Pearls of Practice
Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit in Overhead Athletes

Athletic Training & Sports Health Care  Vol. 1   No. 6   November/December 2009

By Juan M. Giugale, BA; Sean M. Jones-Quaidoo, MD; David R. Diduch, MD; Eric W. Carson, MD

EXCERPT

Overhead athletes develop anatomical adaptations in response to the tremendous forces and torsions required in their respective sports. In an elite-level throwing athlete, the arc of motion is shifted posteriorly with increased external rotation to generate more potential energy that will be translated into the power and speed of the ensuing throw. Over time, the arm undergoes increased humeral retroversion and tightness of the posterior capsule.¹ The contracture of the posterior capsule insinuates a posterosuperior shift of the contact point between the humerus and the glenoid.² Although this displacement allows for a greater external rotation, it will lead simultaneously to an acquired loss of internal rotation termed glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD).

AUTHORS

Mr Giugale is from the School of Medicine; Dr Jones-Quaidoo, Dr Diduch, and Dr Carson are from Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

Address correspondence to Juan M. Giugale, BA, 611-D Madison Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22903; e-mail: jmg6z@virginia.edu.

doi:10.3928/19425864-20091019-02