Pole vault practice and rotator cuff strength: Comparison between novice and competitive athletes
Résumé
This study measured imbalances in rotator cuff strength in the dominant and non-dominant shoulders of novice and competitive pole vaulters. The aim was to determine whether muscular imbalances were related to the level of expertise of the pole vaulters. Fourteen young men (6 competitive athletes and 8 novices) participated in this study. The participants performed isokinetic tests of shoulder strength and simulated competition vaults. The isokinetic tests assessed the concentric (Con) and eccentric (Ecc) strength of the Internal (IR) and External Rotators (ER) of both shoulders. They were performed in the seated 90° abducted position in the scapular plane at 1.57 rad·s-1, from 0° to 90°. The isokinetics results corresponded to peak torque. During vaults, the shoulder flexion/extension were videotaped in the sagittal plane. The experts’ ER Con/IR Con ratio was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the dominant shoulder than in the non-dominant shoulder, whereas the novices showed no significant difference. The eccentric torque for the dominant IR was stronger than for the non-dominant IR for the experts but not the novices. At toe-off, the dominant shoulder flexion was significantly higher for the experts than the novices and correlated with the level of performance and with the eccentric strengths of the IR for the expert group. The pole vault practice trends to enhance ER strength in concentric and IR strength in eccentric in the dominant shoulder in order to improve the take-off phase of the vault.
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Pole vault and rotator cuff - 2nd version IJCV&B.pdf (343.11 Ko)
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