Why Scapular Eccentric Training Is Essential for Arm Care

By Dr. Carmen Jansante, PT, DPT, CSCS

Undefeated Physical Therapy & Performance

If you’ve ever been inside our clinic, you’ve probably heard me say this before: throwing is one of the most demanding movements the human body performs.

And the truth is—our bodies aren’t really built to do it.

Yet baseball and softball players ask their arms to do it over and over again at extremely high speeds. To stay healthy, throw harder, and stay on the field, we have to train specifically for those demands.

One of the most overlooked—but most important—ways to do that is through scapular and upper extremity eccentric training.

The Demands of Throwing on the Body

During the throwing motion, your arm experiences forces of one to one-and-a-half times your body weight as it moves at high velocity. That force is essentially trying to pull your arm out of the socket.

All of that stress gets distributed through:

• The scapula (shoulder blade)

• The shoulder joint

• The elbow

• The wrist and hand

If your body cannot control and decelerate those forces efficiently, something eventually breaks down—often the shoulder or elbow.

This is why arm care can’t just be about strengthening muscles to produce force.

It must also be about training muscles to absorb and control force.

Why Eccentric Training Matters

Eccentric exercises—also known as negative exercises—focus on the portion of a movement where the muscle is lengthening under load.

A simple example is a squat:

• Concentric: standing up

• Eccentric: lowering yourself down under control

In throwing, the most stressful part on the arm isn’t when you accelerate forward—it’s when your body has to slow the arm down after release. That deceleration phase is almost entirely eccentric.

Training eccentrics:

• Improves tissue tolerance

• Enhances deceleration strength

• Reduces injury risk

• Can actually help you throw harder by improving energy transfer

As we always say: the best ability is availability. If you’re hurt, you can’t play.

Our Go-To Scapular and Arm Eccentric Exercises

When programming arm care, I like to start at the scapula and work my way down the chain to the elbow.

1. D2 Flexion Walkout (Scapular Focus)

This is one of our staples for overhead athletes.

How it’s performed:

• Attach a band or cable in front of you

• Walk backward until there’s solid tension

• Start with the band overhead in a throwing arm slot, elbow extended

• Stand slightly offset so the band pulls toward the opposite knee

• Slowly control the band down to your knee over ~5 seconds

• Walk forward to reset—no resistance on the way back up

Key point:

We only train the eccentric portion. Performing the concentric repeatedly will fatigue the arm and take away from the goal.

2. Manually Resisted External Rotation (Shoulder Deceleration)

We recently shared this one on Instagram because it’s extremely effective.

How it’s performed:

• Arm positioned at 90° (throwing position) or at the side

• Athlete rotates into external rotation

• Therapist or teammate applies gentle pressure

• Athlete slowly controls back into internal rotation over 5–10 seconds

• No resistance on the way back up

This directly trains the rotator cuff in the exact position it needs to protect the shoulder during throwing.

3. Eccentric Preacher Hammer Curl (Elbow Focus)

The elbow must eccentrically control extension after ball release—this exercise targets that demand.

How it’s performed:

• Bench set on an incline

• Back of triceps supported on the bench

• Neutral grip (hammer position)

• Slowly lower the dumbbell until the arm straightens

• Control the descent the entire time

This helps protect the elbow from excessive stress during high-velocity throwing.

Final Thoughts

If you want to:

• Throw harder

• Stay healthier

• Spend more time on the field and less time rehabbing

Then eccentric training must be part of your arm care program—especially at the scapula and shoulder.

If you have questions or want these exercises individualized to you, we’d love to help.

📍 Undefeated Physical Therapy & Performance

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