Personal Trainers Forum

[Personaltrainer]

The amazing shoulder joint

Consider what the shoulder does, and how many athletes - swimmers, tennis players, bowlers, baseball pitchers, javelin throwers - take it for granted. The shoulder can assume no less than 1,600 different positions! There is more movement at the shoulder joint than at any other joint in the body.

The shoulder joint actually comprises four joints - see if you can feel them on yourself:

Sternoclavicular (SC) joint (between the sternum and the collar bone) - this is actually the only bony connection that the shoulder has with the main skeleton
Acromioclavicular (AC) joint between the collar bone and the point of the shoulder called the acromion, which is part of the scapula or shoulder blade
Glenohumeral (GH) joint between the glenoid part of the scapula - the socket - and the head of the humerus (HOH) - the ball
Scapulothoracic (ST) joint (the ‘false joint’ between the scapula and the rib cage that it rides over).