Swimming places high amounts of stress on the shoulder. This is why shoulder injuries are the top injury in the sport, estimated at ~50 – 80% in swimmers. The amount of shoulder revolutions during practice are the primary contributor of shoulder stress. Revolutions during practice can be manipulated, but no matter if you follow a high- or low-volume training approach there will be high stress on the shoulder a constant. Luckily, there are other factors which coaches can modify to reduce stress on the shoulder.

1. Keep your Head in Line

Head position influences stress on the shoulder. If a swimmer has poor breathing biomechanics, they will overstress the neck muscles (likely the scalene muscles). These muscles attach to the collar bone and can negatively influence shoulder motion. If shoulder motion is impaired or altered it can further increase shoulder stress and increase tissue load.

Using a FINIS snorkel can keep the head in a neutral position and reduce stress on the neck muscles which pull on the collarbone.

2. Minimizing Paddle Stress

Pulling aids forward propulsion. Improving pulling strength greatly influences swimming, as the arms are the main contributors for free, back, and fly. Obviously, using paddles is going to increase shoulder stress, due to greater surface area and amount of water being pulled. Many swimmers strap themselves in and use oversized paddles, resulting in unnecessary stress.

The FINIS Agility paddles shape the hand of the swimmer and don’t encourage the swimmer to maintain proper force application through the entire stroke. When a paddle is strapped on a swimmer they can simply press as hard as they can during any phase of the stroke and move faster. Without straps, the swimmer must use appropriate force application, reducing the amount of shoulder stress during the most stressful position (when the arm is fully extended and beginning the catch).

3. Optimizing Body Rotation

If a swimmer is flat during freestyle or backstroke, they are reducing the space under their acromion (subacromial space) and increasing their risk of tissue stress on the rotator cuff muscle.

Integrating body rotation is mandatory for keeping as much space available under the acromion is key and luckily tools can help. Instead of using a large kickboard, an Alignment Kickboard can encourage body rotation during a kick set. Rotation helps increase space in the shoulder joint when the hips and shoulders rotate simultaneously. This space increase is small, but adds for millions of strokes.

Conclusion

Shoulder injuries are a multifactorial issue. Taking the necessary steps of reducing shoulder stress in the pool are factors coaches and swimmers can influence. Keep this in mind when picking equipment, training volume, and skill work.

This article provided by: Dr. G. John Mullen of Swimming Science