Tennis players activate their shoulder blade muscles much more when doing a shoulder exercise lying face down than when doing the same movement standing with a resistance band.

Scientific Claim

The prone position elicits significantly greater activation of the middle and lower trapezius in tennis players during scapular retraction at 90° compared to standing resistance-band retraction, suggesting posture and exercise modality critically influence muscle recruitment in this population.

Original Statement

“In the TP group, Exercise 1 elicited significantly greater activation of the MT and LT at 90° compared to Exercise 2 (p < 0.001), with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 1.49 and 1.73, respectively).”

From study:Muscle Recruitment and Asymmetry in Bilateral Shoulder Injury Prevention Exercises: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Between Tennis Players and Non-Tennis Players

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The claim describes an observed association between exercise position and muscle activation, using 'elicit' and 'influence' appropriately. The study design supports within-group comparisons of exercise conditions.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

Muscle Recruitment and Asymmetry in Bilateral Shoulder Injury Prevention Exercises: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Between Tennis Players and Non-Tennis Players

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2025 May 15

The study found that tennis players actually used their shoulder muscles less during the prone exercise, not more, which is the opposite of what the claim says.

Source Study

Muscle Recruitment and Asymmetry in Bilateral Shoulder Injury Prevention Exercises: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Between Tennis Players and Non-Tennis Players

Score: 34

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare13101153

Similar Assertions

When tennis players do a shoulder exercise lying face down with arms raised high, their shoulder blade muscles don't fire as strongly as in other athletes—sometimes less than half as much.

90%

When people do a shoulder exercise standing with a resistance band, tennis players and other athletes use their shoulder blade muscles about the same—so this exercise doesn't reveal the differences seen in other exercises.

85%

People who play tennis don't use the shoulder blade muscles as much as other athletes when doing a specific exercise where they lie face down and pull their shoulder blades together, especially when their arms are raised high.

84%

Both tennis players and other athletes have some imbalance in how strongly each shoulder blade muscle works, but tennis players are more balanced when their arms are raised high, and more unbalanced when their arms are at a lower angle—like during a tennis stroke.

79%