Why Gymnastics Shoulder Flexibility is More Than The Shoulder

The info and video in this post came about because I’m in the process of putting together a really cool 4 part article series about shoulder pain in gymnasts. I think it would be helpful for all coaches/gymnasts to approach training with their gymnasts in this way. I have been spending an incredible amount of time reading and researching about shoulder problems in relation to gymnastics.

This is because of some gymnastics patients I have in the clinic, but also because I have been building more science-based shoulder pre-hab/gymnastics drills/conditioning for our girls team.

If you want to learn all about the flexibility drills, circuits, and exercises I use with gymnasts every day, you can download it here for free

Quick Video

I’m not going to dive into this very complicated topic too much for this post, because I want it to be on the shorter end. However more to come when I finish the shoulder article series I mentioned. But for now, take a look at this video where I walk through a few brief concepts about this topic with one of my gymnasts. I left out a lot of stuff on purpose and have also previously given her an entire assessment where we broke down her movement and gymnastics skills.Think more about the ideas behind it, not the nitty gritty stuff about how little/far her shoulders move, etc. I simply wanted to have a video out and get coaches/gymnasts thinking out there. Sorry in advance for some of it being choppy, lots of people walking around so I had to edit through some of it.

Hope all this little shoulder stuff was helpful for readers to see, more shoulder stuff coming out soon,

Dave

References

Reinold, M. Cressey, E. Functional Stability Training for the Upper Body; 2014
Andrews, J., Reinold, M., Wilk, K. The Athlete’s Shoulder. Second Edition, 2009
Paine, R., Voight, M. The Role of The Scapula. IJSPT: 8(5): 617 – 629; 2013
Manske R., et al. Current Concepts In Shoulder Examination of The Overhead Athlete. IJSPT Oct 2013; 8(5): 554 – 578
Oscar E. Corrective Exercise Solutions to Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunction. Lotus Publishing: California; 2012
Andrews, J., Reinold, M., Wilk, K. Current Concepts in the Evaluation and Treatment of the Shoulder inOverhead Throwing Athletes, Part 2: Injury Prevention and Treatment. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 2(2) 2010