TY - JOUR T1 - Force awakens: a new hope for athletic shoulder strength testing JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099457 SP - bjsports-2018-099457 AU - Ben Ashworth AU - Daniel Dylan Cohen Y1 - 2018/11/09 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2018/11/09/bjsports-2018-099457.abstract N2 - ‘Lucas [real identity hidden] came through the training session yesterday with no issues. It is now ten weeks since his posterior shoulder repair (non-dominant) and he is pushing to play this Saturday, but his goalkeeper coach says he still looks apprehensive at full stretch and when he has to react or land from a dive. Clinically, his shoulder instability tests are all normal and he has full range of motion. Upper body strength in the gym and all grip strength and hand-held dynamometer scores are back to preinjury levels.However, there remain meaningful differences in peak landing force when he performs a plyometric push up (17% offload asymmetry), and the ‘ASH test’ shows a 23% lower rate of force development in a T-position on the affected left shoulder (445 N/s vs 580 N/s, table 1). This suggests that when he has to stabilize quickly, his shoulder is not ready yet. In my opinion he is a risk for the weekend.’View this table:In this windowIn a new windowTable 1 Shoulder strength testsAt present, there are few objective markers to support return to performance decisions in athletes following shoulder operation or injury.1 2 The athlete with a shoulder injury requires a testing protocol that is appropriately challenging, yet sensitive enough to inform decisions along the full return to play … ER -