Clinician · Researcher · Sport Scientist

Matthew Naftilan

DPT, MS

Physical therapist at HSS Sports Rehab in Stamford, CT, specializing in overhead and rotational athletes. Actively engaged in clinical research focused on the mechanisms and prevention of shoulder injuries.

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Shoulder Biomechanics
Sport Performance
Return-to-Sport
Neuromuscular Control
Evidence-Based Practice
Athletic Rehabilitation
Scapular Kinematics
Injury Prevention
Post-Surgical Rehab
Sport Science
Shoulder Biomechanics
Sport Performance
Return-to-Sport
Neuromuscular Control
Evidence-Based Practice
Athletic Rehabilitation
Scapular Kinematics
Injury Prevention
Post-Surgical Rehab
Sport Science
Matthew Naftilan
DPT, MS · SCS

About Matthew

Physical Therapist · Researcher · Sport Scientist

Matt Naftilan is a physical therapist at HSS Sports Rehab Provided by Stamford Health at Chelsea Piers in Stamford, CT. He is a board certified clinical specialist in sports physical therapy and an HSS Rehabilitation certified specialist in the overhead athlete, with a passion for treating competitive and recreational athletes of all ages.

Matt's interest in sports medicine is rooted in his own experience as a competitive junior and collegiate tennis player. In addition to clinical practice, he is actively engaged in research and is currently pursuing his PhD at New York University, with a particular interest in the mechanisms and prevention of non-traumatic and overuse shoulder injuries in young athletes. He also serves as a reviewer for multiple orthopaedic and physical therapy journals.

Matt is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Racquetfit Certified, and Titleist Performance Institute Certified. Outside the clinic, he enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, rock climbing, and playing tennis and golf.

Education & Training
PhD
Doctor of Philosophy (in progress)
New York University, New York, NY
DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Columbia University, New York, NY
MS
Kinesiology & Biomechanics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
BS
Applied Mathematics & Statistics
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Focus Areas

Clinical & Research Interests

🎾
Overhead Athletes
Specialized treatment of overhead and rotational athletes including tennis, baseball, volleyball, and swimming.
🦾
Shoulder Injuries
Mechanisms and prevention of non-traumatic and overuse shoulder injuries in young athletes.
🏃
Return-to-Sport
Evidence-based criteria and decision frameworks for safely clearing athletes after injury.
📊
Clinical Research
Translating laboratory findings into real-world clinical practice through rigorous study design.
⚡
Sport Performance
Integrating strength and conditioning principles into rehabilitation to optimize athletic outcomes.
🏌️
Rotational Athletes
TPI-certified approach to golf and rotational sport rehabilitation, biomechanics, and injury prevention.
Work

Research Projects

Ongoing and completed clinical research initiatives in sport science and orthopaedic physical therapy.

PRE-SEASON POST-SEASON WK1 WK4 WK8 WK12
Research Biomechanics

Training Changes of Scapular Kinematics in a Competitive Youth Athletic Population

Examining how scapular kinematics change over a competitive training season in youth athletes, and the relationship between those changes and shoulder symptoms or injury risk.

Principal Investigator  ·  2023 – Present
-1σ μ +1σ
Research Sport Science

Assessment of Normative Data in Non-Injured Competitive Youth Athletes

Establishing normative values for key clinical assessment measures in non-injured competitive youth athletes to support evidence-based screening and return-to-sport benchmarks.

Principal Investigator  ·  2023 – Present
FLEX ABD EXT IR Pre-op Post-op
Research Clinical

Examining Scapular Kinematics and Rehabilitation Following Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Investigating scapular kinematics and rehabilitation outcomes following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA). Examining how scapular movement patterns change post-operatively and informing evidence-based rehabilitation protocols to optimize functional recovery.

Principal Investigator
Research

Publications & Presentations

Pulled live from ORCID · supplemented with conference presentations.

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2022
Pre-Season Upper Extremity Functional Testing in Competitive Youth Swimmers
Naftilan M, Cilliotta S, Dahl N, Fedro M, Giametta J, Heymann C, Wallace J, Llewellyn T, Roberts L, Shannon A
APTA Combined Sections Meeting
Conference Poster
2022
Comparison of Multisegmental Spinal Extension and Bubble Goniometry in Competitive Swimming Population
Naftilan M, Cilliotta S, Dahl N, Fedro M, Giametta J, Heymann C, Wallace J, Llewellyn T, Roberts L, Shannon A
APTA Combined Sections Meeting
Conference Poster
2018
Use of Inertial Motion Capture System to Assess Kinematics in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers
Timmerberg J, Said R, Crossan T, Lloyd S, Naftilan M, Schlobach N, Omofuma I, Agrawal S, Lynch TS
APTA Combined Sections Meeting
Conference Poster
2016
Microvascular Angina in the Absence of Coronary Artery Disease is Common in Undifferentiated Chest Pain Patients in the Emergency Department
Safdar B, D'Onofrio G, Dziura J, Russell R, Naftilan M, Johnson C, Sinusas A
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 67(13): 1824
Conference Poster
2016
Depression and Anxiety are Associated with High Rates of Recurrent Chest Pain
Kim Y, Soffler M, Paradise S, Naftilan M, Dziura J, Sinha R, Safdar B
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 67(13): 581
Conference Poster
2013
Adoption of New Media by ED Geriatric Patients
Post LA, Biroscak B, Luco C, Naftilan M, Dziura JD, Brandt CA, Vaca FE et al.
Academic Emergency Medicine, 20: S292
Conference Presentation
2013
How Do ED Patients Compare to the General Population in Their Use of Information Technology?
Post L, Biroscak B, Luco C, Naftilan M, Brandt CA, Dziura JD, Bernstein SL et al.
Academic Emergency Medicine, 20: S242
Conference Presentation
2013
Developing and Validating the ED GRAY (Geriatric Readmission Assessment at Yale)
Post LA, Conner T, Moore C, Brandt CA, Cooney LM, Page C, Naftilan M, Jagminas L, Dziura JD
Academic Emergency Medicine, 20: S293
Conference Presentation
Philosophy & Practice

