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.

Scientific Claim

No significant differences in trapezius activation or symmetry were observed during standing bilateral scapular retraction with resistance bands at either 45° or 90° between tennis players and non-tennis athletes, suggesting this exercise modality may be less sensitive to detecting sport-specific neuromuscular adaptations.

Original Statement

“No significant differences were observed in the mean RMS at 90° across any of the muscles analyzed (p > 0.05). No significant differences were found in the mean RMS for any of the muscles analyzed at 45° (Figure 8).”

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 accurately reflects the absence of significant differences found in the data, using neutral language appropriate for an observational study.

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 use their shoulder muscles differently than other athletes during the same exercise, meaning the exercise *can* detect differences caused by playing tennis—so the claim that it can’t is wrong.

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

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.

87%

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.

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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.

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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.

85%