The purpose of this study is to show the relationship between the thoracic flexibility, and rotator cuff function and mobility and stability of the scapula in throwing athletes. We studied 20 athletes (16 males and 4 females, average age: 17.8 years old) to examine the effect of thoracic stretching on rotator cuff and scapular function. We evaluated the rotator cuff function with the elbow extension test (ET) and scapular function with the punching test (PT) and the sternoclavicular joint mobility test (SCMT), presented in the 36th JSS meeting, before and after thoracic stretching. The thoracic stretching was performed with a stretch pole. Subjects lay down on the stretch pole along their spinal line, breathing deeply several times to stretch the thoracic cage with the intercostal muscles and costolvetebral joints relaxed. We compared the positive ratio of the ET, PT and SCMT before and after the stretching. In the non-dominant side, all subjects showed each test negative irrespective of the stretching, while in the dominant side the pre-stretching positive ratios of the ET, PT, and SCMT were all 100%, and the post-stretching positive ratios of the ET, PT, and SCMT were 10, 25, and 0% respectively. There were significant differences between before and after the stretching in each of the 3 tests. All cases with the ET and PT positive after the stretching had an apparent improvement compared with the pre-stretching results. The thoracic flexibility greatly influenced the rotator cuff and scapular function in throwing athletes.
