shoulder strapping

[pie-no-sauce]

Can anyone give me an accurate description of the reason for and benefits of using shiny plastic masking tape to strap / protect / slipperyise or whatever it achieves, for some players shoulders ?

[ramjet21]

dunno if everyone who has it does so for the same reason but a couple of years ago i dislocated my shoulder playing under 18's and once i began playing again, had the shoulder strapped. it was supposed to simply keep the shoulder tight and compact to minimise the chance of it popping again. the doc reckoned it helped keep the joint 'warmer' than without it so the muscles could rotate freely as opposed to if it was a bit cooler. sounded bullshit to me and i cant say i felt much difference with or without it - 3 weeks back and i dislocated it again causing much more damage and i havent played(competitively) since.

[pie-no-sauce]

Thanks Ramjet21 I'd agree it would be the obvious thing for shoulder pops but over the last 5 years has become so prevalent that every 2nd player has them. So if it was just a cautionary thing then we could expect to have seen lots of similar placcy taped knees as well - but we haven't...

[London Dave]

maybe it's to attract Brownlow votes!