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Updated: May 11, 2026

Measuring 3D In-vivo Shoulder Kinematics using Biplanar Videoradiography
Published on: March 12, 2021
[Relation between shoulder impingement syndrome and club head velocity in high-performance amateur golfers]
1FH Diploma, Nürnberg. oestreicher.michael@googlemail.com
Background:
Joint structure damages due to overstrain often occur even in commonly not injury-prone golfing. Triggered by the golf swing's repetitive movement pattern and technique deficits of the player these structural damages are most likely to affect the lumbar spine as well as shoulder and elbow joint. As a synonym for shoulder impingement symptoms in golfers the term golf shoulder has been established in medical terminology. Despite this fact, currently there exist no studies addressing the relation between shoulder impingement syndrome and club head velocity.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to highlight the relation between club head velocity deficits of high-performance amateur golfers and persisting shoulder impingement syndrome.
Method:
All of the 31 high-performance amateur golfers included in this study were male, active tournament players and right hander. Each golfer was examined for shoulder impingement syndrome using the Neer test, the Hawkins-Kennedy test, the painful arc and the functional test of the M. infraspinatus. Based on the test results the participants were allocated to an impingement group or a non-impingement group. Additionally, each golfer's club head velocity was determined.
Results:
Between the two groups a significant difference concerning the club head velocity has been reported.
Conclusions:
A persisting shoulder impingement syndrome can have a negative effect on club head velocity. In many shoulder studies predominantly the influence of pathological muscular balance alterations (myofascial dysfunction) is not taken into consideration.

