push the plate forward.  Tell the athlete to stay in the throwing “grove”.  Have the athlete decelerate the plate toward the end of the motion.

10. Scapular Elevation and Depression

The mechanics of this movement are the same as the shrug exercise, even though the loading element is reversed.  Have the athlete suspend their body from a dip rack.  Keeping the arms straight, have the athlete try to touch his/her shoulders to the ears.  Have them reverse the motion until the shoulders are as far from the ears as possible.  This should be a slow controlled motion.

11. Medball Handwalks

Line up 3-5 medicine balls of different characteristics in a short arc.  Have the athlete start to the side of the first medball.  The athlete should step onto the first medball with the closest hand.  Next, the trail hand should step onto the ball so both hands are now on the same ball.  Now, the lead hand should step down to the opposite side of the ball followed by the trail hands.  Continue down the arc until you have crossed over the last ball.  Reverse the direction and lead with the opposite hand.

Elastic Response Drills

Elastic response drills utilize a light reboundable medicine ball.  Each drill can be performed at a specified arm angle, or around an arc.

12. Straight-Arm Bounce

Keep the arm straight and try to use a pure shoulder motion.  Keep the torso erect and do not rotate at the hips.  Perform an arc that starts with the arm crossed over in front of the face and ends when the arm is almost parallel to the floor.

13. Bent Arm Bounce

The same basic rules apply to this drill as the straight-arm bounce, other than the arm is bent to 90 degrees at the elbow.  The difficulty of this drill can be increased by using a mini-trampoline set at an incline.  The athlete should throw the ball off the mini-trampoline instead of the wall (the distance between the athlete and the mini-tramp should be considerable greater than between the athlete and the wall).  Although the tempo of this drill is slower, the intensity and physical demand is much greater.

14. Prone Bounce

The mechanics of this drill are the same as the straight-arm bounce.  This may be a good precursor to the straight-arm bounce.