Shoulder proprioception in baseball pitchers

We examined proprioceptive differences between the dominant and nondominant shoulders of 21 collegiate baseball pitchers without a history of shoulder instability or surgery. A proprioceptive testing device was used to measur e kinesthesia and joint position sense. Joint position sense was significan tly (P =.05) more accurate in the nondominant shoulder than in the dominant shoulder when starting at 75% of maximal external rotation and moving into internal rotation. There were no significant differences for proprioceptio n in the other measured positions or with kinesthesia testing. Six pitchers with recent shoulder pain bad a significant (P =.04) kinesthetic deficit i n the symptomatic dominant shoulder compared with the asymptomatic shoulder , as measured in neutral rotation moving into internal rotation. The net ef fect of training, exercise-induced laxity, and increased external rotation in baseball pitchers does not affect proprioception, although shoulder pain , possibly due to rotator cuff inflammation or tendinitis, is associated wi th reduced kinesthetic sensation.