How To Strap A Shoulder

Chris Judd Strapped Shoulder In this weeks article of SportStraps “How to Strap” series, I’d like to focus on preventing shoulder injuries, by taking a close at look at how to strap a shoulder.

One of the most common shoulder injuries is the acromioclavicular joint injury, or AC Joint injury, where the inside ligaments of the shoulder can be strained, stretched or damaged.

The shoulder,  can take a lot of impacts, strains and dislocations from ‘over extension’ and collisions during contact sports.

The shoulder can also be subjected a lot of wear and tear after years of playing sports that involve lots of arm extension activity, which can stretch or weaken the shoulder joint and the surrounding ligaments.

Learn to Strap a Shoulder from an Expert

So a proper taping technique is important for both shoulder injury prevention and sport injury management in sports people and athletes.

I would like to share with you a video that shows a great technique for strapping the shoulder using Sports Tape, courtesy of highly experienced Sports Trainer, Cam Wray. As I have mentioned previously, Cam has been a trainer with many first class rugby teams such as England, South Africa, Australian Universities, the Australian Barbarians, Canada 7’s, Argentina 7’s and the Qld Reds rugby teams. I hope you like it!

How to Strap a Shoulder

As you can see from the video, Cam’s method is both simple and gives great support to the AC Joint.

In this technique the arm is slightly bent, with the hand resting on the hip and tape is applied as follows:

  1. Anchors are applied both over the shoulder and around the bicep,
  2. Apply 2-3 basket-weave strips both direction, criss-crossing the point of the shoulder to give the shoulder ligament support and protection.
  3. Apply 2-3 corkscrew strips starting from the nipple area, up and over the point of the shoulder and wrapping around the arm.
  4. Finish off with Elastic Adhesive Bandage over and around the arm & shoulder, and around the upper torso.

As well as using the correct shoulder taping technique, its also important to use quality supplies, so lets have a look at what is needed to complete the job.

 

What items do you need to Strap a Shoulder?

To strap a shoulder properly, you are going to need the following items:

Optional items you may wish to use:

Preparation to Tape a Shoulder

For optimum results when taping the shoulder, it is recommended to prepare the shoulder by doing the following:

  • Shave off any hair around the area on the shoulder being taped (Hairy guys only).
  • Apply Pre-Tape Spray to improve Tape Adhesion.
  • Cover the nipple with an adhesive foam ring for protection.

Correct Tape Tension

Shoulder Anatomy

Its also important for the athletes comfort and performance, that the arm is not taped too tight, as it will prevent the blood flow down the arm and become uncomfortable.

To strap a shoulder to the correct tension, you simply need to take care to lay the Rigid Strapping Tape on the skin with little to no tape with tension.

More “How to Strap” Articles?

In the first two articles of the SportStrap “How to Strap” series, we have looked how to prevent both ankle and knee injuries with some great strapping techniques.

In case you missed the articles, you can find them here:

Next week, we will take a look at how to prevent thumb injuries, and in particular “how to strap a thumb”.

If you found this article helpful please complete the following:

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    • Leave a comment below, to let me know:
      • Your experience with strapping a shoulder,
      • Or any questions you have about strapping shoulders!
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Have a most outstanding day,

Cade Arnel

SportStrap.com.au

9 thoughts on “How To Strap A Shoulder

  1. Cam makes the whole procedure seem easy and effortless, and is very obviously VERY experienced at strapping. When I played football when a teenager I wish we had been able to access people of his experience level.

  2. The YouTube videos on How To Strap A Shoulder are really clever. Simple, but so useful and helpful. Well done.

  3. Such a great site about information on how to strap a shoulder! Love how easy you explain it, and then show it with a youtube clip 🙂

    Cheers
    Lisa

  4. Hi Cade, very relevant picture of Chris Judd – especially as he usually plays with two strapped shoulders – and the latest news is that he may need to reassess his shoulders. I think he had two shoulder reconstructions early on in his career. No doubt his physios know how to strap a shoulder. Cheers for the info and attention to detail – e.g shaving hair and applying the right tension.

  5. After a couple of minor impact injuries of left and right shoulder I ruptured the ligament beween my left collar bone and shoulder blade in a skiing accident (my arm was forced in and collar bone up). I had my shoulder strapped with “quarter back” strapping for around 5 months and a couple months of light strapping after, this fixed my shoulder for over 10 years with no problems until it went “pop” again when I swung my left arm out and up to point to an item on a whiteboard. Now it looks like I’ll need surgery – my concern now is that I may never play the guitar again (which would be a relief to my wife and kids). Has anyone had experience of this type of surgery ? Any advice on recovery ?

  6. Good day can any one please help me i have hade 2 laterjat operation so far and in the first one my body di solved the bone that was inserted the second one i have done was more than six months ago and i hit the gym slow but now iam struggling still with pain and power when i do bench press and other similar excersise. I would like to know is there no strap or type clothing to assit me with instability cause in my daily work i need to think twice when i reach for any thing …..please help iam so frustrated

    • I totally understand your pain with reaching for things. I mean, my shoulder dislocated just from picking up a garden hose and I have to be careful of everything I pick up. My suggestion is to start by rotating your arm in a circle towards the ground for about a month, then slowly work your way up so that it sits level with your shoulder. It worked with one of my shoulders and I’m about to start on the other. After that, try push ups against a wall and work your way down slowly and pulling thick elastic bands away from your body. It’s all about slowly building the muscle in your shoulders, one at a time, so you don’t over strain yourself and reduce the amount of pain you receive. It will take a long time but I can guarantee that the results are worth it.

  7. I’ve dislocated both of my shoulders in the past. After seeing a physio, it only fixed my left arm, however I am right handed. Since seeing the physio, I have dislocated my right shoulder eight times and recommended for surgery,only I can’t without my epilepsy under control. Hopefully this helps me in some way, especially since I don’t have to put much strain on my shoulder for it to”pop” out. FINGERS CROSSED on this one.

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