Shoulder blade · Tennis ball
Back-of-shoulder ball
Quiet the back of the shoulder so the cuff can turn the arm without the neck joining.
Why we use it
People mash the front of the shoulder and skip the back. The useful spot is the meat on the blade, below the bony ridge — not the armpit, not the spine.
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 with your back to a wall. Tennis ball on the back of one shoulder blade, a little below the bony ridge, toward the outside — not on the spine, not in the armpit.
How to
- 1Pin the ball between the blade and the wall. Knees soft. Ribs down.
- 2Tiny kneads by bending the knees or turning the chest a few degrees.
- 3The arm can hang, or you can slowly turn the palm forward and back.
- 4Thirty to sixty seconds. Breathe. If fingers tingle, move the ball up and in, off the armpit.
- 5Then do side lying shoulder external rotation, elbow by the ribs.
Feel for
Dull pressure in the back of the shoulder. Neck long. No zing down the arm.
Breathing
Quiet breath. Let the shoulder drop on the breath out.
Do this
- — On the meat of the blade. Off the spine. Off the armpit.
- — Tennis ball first. This is not a lacrosse-ball area on day one.
- — If it shoots into the hand, you are on a nerve. Move an inch.
Common mistakes
- — Parking in the armpit.
- — Cranking the arm while you mash.
- — Holding the breath and hiking the other shoulder.
Easier · Harder
Easier: Less lean. Shorter time. Skip the shoulder turn.
Harder: Slightly more lean, still a tennis ball, then side lying shoulder external rotation.
Stop if
Numbness or tingling in the arm or hand, or a sharp pinch in the front of the shoulder.
Then move: Side Lying Shoulder External Rotation, then Prone Blade Set.
Then do the drill
Side Lying Shoulder External Rotation
Strengthen the back of the shoulder with the elbow by the ribs — the position that actually protects a reach.
Prone Blade Set
Teach the blades to sit on the ribs before we ask them to travel.
Prone T-W-Y
Wake the mid-back muscles that hold the shoulder blades on the ribcage.
Related patterns
Same area
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.