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Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test

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Most of us have used the Y-Balance Test for lower quarter injury risk assessment, but have you used it for the upper quarter? In today’s mentoring minutes with Dr. Jordan Cossin we look at how to use the Y-Balance Test as a functional measure for your upper extremity patients! Take a look at the video and notes below!

Notes:

  • Significant difference in performance between patients with shoulder impingement syndrome & healthy controls.

    • Shoulder impingement syndrome performed worse in medial & inferolateral directions.

  • Youth athletes perform significantly better than untrained youth control.

  • Fair to moderate correlation with core stability & upper extremity functional tests.

    • No significant difference between dominant & non dominant limbs.

  • Excellent test-retest reliability.

  • Moderate agreement between commercial Y-Balance Test apparatus and DIY version.

How to Perform:

  • Upper limb length measurement

    • Shoulder abducted to 90 deg

    • Tape measure from spinous process of C7 to longest digit

  • General cardio warm-up (5 min)

  • Push up position (Feet 12 in. apart)

  • Ulnar/thumb side of stable arm placed on center block/line

  • Test specific warm-up (3 sub maximal reaches in each direction)

    • Medial, superolateral, inferolateral

  • 3 practice trials (1 minute rest between each)

  • 3 data collection trials (1 minute rest between each)

Data Collection:

  • Average of 3 trials scored

  • Sum of all 3 directions taken for total excursion score

    • Composite score = total excursion score / 3x upper limb length (#1 on how to perform)

  • Compare bilaterally

DIY Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test:

  • 3 cloth tape measures

  • Athletic tape

  • Goniometer

    • 90 deg

    • 135 deg (x2)

  • x3 2x4x8 wood blocks

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References:

Cramer, J., Quintero, M., Rhinehart, A., Rutherford, C., Nasypany, A., May, J., & Baker, R. T. (2017). Exploration of score agreement on a modified upper quarter y-balance test kit as compared to the upper quarter y-balance test. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 12(1), 117.

Hazar, Z., Ulug, N., & Yuksel, I. (2014). Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test Score of Patients with Shoulder Impingement Syndrome. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2(11_suppl3), 2325967114S00275.

Schwiertz, G., Beurskens, R., & Muehlbauer, T. (2020). Discriminative validity of the lower and upper quarter Y balance test performance: a comparison between healthy trained and untrained youth. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 12(1), 1-8.

Westrick, R. B., Miller, J. M., Carow, S. D., & Gerber, J. P. (2012). Exploration of the y-balance test for assessment of upper quarter closed kinetic chain performance. International journal of sports physical therapy, 7(2), 139.