Throwers Ten Exercises On Upper Extremity Function and Explosive Power in Wheelchair Basketball and Basketball Players

Basketball is a challenging sport that requires participants to demonstrate physical fitness and special athletic skills at high levels. Players avoid contact while attempting to prevent the opponent from running, passing and shooting. Although basketball includes avoiding contact as a rule, contact between players is inevitable. Various injuries occur in basketball because it is a contact sport and includes sudden movements, such as bouncing, running and turning. Wheelchair (WC) basketball is characterised by manoeuvres and high-intensity activities such as rolling, rebounding, passing and overhead shooting. In WC basketball players, thoracic kyphosis is increased because of atrophy of the upper back and shoulders muscles resulting from the body posture required for WC propulsion in the sitting position as well as the effect of gravity. This sitting posture is characterised by scapular protraction and internal rotation of the humerus, and it impedes shoulder movements during upper-extremity use. Overhead throwing is a movement that involves high speed and repetitive movement that leads to upper-extremity injuries. It is important to develop muscle strength and proprioception to protect against these injuries. Throwers Ten exercise programme is a programme designed to improve the power, strength and endurance of large muscle groups required for the throwing activity. It consists of exercises involving the movement of upper limb joints in full range of joint motion (ROM) or at specified specific angles, with the help of a resistance band and weights specific to individual athletes. In the literature, no study has demonstrated the effectiveness of Throwers Ten exercise programme in these sports groups. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Throwers Ten exercise programme on upper-extremity function and explosive power in the WC basketball players and stand-up basketball players.