To identify and describe in the existing literature any criteria used for return to play following surgical stabilization for traumatic, anterior shoulder instability. We performed a systematic review evaluating surgical stabilization for primary traumatic anterior shoulder instability in skeletally mature patients with a minimum of 1-year follow-up using Level I to IV studies in PubMed and EMBASE from January 1994 to January 2017. Fifty-eight studies with at least 1 explicitly stated criterion for return to play were identified from a review of more than 5,100 published articles. Seven different categories of return to play criteria were identified, the most common of which were time from surgery (89.6%), strength (18.9%), and range of motion (13.8%). Pain, stability, proprioception, and postoperative radiographic evaluation were also used. As hypothesized, in 75.8% of the included studies (44/58), time was the only criterion explicitly used. The most commonly used time for return to play was 6 months. This systematic review identifies 7 criteria that have been used in the available literature to determine when patients are ready to return to play; however, consistent with our hypothesis, 75% of studies used time from surgery as the sole listed criterion, with the most commonly used time point of 6 months postoperative. All of these criteria can be used in future research to develop a comprehensive checklist of functional criteria in hopes of reducing recurrent injury. Level IV, systematic review.