Shoulder Motions During the Golf Swing in Male Amateur Golfers

Kim Mitchell, Scott A. Banks, David Morgan, Hiroyuki Sugaya

Study Design: Prospective descriptive biomechanical analysis of shoulder motion in golf. Objective: To characterize normal shoulder motion during the driving swing in male recreational golfers of various age groups. Background: Shoulder trauma accounts for approximately 12% of all golf-related injuries. To design sport-specific rehabilitation programs for the injured golfer and exercise programs for the healthy golfer, clinicians and teachers need quantitative information describing range of motion requirements about the shoulder for the amateur player. Methods and Measures: Sixty-five male golfers were divided into 3 age groups: college, middle, and senior. A high-speed, 6-camera motion analysis system recorded 3-dimensional bilateral shoulder motion (vertical elevation, horizontal adduction, external rotation, and shoulder turn) for 3 swings of the driver. Group means for ranges and functional end points of motion were compared using a single-factor 1-way ANOVA (a = 0.05). Results: All maximum values of shoulder motion were lower in the senior group than in the other 2 groups. At peak backswing, senior golfers exhibited 38° less right-side shoulder external rotation than college golfers. However, from address, seniors horizontally abduct the right arm 18° more than college golfers. In the older golfers, total range of motion was reduced for both shoulders in the vertical plane and for the left shoulder in the horizontal plane. Conclusions: This study describes shoulder motion for asymptomatic golfers of various age groups. These data may serve as a baseline reference for assessing disease- or injury-related changes in the golf swing and for designing sport-specific exercise and rehabilitation programs.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2003; 33(4):196-203.

Key Words: aging, golf, range of motion, shoulder kinematics, 3-dimensional motion analysis

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