Clinical Approach

Comprehensive orthopedic physical therapy — with a specialization in shoulder pathology, sports medicine, and athletes of all ages and levels.

How I Think

Treatment grounded in biomechanics
and physiology

Every patient who walks in has a story — a history, a lifestyle, a movement pattern built over years. I treat the full range of orthopedic injuries, from acute sprains and post-surgical rehabilitation to complex shoulder pathology. Whatever brings you in, I don't treat diagnoses in isolation.

My background in kinesiology, biomechanics, and applied mathematics shapes how I approach clinical problems — with precision, curiosity, and a commitment to understanding the "why" behind every symptom. When the evidence is there, I use it. When it isn't, I reason from first principles.

The goal is never just to get you out of pain. It's to restore function, build resilience, and keep you doing what matters most to you.

How I Work

Individualized. Data-informed.
Always thorough.

Each evaluation begins with a detailed assessment tailored to you — your injury, your activity level, and your goals. For athletes, that means a sport-specific movement screen. For every patient, it means looking beyond what hurts to understand why.

Rehabilitation is progressive and objective. I use measurable benchmarks — strength ratios, range of motion targets, functional testing — to guide recovery and return-to-activity decisions rather than relying on pain alone or arbitrary timelines.

You'll leave every session understanding what we did, why we did it, and what comes next.

Who I Work With

Orthopedic care for everyone — with a specialization in shoulder pathology & athletes of all ages

🦵
General Orthopedics
Spine, hip, knee, shoulder — whatever brought you in, treatment starts with understanding how you move and what matters to you. Every plan is built around your specific goals, not a protocol.
💪
Shoulder Pathology
Rotator cuff tears, instability, impingement, labral injuries, thoracic outlet syndrome, post-surgical rehab — shoulder is a primary clinical and research focus. Evaluation goes deep into scapular mechanics and rotator cuff function, not just where it hurts.
🧒
Youth & Adolescent Athletes
Growing athletes aren't small adults. Apophyseal injuries, early sport specialization, and high training loads all require a different lens — one that accounts for where a young athlete is developmentally, not just anatomically.
⚾
Throwing Athletes
Pitching places elite demands on the shoulder and elbow — glenohumeral mobility, UCL stress, and internal impingement are evaluated in the context of your mechanics, workload, and where you are in the season.
🏊
Swimmers
Thousands of strokes per practice create cumulative load that most shoulders aren't ready for. Treatment focuses on what's actually driving the pain — stroke mechanics, scapular control, training volume — so you stay in the water.
🎾
Tennis Players
The serve is one of sport's most demanding overhead movements. Posterior capsule tightness, rotator cuff overload, and kinetic chain breakdowns — treatment follows the force from the ground up, not just the shoulder.
🏋️
Overhead Athletes
Volleyball, CrossFit, gymnastics, weightlifting — sport that demands a stable, mobile shoulder overhead. Assessment targets scapular positioning, cuff strength ratios, and thoracic mobility to find what's actually limiting you.
🏌️
Golfers
Golf injuries almost always have a story upstream. Low back pain, lead shoulder strain, and wrist issues trace back to hip mobility, thoracic rotation, and how force transfers through the swing — that's where treatment starts.
🔄
Rotational Athletes
Lacrosse, hockey, field throwing — rotational sport injury follows predictable patterns when you understand how the kinetic chain loads and unloads. Sport-specific demands are factored into every return-to-competition decision.
Core Principles
🔬
Evidence-Based

Treatment decisions grounded in current research, not convention.

⚡
Neuromuscular Control

Strength alone doesn't restore function. Timing, coordination, and kinetic chain integration are central to how injury is assessed and treated.

🎯
Objective Milestones

Return-to-sport guided by measurable criteria, not timelines alone.

🤝
Athlete Education

You understand your body, your injury, and your path back to sport.

Ready to get started?

Whether you're recovering from injury, preparing for a season, or looking to move and feel better — reach out to discuss how I can help.

Get in Touch
Contact

Let's Connect

Interested in research collaboration, have a clinical question, or want to discuss opportunities? I'd love to hear from you.

🏥
Institution
HSS Sports Rehab at Chelsea Piers
Stamford, CT
🎓
PhD Program
New York University
New York, NY
🔬
ResearchGate
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🪪
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