martin
Martin, I liked the post about the common areas of weakness in athletes. I have problems in those areas for sure and am addressing the issues with the stretches you recommended. This site has helped me to elevate my game and physical level so thanks. I play football and focus on the throws in the field portion of track. Any other things I should be looking at? Barry
Pictured is NY Giants LT Luke Pettigout working on some shoulder and hip disassociation exercises during a warmup yesterday. Having had some back issues in the past and having to play at the highest level in the sport, Luke knows the importance of mobility around the low back and training all year.
Barry,
Thanks for writing in and I am glad that the information on the site has come in handy. We are here to help out and help give athletes all over the country the chance to receive and utilize training information that can help them to the next level.
One area that was left out in that post is the flexibility needed to develop good disassociation of the shoulders and hips. This is an important movement to train not just for flexibility, but also for strength and movement patterns as well. Now although this is very important for throwers because this disassociation leads to the stored energy in the core that is then released at the throw, it is also important in just about every other sport that involves running, throwing, hitting or kicking.
To illustrate what I am talking about here, picture a golf swing. As the club is drawn back, the athlete's hips stay square, but the shoulders rotate (and disassociate) from the hips. Then, the energy that is stored up by the twisting motion through the core is released when the rotation of the shoulders is reversed then adds to the speed of the resultant motion. The same can be seen with a baseball swing, hockey slapsot, javelin throw, etc.
So, understanding the importance of this motion, this is an area that you need to work in your program. This can be done using bodyweight exercises, medicine ball exercises, free weights, cable and physioball drills, and bands.
I hope this info helps, and gets you working on the rotational relationship of the shoulders and hips.
Martin Rooney
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