Affiliations: [a] Middle East Technical University, Department of
Physical Education and Sports, Ankara, Turkey | [b] Middle East Technical University, Medical Center,
Ankara, Turkey
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Feza Korkusuz, MD, Middle East
Technical University, Faculty of Education, Department of Physical Education
and Sport, Ankara 06531, Turkey. Tel.: +90 312 2104016; Fax: +90 312 2107968;
E-mail: feza@metu.edu.tr
Abstract: Proprioceptive information appears to play an important role in
stability and movements of shoulder joint in sporting activities especially in
tennis. The purpose of this study was to measure the shoulder proprioceptive
sense differences between male tennis players and control group, in sitting and
standing positions. 15 young male tennis players with a mean age 14.6 ±
0.7 years and 15 young male sedentary individuals with a mean age 14.8 ±
0.9 years participated in this cross-sectional descriptive study.
Proprioceptive sense was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Measurements
were made in two positions: `sitting' versus `standing' for forehand and
backhand positions. Service motion was measured in sitting position. There was
no statistical difference between players and non-players in means of age, body
height, weight, and BMI. The study revealed the following results: 1) there was
a significant difference between shoulder proprioceptive senses of players and
controls (p<0.05). 2) significant difference between dominant and
non-dominant shoulders at 15° and 30° was not observed (p<0.05). 3)
no significant difference was observed between sitting and standing positions
at 30° (p<0.05). It was concluded that tennis players had better
proprioceptive sense than their age matched sedentary controls.
Keywords: Shoulder, proprioception, body positions, tennis
