Thanks to cervical spine issues, I can't use my left arm for repetitive overhead movements. I'm interested in advice on which strokes might be possible with one arm. My goal is an aerobic/anaerobic heart rate for an hour, not elapsed time per distance. I'd also be interested in any reference material. Kicking for 2000 yards is becoming boring. Don P
Former Member
My coach recommended something she called the "Combat side stroke." I never tried it, but I guess the Seals use it. I think their variation usually uses both arms, but it can be modified.
en.wikipedia.org/.../Combat_sidestrokewww.youtube.com/watch
I was going to suggest sidestroke too. I swim and part-time lifeguard at a pool on a Navy base. The guys getting ready to go into SEAL training do sidestroke all the time. Some of them really perfect it and move pretty swiftly. The only thing is...in the "combat" sidestroke you recover both arms to over your head. As you said...you can't do that. I was thinking that you could swim it in a way (or, on the side) that makes the arm you can't put over your head as the arm that pushes from the waist. At about three minutes into this video it will show you the armstroke for a more conventional sidestroke where one arm only goes as high as your chest. m.youtube.com/watch
Dan
During shoulder surgery recovery I spent a few months swimming 1 arm freestyle. Just basic freestyle movements, rotation, and kick, breathing to side of static arm which dragged along by the side. Sometimes I used a front mounted snorkel, that made it easier. Swimming like this really brought up the heart rate, encourages rotation, and can spark life into a lazy kick. On a cautionary side, it can place more load on the working shoulder - don’t want to injure the one good swimming arm available. I would typically swim sets of 25’s - 100’s.
I am familiar with the combat stroke but I have not tried it with one arm. If it does work it will likely be slower than 1 arm free
Upper body injuries are, unfortunately, quite frequent in swimming, but as Steve mentioned, many swimmers use these injuries as an opportunity to work on developing their kick through the single arm and other kicking-related drills. These drills are definitely an effective way to continue to maintain strength and conditioning in swimming while recovering from (or managing) an injury or pain in the upper body.
