Posterior shoulder tightness and rotator cuff strength assessments in painful shoulders of amateur tennis players.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown a relationship between shoulder posterior capsule tightness and shoulder pain in overhead athletes. However, this relationship has not been studied in tennis players. OBJECTIVES Assessment of the shoulder range of motion (ROM), strength and posterior capsule tightness of skilled amateur tennis players who had complaints of dominant shoulder pain in comparison with tennis players without pain. METHOD Forty-nine skilled amateur tennis players were distributed in 2 groups: Control Group (n=22) and Painful Group (n=27). The first group was composed of asymptomatic subjects, and the second was composed of subjects with shoulder pain on the dominant side. These groups were evaluated to determine the dominant and non-dominant shoulder ROM (internal and external rotation), isometric shoulder strength (internal and external rotation) and posterior shoulder tightness by blind evaluators. RESULTS The ANOVA results indicated significant differences between the groups in the dominant shoulder ROM, posterior capsule tightness, external rotation strength and strength ratio (p<0.05). The intragroup analysis (dominant versus non-dominant) in the Painful Group displayed a significant difference for ROM, posterior capsule tightness and external rotation strength (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The tennis players with pain in the dominant shoulder presented greater posterior capsule tightness, internal rotation deficit (ROM), external rotation gain (ROM) and deficits in external rotation strength than the tennis players without pain.