The volume of goal shooting during training can predict shoulder soreness in elite female water polo players.

OBJECTIVES Examine the association between measures shoulder soreness and the goal shooting volume in high performance women's water polo. DESIGN Seven national level female water polo players were monitored across two training camps (squad selection and team game-based). METHODS Performance analysis coded all shots for each athlete during the training camps and the shoulder soreness information was gathered through an athlete self-rating survey. Residual maximal likelihood analysis was used to predict shoulder soreness. RESULTS It was shown that 74% (p=0.013) of shoulder soreness was explained by the volume of goal shooting during training (R(2) 0.743) with greater soreness associated with less rest time between shots (p=0.032). Greater levels of shoulder soreness were reported in the squad selection training camp compared to team game-based camp (p=0.002) with 29% of this shoulder soreness prediction based on individual athlete differences. CONCLUSIONS Shoulder soreness increased with a greater number of shots in conjunction with less rest. Monitoring athletes on an individual basis seemed the most appropriate method of identifying increased shoulder soreness.