Efficacy of throwing exercise with TheraBand in male volleyball players with shoulder internal rotation deficit: a randomized controlled trial.

Glenohumeral internal-rotation deficit, or GIRD, is a condition where the shoulder loses range of motion in one direction, and it shows up commonly in volleyball players. The researchers wanted to see whether eight weeks of throwing exercises using a TheraBand could fix some of the muscle imbalances and movement problems that come with GIRD. Sixty male volleyball players with GIRD were split into two groups: one did the TheraBand throwing program five times a week for stretching and three times a week for strengthening, while the other group did a standard self-exercise routine.

The group doing the TheraBand throws showed improvements across several measures—their shoulder muscles were more active on electromyography testing, their internal rotation range improved, their rotator cuff strength ratios got better, and their ability to sense where their shoulder was in space improved slightly. The findings suggest this type of exercise may help restore some of the function lost in GIRD, though the authors note that longer-term follow-up studies are needed to understand how long these gains last.

If you have internal-rotation deficit in your shoulder, it means your shoulder has lost some of its ability to rotate inward, which is common in athletes who throw. This study looked at whether a specific eight-week exercise program using a resistance band called a TheraBand could help restore what was lost.

The people who did this program, which involved stretching five days a week and targeted strengthening three days a week, did see improvements: their muscles activated better during movement, they could rotate their shoulder further, and their muscles got stronger relative to each other. They also seemed to gain slightly better awareness of where their shoulder was positioned.

That said, this study only watched people for eight weeks, so it is not yet clear whether these improvements stick around longer or what happens if someone stops doing the exercises.

This is a summary of research, not medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about anything affecting your care.

This RCT adds some useful data to a relatively sparse literature on exercise-based management of GIRD in asymptomatic athletes. The study design was straightforward and the outcome battery was comprehensive, measuring EMG activity, ROM, strength ratios, and proprioception.

The experimental group showed statistically significant improvements across all measured parameters, with p-values suggesting genuine changes rather than noise. The magnitude of these changes was not explicitly quantified in effect-size terms, so it remains unclear whether the improvements were small, moderate, or large in practical terms.

One consideration is that the control group received an active program rather than true sham, which may have dampened the apparent difference between groups. The authors appropriately flag that longer-term retention of gains and durability of the effect remain unknown, and their suggestion for future studies with extended follow-up is reasonable.