The shoulder, elbow and wrist provide the upper limb with multiple degrees of freedom, which can be combined using different strategies to execute an action. Understanding of coordination in the upper limb is limited and there is a paucity of literature that applies coordination measures in this area. A greater understanding of upper limb coordination could be beneficial in further understanding shoulder pathologies and in the development of effective management and treatment strategies.

Common methods of measuring coordination in human movement include vector coding and continuous relative phase. This thesis applies these methods to asymptomatic and symptomatic cohorts to investigate movement strategies during upper limb range of motion movements and activities of daily living. Data visualisation methods were presented and methods to correct the visualisation for potential error caused by movements of small magnitude applied. The visualisation facilitated the identification and discussion of individual movement strategies. The repeatability of coordination methods was explored, the findings and recommendations from which can be applied to future studies.

Differences in coordination pattern, quantified using continuous relative phase, were identified between groups in relation to age, shoulder pain and hand dominance. These can be applied in future work investigating upper limb coordination. Differences were also identified between individuals with and without shoulder pain. These findings demonstrate the ability of coordination measures to identify different movement strategies between cohorts, providing a foundation to continue the analysis of coordination in the upper limb.