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Shoulder blade · Tennis or lacrosse ball

Front-of-shoulder ball

Open the front of the shoulder so the shoulder blade can sit on the ribcage again.

45–60 seconds per side
Tennis or lacrosse ball

Why we use it

A chest that stays short parks the head forward and the blades wide. A ball on the pec, against a wall, is enough. You do not need to destroy the front of the shoulder.

A ball or roller can briefly turn down guarding and make a joint easier to move. It does not break scar tissue, melt fascia, or diagnose what hurts. The useful window is short — that is why every technique ends with a drill from the program.

Start here

Stand facing a wall or in a door frame. Ball on the front of the shoulder, a little toward the chest — not in the armpit, not on the collarbone.

How to

  1. 1Pin the ball between your chest/front shoulder and the wall.
  2. 2Turn your feet a little away so the chest opens. Tiny kneads.
  3. 3The arm can hang, or the hand can rest on the wall below shoulder height.
  4. 4Breathe into the front of the shoulder. Thirty to sixty seconds.
  5. 5Then do wall slides with the ribs down.

Feel for

Dull pressure in the pec. The neck stays long. No zing into the arm or fingers.

Breathing

Breathe into the chest without shrugging.

Do this

  • — Off the collarbone. Off the armpit.
  • — The neck does not help.
  • — If fingers tingle, you are on a nerve. Move the ball toward the chest.

Common mistakes

  • — Jamming the ball into the armpit.
  • — Shrugging the trap to hold the ball.
  • — Cranking the arm overhead while you mash.

Easier · Harder

Easier: Tennis ball. Less lean.

Harder: Lacrosse ball. Slightly more turn of the chest.

Stop if

Numbness or tingling in the arm or hand, or pain in the collarbone.

Then move: Wall Slide with Reach, then Prone T-W-Y.

Then do the drill

Wall Slide with Reach

Teach the shoulder blades to slide up without the low back flaring.

Prone T-W-Y

Wake the mid-back muscles that hold the shoulder blades on the ribcage.

Related patterns

Tight chest, tired mid-back
Shoulder blade not tracking
Head sitting forward

Same area

Back-of-shoulder ball

This is education for your own body. It is not a way to diagnose or treat a problem, and it is not a substitute for a clinician. These self-massage techniques are not a training method, and they are not to be used on other people.

All self-massage