Cervical Range of Motion, Cervical and Shoulder Strength in Senior versus Age-grade Rugby Union International Front-Row Forwards

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Author
Davies, Mark
Moore, Isabel
Moran, Patrick
Mathema, Prabhat
Ranson, Craig
Date
2015Type
Article
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1466-853X
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives: To provide normative values for cervical range of motion (CROM),
isometric cervical and shoulder strength for; International Senior professional, and
International Age-grade Rugby Union front-row forwards.
Design: Cross-sectional population study
Setting: All international level front-row players within a Rugby Union Tier 1
Nation.
Participants: Nineteen Senior and 21 Age-grade front-row forwards underwent
CROM, cervical and shoulder strength testing.
Main outcome measures: CROM was measured using the CROM device and the
Gatherer System was used to measure multi-directional isometric cervical and
shoulder strength.
Results: The Age-grade players had significantly lower; cervical strength (26 - 57%
deficits), cervical flexion to extension strength ratios (0.5 vs. 0.6), and shoulder
strength (2 – 36% deficits) than the Senior players. However, there were no
differences between front-row positions within each age group. Additionally, there
were no differences between age groups or front-row positions in the CROM
measurements.
Conclusions: Senior Rugby Union front-row forwards have greater cervical and
shoulder strength than Age-grade players, with the biggest differences being in
cervical strength, highlighting the need for position specific normative values.
Importantly, Age-grade players should be evaluated to ensure they have developed
sufficient cervical strength prior to entering professional level Rugby Union.
Journal/conference proceeding
Physical Therapy in Sport
Citation
Davies, M., Moore, I.S., Moran, P., Mathema, P. and Ranson, C.A. (2015) 'Cervical range of motion, cervical and shoulder strength in senior versus age-grade Rugby Union international front-row forwards', Physical Therapy in Sport, 19, pp. 36-42.
Description
This article was published in Physical Therapy in Sport on 12 October 2015 (online), available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2015.10.001
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives LicenseCollections
- Sport Research Groups [1088]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License
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