COMPARISON OF GLENOHUMERAL JOINT LAXITY IN ELITE AND RECREATIONAL SWIMMERS

Objective: To investigate whether glenohumeral joint (GHJ) hyperlaxity is related to swimming training vol ume, we evaluated elite and recre ational swimmers for differences in GHJ laxity and general joint hyper mobility (GJH). Participants: Thirty male and female elite swimmers, a ged 15-25 years, were compared with 30 recreational swimmers on five c linical GHJ laxity tests. GJH was assessed based on evaluation of hype rmobility in four other joints or joint combinations. Outcome measures : Group differences in both GHJ laxity and GJH were analyzed using chi (2) analysis. Results: Compared with the recreational swimmers, the el ite swimmers demonstrated significantly greater GJH, as well as signif icantly greater GHJ laxity on three of five laxity tests. The specific patterns of greater GHJ laxity demonstrated by the elite swimmers ver sus the recreational swimmers favour an acquired origin for these laxi ty differences, while the results of the GJH assessment suggest that t hese laxity differences are inherent. Conclusions: It was concluded th at a combination of acquired and inherent factors contributes to the g reater GHJ laxity demonstrated in elite swimmers. We discuss the impli cations of this study for the prevention of shoulder overuse dysfuncti on (SOD) in elite swimmers.