Shoulder physio by sport, Inner West
The same shoulder gets injured differently depending on what you play. Pick your sport to see the patterns we actually see, and which of our physiotherapists has worked in it.
A rugby shoulder and a cricket shoulder are not the same problem. One is a collision that takes the arm into a position it cannot resist; the other is thousands of repetitions of a fast overhead action. They are diagnosed differently, they are rehabbed differently, and the point at which you are ready to go back is measured differently.
So these pages are written per sport rather than as one page about sport. Each one covers the injury patterns we see in that game, what the rehab looks like through to a return, and the physiotherapists here who have worked in it.
9 sports, and the shoulder each one breaks
Cricket
The bowling arm and the throwing arm break down differently. Both get assessed against the action you actually perform, not a generic shoulder screen.
Rugby League & Union
The tackle produces a small number of shoulder injuries over and over. Rehab is built around getting you back into contact, not just out of pain.
AFL
Tackling, marking and hitting the deck at speed. The three shoulder injuries that follow, and what getting back to full contact actually involves.
Football
Outfielders break shoulders by falling on them. Keepers wear them out. The two need quite different rehab, and we treat both.
Basketball
Contact under the ring, landing awkwardly, and a shooting arm that works overhead all season. Assessed against the way you actually play.
Volleyball
Gladesville
The attacking shoulder takes more overhead repetitions than almost any sport. Assessed by a physiotherapist who plays the game at national level.
Touch & Oztag
No tackling does not mean no shoulder injuries. Diving to score, reaching for a touch, and landing badly all produce them.
Gym & Weightlifting
Bench, overhead press, dips and the catch position. What is actually going on, and how to keep training while it settles.
Tennis & Racquet Sports
The serve is the load. Assessed against your rotation range, your cuff strength and how much you are actually playing.
If your sport is not here
A sport only gets a page here if one of our shoulder physiotherapists has genuinely worked in it. We would rather send you to the right person than write a page that says nothing.
That does not mean we cannot help. Swimming, netball, climbing, boxing, water polo and anything else overhead all come through this clinic, and the assessment is the same one: what the shoulder can do, how that compares side to side, and what your sport is going to ask of it.
We also work with clubs across sports that have no page here. SportsFit sponsors Greenlees Netball Club in Concord and Balance Tri Club, and partners with Triathlon NSW, so netballers, triathletes and swimmers are through here regularly. Book the free call, tell us what you play, and we will put you with the right physiotherapist.
Some sports are better served elsewhere in the practice. If it is your knee after an ACL reconstruction, a cricket problem that is not your shoulder, or you are coming back to running, those sites cover them properly.
Tell us what you play
Book a free 30 minute call. We will work out what the shoulder needs and put you with the physiotherapist who knows your sport.
No gap on an accepted claim · You choose your own physio · Five Dock