A PRELIMINARY ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION INTO SHOULDER MUSCLE ACTIVITY IN CRICKET SEAM BOWLING

Abstract

2 The aim of this investigation was to describe and compare surface electromyographic activity of shoulder musculature during cricket seam bowling between two elite bowlers with (bowler A) and without (bowler B) shoulder pathology. Activity of seven muscles were recorded at 500 Hz with a digital camera sampling at 210 Hz used to define phases within the movement. Whilst both the duration of the movement and ball velocity were similar between bowlers (bowler A: duration = 0.89 ± 0.04 s, ball velocity = 27.08 ± 1.21 m.s-1; bowler B: duration = 0.72 ± 0.02 s, ball velocity = 26.59 ± 1.49 m.s-1), variations in muscle activity particularly for biceps brachii and infraspinatus were established. Further research utilising larger sample sizes is required to establish if such variations occur as a consequence of shoulder pathology or if these are due to other contributing factors.