How To Get Better Retraction In Your Scapulars Down and back is great. Up and back is also great. Just need to know which one to use… We like to use ‘down and back’ of the scapulars to drive someone into more extension of the shoulder. We like to use ‘up and back’ of the scapulars to teach someone how to bring their shoulder blades together. When we use ‘down and back’ we tend to see more external rotation of the scapular. We need to use our retracting muscles of our rhomboids and our middle tra