Descriptive profile of hip rotation range of motion in elite tennis players and professional baseball pitchers.

Background: Repetitive loading to the hip joint in athletes has been reported as a factor in the development of degenerative joint disease and intra-articular injury. Little information is available on the bilateral symmetry of hip rotational measures in unilaterally dominant upper extremity athletes.

Hypothesis: Side-to-side differences in hip joint range of motion may be present because of asymmetrical loading in the lower extremities of elite tennis players and professional baseball pitchers.