Post shoulder surgery again

Bummer about the second shoulder surgery. I definitely feel for you. I'm coming off the worst accident/injury of my life that involved shoulder surgery to plate my broken collar bone. I broke my scapula, as well, and 4 ribs. I couldn't move my left arm for about 5 weeks. Then I got back in the water, but I certainly couldn't swim, so I did 3000 yards kicking every day for nearly 6 weeks! I did pretty much the same set every day -- yes, I'm one of those people who doesn't really get bored or burned out doing the same thing all the time. I'm not saying this is interesting at all, but here's what I did: 20 x 50 @ 1:00 pickle kick with fins (dolphin kick with arms at your side) 20 x 50 @ :55 free kick with fins (arms at your side) Take off fins 2 x ( 5 x 50 @ 1:10 pickle kick 5 x 50 @ 1:00 free kick ) To mix it up, sometimes I'd do 75s or 100s. My core and kick are now stronger than they've ever been! Good luck with your recovery. Hope you find something that works for you to keep it interesting and to get you on the road to full recovery and swimming again.

Sorry to hear about the surgery, but glad you are able to get in the water again on a limited basis. For now, I would suggest focusing on a variety of different kicking sets that do not require use of the shoulder; for example, kick at side or kicking with hands at side. You can actually take advantage of this recovery period to improve your kick, which in turn will help you take some of the burden off of your arms when you return to normal training. There are also many drills that only require the use of one arm. You can try single arm drills using the non-injured arm, such as single arm breathing on or breathing away from the stroking side. Once you've improved significantly, the first thing I would advise is to get your stroke analyzed by a qualified coach. This will allow you to correct any points in your stroke that put undue pressure on the joints. Prevention is key, and swimming with good technique is one way to prevent the injury from returning. I have seen so many swimmers who carry on with continuous nagging shoulder pain and do not make an attempt to change their stroke, or even get it checked out to see if there are any improvements they can make to alleviate the pain. It is worth getting your stroke analyzed! There are two articles on Swimspire that might be of interest on swimmer's shoulder and why you should get your stroke analyzed: www.swimspire.com/.../ www.swimspire.com/.../ Hope this helps and good luck in your recovery!!

i should write a book on shoulder recovery from surgery. first off i need to know what surgery you had. blindly giving advice without knowing is...ummmm...not smart.

I'm slowly recovering from my second shoulder surgery. I'm eight weeks post-op and can finally get in the water for some kick sets. Anyone have any advice or suggestions to keep things interesting and safe? Another note of caution: if you use a board during kicking sets, be particularly aware of how your shoulder is feeling. Although many consider the board to be the usual practice for kicking when you can't use your arms, the board may put pressure on the shoulder joints. Being aware of this is another way to ensure you are staying safe in the water during your recovery process. Good luck!

I have a repaired shoulder that gets very uncomfortable when kicking with a board. I do my freestyle kicking on my side and all other kicking in streamline. The main challenge is figuring out how to breathe.

I have a repaired shoulder that gets very uncomfortable when kicking with a board. I do my freestyle kicking on my side and all other kicking in streamline. The main challenge is figuring out how to breathe. That's why I use a snorkel.

I do all of my (face down) kicking with a snorkel. Some with a board, hands in streamline position on board, some in streamline with no board and some with arms at side. I also do a lot of kicking on my back, both in streamline and with arms at sides. I started using the snorkel because of issues with my neck while looking over a board and I've found that using the snorkel takes a lot of pressure off my neck and shoulders.

Thank you this helps.

I'm going to try this. I haven't set out with a workout in mind and just go back and forth until I'm sick of it. Maybe if I have a workout plan to stick to I'll have something to shoot for. Thanks.

I haven't set out with a workout in mind and just go back and forth until I'm sick of it. Ok, that takes care of about 2x50 kick. :D One of Ande's "swim faster" mantras is to kick much more than most of us do - this is your chance!