One Of Your Greatest Assest: Your Shoulders

Volleyball uses just about every muscle in your body to some extent, but one of the muscles groups that is used extensively and often not as strong as it needs to be is the shoulder. We will explore the different muscles that make up your shoulder and in another article, how you can strengthen, stretch and protect them.Please allow me to offer a simple caveat at this point, which is, I’m a volleyball coach, not a doctor. The following is a simple explanation of the shoulder muscles, offered in hopes of helping volleyball players understand their bodies. That said, I hope I don’t offended any medical personnel.So, the major shoulder muscles are:

Deltoid

Subscapularis

Infraspinatus

Supraspinatus

Teres Major

Teres Minor

Now, if you’re like me, who took Spanish instead of Latin in school, this list may seem confusing. Don’t worry, we’ll go through each of these muscles and I’ll do my best to explain things in everyday English so you can understand them and how they affect your ability to play volleyball.

The Deltoid is a large, thick, triangular muscle, which covers the shoulder-joint in front, behind, and laterally. It is attached to the Trapezius (the muscle that extends from the top of your shoulder to your neck) and the Pectoralis major (your chest muscle). It is the large muscle that is commonly referred to as “the shoulder” and is responsible for raising your arm to the front, side and back and is therefore one of the major muscles used in volleyball. Without realizing it, your deltoid is used in just about everything you do on a volleyball court, e.g. when you serve, spike, set, bump, run, wave at a friend, or even wipe sweat from your brow.

The Subscapularis is also a large triangular muscle which attaches to the Teres major (discussed below) and the long head of the Triceps brachii, ( the muscle on the back of your upper arm). The term “subscapularis” means under (sub) the scapula (the wingbone or shoulder blade). If you hold your arm at your side, palm facing forward, the Subscapularis muscle allows you to rotate your hand until your palm faces backward, which gives you the ability to move your arm into the passing (bumping) position.

The Infraspinatous is a dense fibrous membrane that stabilizes the shoulder by drawing the humorous (upper arm bone) toward the scapula (shoulder blade). It is an abductor and rotates the arm laterally at the shoulder which allows the arm to extend to the side, e.g. if you hold your arm at your side with your elbow bent 90° and your hand on your stomach, the Infraspinatous muscle is used to move your hand off your stomach and away from your body. It also extends your arm backward from a hanging position at your side. This muscle is used every time your arm moves in toward your body or out away from it. I hope the importance of this muscle on the volleyball court is obvious.

The Supraspinatus is a medially thick muscle that attaches the top of your shoulder-joint to your scapula (shoulder blade) and pulls your humorous (upper arm bone) toward your body. The Supraspinatus is critical to the stability of your shoulder and without it your shoulder would pop in and out of joint every time you moved suddenly. Again, the importance is obvious.

The Teres major is a thick but somewhat flattened muscle, which attaches to the back of your shoulder-joint and your scapula (shoulder blade). The Teres major is an adductor, which is a muscle that draws a part toward the median line. To use everyday language, it pulls your arm in toward your side. It also rotates your shoulder medially, which means it is the opposing muscle to the Infraspinatous, discussed above which is an abductor.

The Teres minor is a narrow, elongated muscle, attached to the clavicle and the humerus, between the Infraspinatus the Teres major. It works in conjunction with these two other muscles and adds stability to your shoulder.

If my brief explanations aren’t enough for you, there are a number of sites you can visit if you wish to study more about the shoulder. You can Google any of the shoulder muscles and you’ll get more of an education than you probably want. I definitely recommend spending as much time as possible learning about the muscles that affect your play on the court.

One thing that is very important to remember is that the musculoskeletal system works in a chain reaction fashion. What affects one part, affects another, and another etc. Because the shoulder is so close to your neck, protecting your shoulder joints from injury will assist or enable the neck to remain pain free.

There are numerous books available on the subject of shoulder injury treatment and prevention. One good ebook, “How to treat and prevent shoulder injuries: Stretch, Stabilize, Strengthen,” is very informative and worth checking out. Below are some testimonials about the book and a link.

Don’t take your shoulders for granted. Take the time necessary to educate yourself so you can protect them from injury. They are one of your greatest assets in volleyball.

To learn more;

” I used to be an avid tennis player, but for the past 10 years I have quit playing because of the pain in my shoulder. Since I started doing Pilates-based stretching and stabilizing exercises my shoulder pain is gone and I am playing tennis again at 72 years of age!” – Margaret Nabilek

“Incorporating Pilates-based fundamentals into my strength training workouts has greatly improved my form and technique. It makes me more aware of how I move and breathe, helping me to protect my shoulders by using my muscles in the correct way.” – Dave Lorimer, Age 55

“Through Pilates I have increased my posture and upper body strength through the shoulder stretching and stabilizing exercises. This has decreased the shoulder pain that I have felt for years when doing day to day activities like cooking and cleaning the house.” – Sandy Rudich, Age 63

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