Tips to Avoid Shoulder Pain

Most swimmers at some time in their career have problems with shoulder pain or soreness.  There are a couple of things that can be done to minimize your risk of injury. 

1) Bilateral breathing, or breathing to both sides, can even out body roll and help prevent injury.  Swimmers breathing only on one side, rotate their upper body more towards the breathing side.  For example, if a swimmer only breathes to the right, the left shoulder is usually in an extended position for a longer period of time, during the breath.  This can cause the muscles on the back which stabilize the shoulder to be overworked.   Meanwhile, the right arm does not extend as much, increasing the workload on the shoulder muscles stabilizing the front of the right shoulder. Either side can develop a problem. In this situation, switching to a bilateral pattern will help balance the front and back work load of the shoulder muscles.

2) Avoid internal shoulder rotation.  This rotation occurs when the“ball” of the shoulder join rotates inward towards the body.  If a swimmer's arm is held upon entry in a palm out, (thumb down, pinky out) hand position, internal shoulder rotation occurs.  This is shown in the photo below and can also be seen at http://www.swimsmooth.com/injury.php.  

 

       

 Swimmers should avoid this “palm out”position throughout their pull and recovery. Check both hands as they enter and exit the water.  Upon entry they should be flat or parallel to the water.   When exiting the water, the palm of the hand should rotate toward the thigh as it leaves and maintain that position throughout the recovery. 

3) Another stroke change that can be made if a swimmer has chronic shoulder problems is to straighten the arm during the recovery phase of the stroke, as the arm travels through the air.  When I was swimming on the marathon circuit in the 90’s, most swimmers preferred a straight arm recovery.  A bent elbow position uses more of the small muscles in the shoulder to execute the recovery.  A straighter arm position uses more of the pectoral/chest muscles to recover the arm.  Swimmers can try a bending their elbow less on the recovery and see if it feels more comfortable.  There have been successful swimmers with both types of recovery, straight and bent arm; don't be afraid to make a change.     

4)  Many hours spent on the computer can also increase pain in the shoulders and arms. I advise swimmers who are resting for competition to be wary of increasing their computer time. 

If you have shoulder pain, check your stroke and make changes.  Then wait and see if your discomfort decreases.  For most swimmers, the arms recover 60 – 80 times per minute.   Swimmers’ shoulders work hard and making small changes, even just a flatter pitch of the hand upon entry, CAN make a difference.