Pain or pinching in the front of the shoulder with push-ups is a common complaint for for shoulder pain clients. 

Clinically, this can indicate that the posterior capsule on the back of the shoulder is restricted which ends up irritating the structures in the front. There may also be a dynamic stability deficit leading for poor control over shoulder and shoulder blade position. But regardless of the cause...most of my clients can decrease that discomfort by making this small adjustment in their set-up and push-up form. 

The key is coming out of an internally rotated position. By doing this, we decompress the front of the shoulder and activate our rotator cuff stabilizers. This may mean that your pecs are not able to do quite as much work so push-ups may be a bit more muscularly challenging, but this position is much more friendly to the joint. 

Check out this video for a demonstration on how I coach this. 

Feel free to send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions. 

Yours in health, 

-Jamie