Problem with hanging leg lifts

As a background, I can do hanging leg lifts in a tuck for a significantly high volume. I don't even feel any muscles working hard. If I open my legs slightly it gets slightly tougher, but it's still very manageable. The problem arises when I try to do them with my legs completely straight. I tend to do the exercise from a dead hang, meaning relaxed shoulders, scapulae neutral and shoulders elevated. This keeps my shoulders in a neutral position (neither externally nor internally rotated). But as I try to raise my legs, I tend to externally rotate my shoulders, and I get severe pain in my shoulders. 

 

Clearly, I;m not strong enoughb to work hanging leg lifts on a regular basis, so I started doing negatives. But even with this, as I come down from the top position, I can't control my shoulders, and end up with shoulder pain for the duration of the exercise. I try to keep my shoulders directly underneath the wrists and actively try to minimize the backwards lean. 

 

Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong? Should I be doing the exercise from an active hang (scapulae retracted and shoulders depressed)? I did try this once, but the effect was pretty similar. I'm not entirely sure how my shoulder girdle should be behaving in this exercise. Any tips would be appreciated.

Keep doing them in a dead hang. Try going from tuck L to full L hang and back for reps. Might help you get a better feel for it.

You're shoulders are tight and closed. When you raise your legs you will automatically end up in ppt and if your shoulders are tight and fixed (hanging on stall bar) you will feel pain.

Going into a tuck or L while deadhanging puts additional pressure on the shoulders which need to support a more disadvantaged position. I have tight shoulders myself. I had a supraspinatus problem and could not do a deadhang, now I can do tuck leg raises but not straight - too much pressure on shoulders. With me it is not severe pain, just a tightness and irritation which can be felt the next days, so I do not do them.

 

Have your shoulders checked btw.

My shoulders are actually very lax. There isn't as much useful mobility as there would be in a gymnast's shoulders, but they are definitely not tight, so to speak. My problem comes from trying to rotate the shoulders seamlessly as my legs go up. 

I will go to a doctor soon, but based on past experience, they haven't been very helpful.

Do not go to a doctor, go to a physical therapist. That is their field of expertise

Haha, yes, I meant sports medicine doctor. Did your irritation and pain reduce over the years?

1 year ago since I started to work on it properly, 3 years ago since I got the injury.

 

Well, I only have irritation in the outer positions now. No pain, not even from volley smashes, although I do not do them since I tighten up.

 

What remains of my injury is probably just tight chest and biceps. Muscular imbalance is almost gone. I have found that shoulder extension stretches are really helpful for me specifically.