Roping demands more than just skill and precision, it requires strength, power, and resilience to perform at a high level. Breakaway and Team Ropers must be able to react instantly, generate forceful movements, and maintain control under intense physical demands. While success in roping relies on full-body strength, agility, and endurance, this article zooms in on the upper body, and how improving its mobility, strength and coordination can help you improve performance, prevent injuries, and extend your career.
Arm, Shoulder & Upper Back: Mobility, Strength & Coordination
Ropers require shoulder stability and strength through a large range of motion, to create a swing that is powerful, adaptable, and accurate. This includes shoulder blade movement which is often forgotten in training. Shoulders, arms, and forearms require muscular endurance for multiple swings, and for holding the rope and reins. Wrist mobility in different planes and forearm strength are required for delivery variability, pulling slack, steering horse, dallying and holding coils.
Coordination is also required to move the left arm, which manages the speed and direction of the horse and holding onto coils, whereas the right arm is responsible for creating motion: swinging the loop, aiming, and delivering the throw. Hand-eye coordination is also required for a roper to judge distance, adjust the angle of the swing, aim precisely and release the rope at the perfect moment while moving at a high rate of speed and adjusting to both horse and calf.
Forgetting about the core while training upper body strength, mobility, and coordination is a common mistake that ropers make. Moving the shoulder through a full range of motion while maintaining a strong core is critical in creating power for swing and delivery. A stable core helps the roper leave the box with their horse, transfer force from the horse up to the upper body and allows the upper back to rotate resulting in greater power in their swing and delivery.
What Do We Do About it?
Here are 3 exercises that require no equipment and combine both core stability and upper body strength and mobility.
½ Kneeling T-Spine Rotations
https://youtube.com/shorts/8-GjE29Qhnk
Goal: improve upper back/shoulder mobility while maintaining a stable lower body
Plank to Side Plank
https://youtube.com/shorts/28it326nRgM
Goal: improve shoulder & core stability, learn to adjust your position and open your shoulder with a stable core
Wall Push Up Plus
https://youtube.com/shorts/5BUNPnTBkhc
Goal: greater shoulder stability & improved shoulder blade movement
How Does This Help in the Long Run?
Building strength isn’t just about performance, it’s about ensuring longevity in the sport. Strengthening key muscle groups, particularly in the shoulders, arms, and core, reduces the strain of repetitive movements, lowering the risk of overuse injuries in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. By prioritizing strength training now, athletes can stay competitive longer, avoid common injuries, and sustain a higher level of performance and enjoyment throughout their careers.
Working with a strength coach or athletic therapist to create a balanced strength program based on an individualized assessment can identify areas for improvement, ensuring training is both effective and sport specific. Building strength with purpose allows ropers to move more efficiently, react faster, and compete with greater confidence.
Did you know the CPRSMT now has a strength coach network? Follow the CPRSMT, The Motion Coach & Shark Bodies Fitness on Instagram for more! (@cpr_sportmedteam @themotioncoach @sharkbodiesfitness)
