title: The effects of fast bowling fatigue and adhesive taping on shoulder joint position sense in amateur cricket players in Victoria, Australia.
abstract: The impact that muscle fatigue and taping have on proprioception in an applied sporting context remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate disturbances in position sense at the shoulder joint, and asses the effectiveness of adhesive tape in preventing injury and improving performance, after a bout of cricket fast bowling. Among amateur cricket players (N = 14), shoulder position sense, maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force and bowling accuracy was assessed before and immediately after a fatiguing exercise bout of fast bowling. Participants were tested with the shoulder taped and untapped. Shoulder extension MVC force dropped immediately and 30 min after the exercise (P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Position sense errors increased immediately after exercise (P < 0.05), shifting in the direction of shoulder extension for all measurements. Taping had no effect on position errors before exercise, but did significantly reduce position errors after exercise at mid-range shoulder flexion angles (45° and 60°; P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Taping had no significant effect on bowling accuracy. These findings may be explained by a body map shift towards a gravity neutral position. Added cutaneous input from the tape is proposed to contribute more to shoulder position sense when muscles are fatigued.
authors.affiliation: a Pharmacy and Applied Science , La Trobe University , Edwards Rd, Flora Hill (Bldg AS2|03), Bendigo , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Nivan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weerakkody
authors.affiliation: b Monash University Accident Research Centre , Monash University , Clayton , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3911-7914
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055052:Athletic Tape; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018763:Muscle Fatigue; D011434:Proprioception; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cricket; muscle fatigue; position sense; shoulder joint; taping