The Shoulders of Professional Beach Volleyball Players

BackgroundBeach volleyball is an Olympic overhead sport. It is not well known which clinical and imaging findings are normal and which are associated with symptoms.HypothesisThere are typical clinical and imaging findings in the hitting shoulders of fully competitive professional beach volleyball players, as compared with their nonhitting shoulders.Study DesignCross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.MethodsDuring the Beach Volleyball Grand Slam Tournament in Klagenfurt, Austria, 84 professional players (54 men, 30 women) underwent a questionnaire-based interview and a complete physical examination, including scoring and sonography of both shoulders. Twenty-nine players had shoulder MRIs.ResultsThe mean age of the athletes was 28 years. Atrophy of the infraspinatus muscle was found in 30% of the hitting shoulders, and it was not typically recognized by the players. The absolute Constant score was significantly lower in the hitting shoulder (87 versus 93 points, P < .0001). Average external rotation str...