Unlock Elite Scapular Retraction for Improved Arm Health and Velocity
It is crucial that the throwing arm is able to achieve certain extreme positions in the delivery that the body is not designed to perform over and over again. One of those positions is Maximum Horizontal Abduction, or the movement of the elbow behind the shoulder to shoulder line. This has been a closely tracked metric by pitching coaches and different forms of motion capture. The issue lies in the fact that this is actually two combined motions: 1) Scapular Retraction and 2) Local Shoulder Horizontal Abduction and it is incredibly important to properly disperse this motion between the two.
Illustration of the Golf Ball (Humeral Head) sitting on the Golf Tee (Glenoid)
WHY?
Shoulder injuries often occur when excessive motion occurs at the Local Shoulder (Glenohumeral) Joint due to it being a very free but inherently unstable joint. The comparison we love to make is that it is like a Golf Ball (Humeral Head) sitting on a Golf Tee (Glenoid portion of Scapula). The issue arises when we reach these excessive motions of the Local Shoulder Joint and can no longer keep the golf ball centered in the golf tee. This is a HUGE underlying factor in issues such as Posterior Impingement, Labral Pathologies, and Anterior Shearing injuries such as Biceps Tendonitis.
Picture an Athlete that is stuck in out classic forward shoulder position (Anti-Scap Retraction). Their Golf Tee is pointing significantly in front of their shoulder to shoulder line. When this athlete goes into Horizontal Abduction, they will be using up a ton of their Local Horizontal Abduction just to get to midline. Now, keep going to a normal elbow behind shoulder line position and it will make for a very unhappy shoulder over time due to the excessive local shoulder motion.
Now, Contrast this with the athlete that has elite scapular retraction. Their Golf Tee will be pointed at or behind their shoulder to shoulder line as its starting position. They will have used up none of their Local Horizontal Abduction and are already behind midline. This athlete can get to extreme amounts of Total Horizontal Abduction with a very manageable amount of Local Horizontal Abduction. We love this combination much more!
Max Scapular Retraction with Trunk Counter Rotation
Formula For Elite Scapular Retraction
1) Proper Muscle Length of Pec Major and Pec Minor
Soft Tissue Work, Lacrosse Ball Myofascial Release, Pin and Stretch, etc
2) Elite Strength of Low/Mid Traps
Zero in on these muscles by putting the Scapula in a Posterior Tilt and Retracted position and add in upward rotation. To achieve this, we love exercises such as: 90/90 to Y Slides and Wall Angel (back to wall) variations
3) Adequate Trunk Rotation toward the throwing arm
Spinal Manipulation/Adjustment, Open Books, Quadruped T spine rotations, and proper breathing techniques
Wrap Up
We know some Pitching coaches will instruct that this arm movement into Horizontal Abduction is completely passive and an outcome of the rapid trunk rotation below the Scapula. Does this change these Principles? NO
If the Pec muscle groups are more restricted than the Low/Mid Traps are strong, we will lose the ability to perform this clean Horizontal Abduction over time (Both Actively and Passively). This is NOT saying to stop training the Pecs! They are one of the primary accelerators of the arm and we need them to produce incredible amounts of force and speed. It is more so saying we need to add a ton of Horsepower to the Low and Mid traps to keep a balanced system between the two.
