Prevent Shoulder and Elbow Injuries: A Cricketer’s Guide to Pain-Free Throwing

Why Do Throwing Injuries Occur?

Throwing is an essential part of cricket, whether you're in the outfield launching the ball to the wicketkeeper or in the ring letting it rip. However, many cricketers experience shoulder and elbow pain, often caused by overuse, instability, and poor mechanics. Understanding why these injuries occur is the first step toward preventing them.

1. Overhead Instability

Throwing is an overhead action, requiring the hand and elbow to move away from the body. The further a limb is from the body's centre of mass, the less stable it becomes. This instability increases the likelihood of injury, particularly if the shoulder and surrounding areas are not strong or mobile enough to support the movement.

2. Overuse and Workload Spikes

One of the biggest causes of throwing-related injuries in cricket is repetitive stress. If a player suddenly increases their throwing workload, the shoulder and elbow can struggle to cope with the added strain. Similar to how fast bowlers suffer stress fractures due to excessive bowling, cricketers who throw too much, too soon, often experience pain and inflammation in key joints.

3. High-Speed Movement and Lack of Deceleration Control

Throwing involves high speeds, meaning the elbow and shoulder have to deal with a large amount of force. The forces placed on the inside of the elbow when throwing can lead to ligament strain or injury, especially if the stabilising muscles aren't strong enough. Likewise, the shoulder’s deceleration phase (slowing down after a throw) is often overlooked in training. If your body lacks the ability to decelerate effectively, it will naturally limit how hard you can throw.

How to Prevent Shoulder and Elbow Injuries When Throwing

Now that we understand why these injuries happen, let's explore three key areas that will help you stay injury-free and throw harder.

1. Improve Shoulder Mobility

Poor shoulder mobility is a common issue among cricketers. Many players have tight shoulders due to poor posture, which affects how well the scapula (shoulder blade) moves around the rib cage. Without full range of motion, overhead movements become restricted, leading to compensations and injury risk.

3 Shoulder Mobility Exercises:

1. Shoulder Flexion Stretch
   • Lie on your back with your arms by your side.
   • Keep your back flat as you slowly bring your arms overhead.
   • Avoid arching your lower back – the movement should come from the shoulders.
   • Hold the position for a few deep breaths.
2. Kneeling Rotation
   • Start in a kneeling position with hands on opposite shoulders.
   • Rotate your upper body towards your knee while keeping your hips stable.
   • This improves thoracic spine rotation, helping with throwing mechanics.
3. Child’s Pose with Side Stretch
   • Sit on your heels and extend your arms forward.
   • Reach to one side to stretch the opposite shoulder and lat muscles.
   • Hold for 20-30 seconds, then switch sides.

By incorporating these mobility drills, you'll improve your overhead movement, reducing strain on the shoulders and elbows.

2. Strengthen the Rotator Cuff

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that stabilise the shoulder joint. If these muscles are weak or inactive, the shoulder becomes unstable, leading to excess strain on the elbow and surrounding structures.

3 Rotator Cuff Strengthening Exercises:

1. Kneeling Pull, Rotate, and Press
   • Attach a resistance band to a stable anchor.
   • Pull the band back to elbow height, rotate your arm externally, then press overhead.
   • Keep the elbow stable throughout to isolate the rotator cuff.
2. Isometric Holds for Rotator Cuff Activation
   • Press your palm against a solid object (like a pole) with your elbow bent at 90 degrees.
   • Hold for 5 seconds, then switch to pressing the back of your hand against the wall.
   • This helps activate the small stabilising muscles.
3. Dumbbell External Rotations
   • Lie on your side, holding a light dumbbell.
   • Keep your elbow tucked into your side and slowly lift the dumbbell.
   • Lower it in a controlled manner, ensuring proper muscle engagement.

Focusing on the rotator cuff will enhance shoulder stability and injury prevention, allowing you to throw harder while staying pain-free.

3. Maintain Strength Balance: Push vs. Pull Training

One of the biggest mistakes cricketers make in the gym is focusing too much on push exercises (e.g., bench press, bicep curls) while neglecting their posterior chain (back and shoulders). This creates a muscular imbalance, making the front of the body too tight and the back too weak to decelerate the arm during a throw.

How to maintain Strength Balance:

• For every 1 push exercise, do at least 2-3 pull exercises.
• Prioritise rows, pull-ups etc
• Include face pulls and IYTW drills to strengthen the scapular muscles.

Balancing your strength training will improve shoulder health, enhance throwing power, and reduce injury risk.

Key Takeaways

To stay injury-free and improve throwing performance, cricketers should focus on:

• Improving shoulder mobility for better range of motion.
• Strengthening the rotator cuff to stabilise the shoulder.
• Balancing strength training by prioritising pulling exercises over pushing movements.

By integrating these principles into your training routine, you'll not only prevent shoulder and elbow pain but also enhance your throwing speed and accuracy on the field.

Looking for a cricket-specific throwing strength program? Check out our Throwing Health programme.

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