Handball players have superior shoulder proprioception: a prospective controlled study

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Kinesiology

Background:

• Proprioception and neuromuscular control are vital for overhead athletes' performance.
• Shoulder joint position sense (JPS) is a key component of proprioception.
• Assessing JPS in overhead athletes can reveal adaptations and potential pathologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate shoulder JPS in overhead throwing athletes.
• To compare JPS between dominant (throwing) and non-dominant shoulders.
• To correlate JPS with glenohumeral adaptive changes and pathologies.

Main Methods:

• Ninety professional handball players and 32 healthy controls participated.
• Shoulder JPS was measured using an electronic goniometer.
• Active reproduction of joint position (ARJP) and error of ARJP (EARJP) were assessed in various shoulder movements and positions.

Main Results:

• Throwing shoulders showed significantly better EARJP values compared to non-throwing shoulders at specific abduction, flexion, internal rotation, and external rotation angles.
• Handball players demonstrated superior proprioceptive levels in their throwing shoulder versus the dominant shoulder of controls at multiple joint positions.
• Significant differences were observed in abduction, flexion, IR, and ER at high range of motion angles.

Conclusions:

• Handball players possess superior shoulder JPS in their dominant throwing shoulder.
• This superiority is pronounced at high range of motion angles.
• Findings suggest specialized proprioceptive adaptations in overhead throwing athletes.