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Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations:
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Full information here
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Analysis Consultations
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Feb / Mar Clinics
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March / April Clinics
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28th April - 5th May
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28th July - 4th August
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For more info on SS Certified Coaches see
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Studies into swimming injury
show that 80% of us suffer from enough shoulder pain at some point
during our swimming lives to keep us out of the water for at least a few
days.
In the past swimmers and coaches thought that some level
of shoulder pain or even injury was normal in swimming and something
that just had to be lived with. Fortunately with a modern understanding
of bio-mechanics we now know that's not the case, with a good stroke
technique any swimmer should be able to remain pain and injury free even
when training very hard.
If you suffer from any shoulder pain or
soreness during or after swimming, or even have a full blown shoulder
injury, check your stroke for the four classic causes:
1. Thumb First Entry Into The Water
Entering
thumb first with the palm facing outwards used to be taught as a
smoother hand entry into the water but it internally rotates the
shoulder
placing a lot of stress on the joint. This is the most common cause of
shoulder injury in swimming and should be avoided like the plague:
Instead
of entering thumb first, enter fingertips first with the hand facing
downwards, this keeps the shoulder neutral and sets you up perfectly for
a great catch and pull through to follow.
2. Stroke Crossover
Crossing
the centre line in front of the head places stress on the shoulder
joint, the pain often being felt as impingement at the front of the
shoulder or an over-stretched numb sensation at the back. Work on improving your posture and awareness of your lead hand (even when
breathing) to remove this common stroke flaw:
A
crossover combined with a thumb first hand entry is particularly
stressful for the shoulder and a full injury surely lies in wait for any
swimmer doing this.
3.
Forceful Push Downwards During The Catch
This is a classic
Arnie stroke flaw and involves pushing downwards powerfully on the water
at full reach with a very straight arm:
This
can feel deceptively like a good catch
because of the feeling of water pressure on the palm of the hand but
unfortunately it only lifts you up at the front and sinks your legs
downwards. It also places a large stress on your shoulder joint which
can easily lead to pain and inflammation. Work on developing your catch
so you press the water backwards, not downwards and expect this to feel a lot less forceful.
4. Pulling Through With A Straight Arm (especially pulling wide or crossing the centre line under the body)
A
straight pull through places a lot of load on the shoulder joint.
Pulling wide tends to cause internal pain while crossing under the body
with the arm over-stretches the outside and rear of the shoulder.
This
can be quite hard to diagnose without video analysis but can be done by
watching a swimmer carefully as they swim towards you at the end of the
pool. Work on bending the elbow under the body bringing the hand
directly under the shoulder, we call this 'Bending It Like Becky'.
If
you suffer from any level of shoulder pain or injury from swimming
there's almost certainly a flaw in your stroke technique causing the
problem and you need to take immediate action to
correct your stroke technique. Once developed a full blown shoulder
injury is extremely frustrating and can take a long time to overcome -
prevention is far better than cure when it comes to looking after your
shoulders.
Swim Smooth! |
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Swim Smooth, 12 Davies Road, Claremont Swimming Pool, Davies Road, Claremont, WA 6010, AUSTRALIA
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