Oates Specialties TAP™ Shoulder Tube Pitching Training Aids

Shoulder Tube

The Shoulder Tube is an arm care tool widely used for pre-activity warm-up, post-activity recovery, and shoulder strength training. The device is designed to flex when sufficient force is applied resulting in mechanically created oscillations that disturb the muscular forces stabilizing the shoulder. The oscillations produced by the Shoulder Tube are oval to round in shape (not a more predictable bi-directional movement as found with many vibration devices) requiring greater muscle involvement to control and allowing the user to more dynamically use the device in wider ranges of motion. The unstable nature of the Shoulder Tube promotes dynamic stabilization and proprioception of the shoulder complex as the user controls the movements of the device.

The Shoulder Tube uses rhythmic movement of the arm and shoulder to flex the tube’s shaft and mechanically create oscillation. This rhythmic movement provides concentric and eccentric resistance while providing perturbations throughout the exercise range of motion, including movements that are sport-specific. The Shoulder Tube promotes muscle balance and elicits the awareness of joint position, joint movement and neuromuscular control that can lead to increased shoulder stability.

The Shoulder Tube consists of a solid flexible shaft with cylindrical end-weights at both ends and a cushioned hand grip at its center. During exercise movement, the athlete’s grip point on the Shoulder Tube is the axis of the shaft rotation controlling oscillation amplitude to the end-weights. The athlete’s wrist and elbow are locked into place so that the Shoulder Tube’s shaft is moved through force created from the shoulder. Operating the device with long, forceful, reciprocal movements result in the shaft being displaced, acting in a fashion similar to a crankshaft, moving energy away from the hand grip to the cylindrical end-weights. With oscillations occurring at a constant velocity produced at the frequency of the shaft, the device provides resistance directly proportional to the force exerted by the muscles of the shoulder complex.

The oscillation frequency uses the law of inertia to provide resistance back from the cylindrical weights through the grip point to the shoulder complex. Greater destabilization force is placed on the shoulder as amplitude increases requiring higher levels of muscle activation to maintain shoulder stability. The angular frequency and period of simple harmonic motion of the device varies based on the circular path established by the end-weights. The more elliptical the path, the greater the energy returns to the operator, with the cylindrical end-weight speeding up at equilibrium and slowing down as it moves away from equilibrium.

This shoulder movement exercise device is principled on tensional force, combined with mass, operated at sufficient velocity to provide momentum forceful enough to cause muscles and tendons in the shoulder region to contract and provide dynamic training to the shoulder complex. Movement of the device through different planes (by the athlete assuming different body positions) provides uneven energy patterns to the shaft that is transferred to the cylindrical end-weights resulting in rotation ranging from round to elliptical.

With nicknames such as the ‘Javelin’ and ‘Wiggle Stick’ the patented Shoulder Tube was created with the pitcher in mind but is appropriate for all muscularly developed athletes who throw, swing, stroke or strike. The best-selling Shoulder Tube can frequently be seen in Major League Baseball dugouts and bullpens and is used by athletes throughout the country, from top collegiate programs to little league teams.