The Sporting Shoulder: Advanced Strategies for Assessment and Rehabilitation

Shoulder injuries are highly prevalent in athletes, particularly in overhead and contact sports, and they often present with complex challenges in both diagnosis and management. This course is designed to equip physiotherapists and healthcare professionals with the advanced knowledge and practical skills required to assess, treat, and guide athletes with sporting shoulder injuries through safe rehabilitation and return-to-play. Whether you are new to shoulder rehabilitation or aiming to refine your expertise, this course provides evidence-based strategies to optimize outcomes for athletes across all levels.

Course Overview

This course explores the detailed anatomy and biomechanics of the sporting shoulder, with a focus on conditions frequently seen in athletes such as instability, labral injuries, rotator cuff pathology, and post-surgical rehabilitation. You will review the latest research and clinical guidelines while learning to perform structured assessments and apply rehabilitation frameworks that address both the underlying pathology and sport-specific demands.

What You Will Learn

• In-Depth Understanding of Shoulder Anatomy and Pathology: Build a strong foundation in the anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder. Understand how sporting demands influence injury mechanisms and how these conditions impact performance and function.

• Comprehensive Assessment Techniques: Master evidence-based assessment methods to accurately diagnose shoulder injuries in athletes. Learn to distinguish between instability, labral tears, rotator cuff injuries, and post-operative presentations while identifying risk factors for recurrence.

• Individualized Rehabilitation Programs: Develop and implement progressive rehabilitation strategies that meet the unique needs of each athlete. You will learn to restore function, reduce pain, and enhance performance through exercise prescription, load management, and neuromuscular training.

• Return-to-Play Decision Making: Discover how to design safe and effective return-to-play protocols. Gain insight into the use of functional testing, 3D biomechanics, and clinical criteria to ensure athletes are fully prepared to return to their sport with minimal risk of re-injury.

Interactive Learning and Practical Application

• Video Demonstrations and Quizzes: Watch detailed video demonstrations of assessment and rehabilitation strategies for the sporting shoulder. Test your knowledge through interactive quizzes that reinforce learning and prepare you to apply these techniques in practice.

• Case Studies and Real-World Examples: Work through practical case studies that reflect real-world clinical scenarios. These exercises, combined with AI-powered case studies that mimic real-world presentations, will challenge your clinical reasoning, simulate decision-making under pressure, and help you design effective management plans for athletes with shoulder injuries.

Why This Course Stands Out

• Expert Instructor with Elite Experience: The course is led by Edel Fanning, PhD MSc, Lead Upper Limb Physiotherapist at the Sports Surgery Clinic in Dublin. Edel has extensive clinical and academic expertise, having worked with elite athletes across multiple sporting disciplines. She has presented internationally on shoulder rehabilitation and recently completed her PhD at University College Cork, focusing on return-to-play criteria following glenohumeral stabilisation in contact athletes. Her work highlights the role of 3D biomechanics and novel functional testing in guiding return-to-play decisions after surgery.

• Evidence-Based Techniques and Approaches: Stay up to date with the latest research on shoulder injuries in athletes. This course delivers practical, evidence-based frameworks that you can integrate immediately into your clinical practice.

• Comprehensive, Practical Learning: You’ll gain a deep understanding of the sporting shoulder and leave with a toolkit of actionable strategies to improve patient outcomes. From structured assessments to rehabilitation and return-to-play, this course combines traditional clinical teaching with AI case studies that replicate the complexity of real-world athletes, ensuring you are prepared to apply your knowledge in practice.

Outcome

By the end of this course, you will have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to assess, diagnose, and rehabilitate athletes with sporting shoulder injuries. You will be equipped with evidence-based tools to support safe return-to-play decisions and enhance athletic performance while minimizing the risk of recurrence.