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Updated: Sep 15, 2026
Muscle Imbalances: Testing and Training Functional Eccentric Hamstring Strength in Athletic Populations
Published on: May 1, 2018
Isokinetic performance and shoulder mobility in elite volleyball athletes from the United Kingdom
H K Wang1, A Macfarlane, T Cochrane
1Sheffield Institute of Sports Medicine and Exercise Science, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Objectives:
To evaluate the differences in strength and mobility of shoulder rotator muscles in the dominant and non-dominant shoulders of elite volleyball players.
Methods:
Isokinetic muscle strength tests were performed at speeds of 60 and 120 degrees/s, and shoulder mobility was examined in ten players from the England national men's volleyball squad. The subjects also completed a questionnaire that included a visual prompt and analogue pain scale.
Results:
The range of motion of internal rotation on the dominant side was less than that on the non-dominant side (p < 0.01). The average peak strength at 60 degrees/s external eccentric contraction was lower than that of internal concentric contraction in the dominant arm, but was higher in the non-dominant arm. Six of the ten subjects reported a shoulder problem, described as a diffuse pain located laterally on the dominant shoulder.
Conclusions:
These elite volleyball players had a lower range of motion (internal rotation) and relative muscle imbalance in the dominant compared with the non-dominant shoulder.
