shoulder bothering new swimmer

I've got chronic shoulder tendonitis... the best thing that I can recommend is doing shoulder strengthening exercises with stretch cords. When I am good about them... my shoulders are fine. As soon as I let up on my shoulder exercise routine, my shoulders start huring in practice. By all means -- see a doctor. But get on the shoulder strengthening circuit. -Rick

Thanks for the insight. Right now I am training with a real good swimmer and he is helping. What is frustrating is that other components are really coming along and I am making positive gains. I will limit the swimming to three times a week, no more than 2000 yds and keep doing the strengthening excercises. I may try to get some video analysis soon. I have no idea what I look like swimming. I know this feedback is important.

I am a righty and my problem is in my right shoulder. I usually breathe to my left. In my case, I started swimming around 1980-1981 when I was in my late 20's. I was doing 2500M at least once/week at that time, usually several times/week. Also at that time, I was doing open turns and touching the top edge of the pool at every turn with my right hand, which certainly did not help. Nonetheless, I did not have any problems until apx 1989. At that time, I recall a fairly long trip where I was carrying my 1 year old daughter in my right arm. I also had a benchpress mishap in which one collar came off, causing a violent back/forth motion of the bar. At any rate, I then developed the impingement (click) and big time pain in one shoulder to the point where I could not put on an overcoat or tighten a belt. After waiting a while with no improvement, I went to an MD who took MRI, prescribed PT, etc. After a few months, I was more-or-less back to normal. I did not stop swimming but slowed up a bit and gave up the open turns. I did give up the benchpressing. Then sometime in the mid 1990's, I slipped on wet ground and landed on my right palm. This caused relapse of shoulder issues and some (short-lived) wrist issues as well. Again, after some PT, I was out of the pain. I now limit my distance swims to 1 or 2 times/week max. The MD also gave me a list of "shoulder hints" that I mostly follow - sleep with arms at side or on chest, don't lean on one arm when reading, use ladder instead of reaching overarm for shelves, and some other things. I suspect that my problems had multiple causes but nearly all my swimming friends also had shoulder issues, so I wonder... Regards,

I started incorporating strengthening excercises. I think my problem is that my left shoulder and elbow are "worn out" from throwing all my life. I am 41 years old. The good news is I never had an acute shoulder injury and the problem is not preventing me from swimming. I am a lefty and my left arm obviously was my stronger arm. However, my right shoulder is not even phased by the swimming, which leads me to believe that the left shoulder problems are from previous weakening. Hopefully I can work through it with the excercises. For those who are responding, are your shoulder problems from previous sports? Left shoulder/right shoulder/ both? Are you left/righty? Just trying to find a pattern.

I'm right-handed and have had problems with both my shoulders. What Gull says is very true... the shoulder is an instable joint and personal anatomy plays a huge factor is who has shoulder issues and who does not. My acromion (the end of the bone below which your humerus 'hangs') curves and tilts down at the end which makes impingement issues more likely. For me, technique is critical. I have to watch that I don't 'overwork' the catch in freestyle and that I keep my elbows up. You really can't beat having a coach look over your stroke. When doing the 'semi-catchup' freestyle that lots of people use today, it is very easy to allow the hand of the outstretched arm to drift up. Obviously if your hand drifts up, your elbow is going down. To visualize what this does to your shoulder, try lying on the ground on your stomach. Put both hands in front of you, palms flat on the floor, lift your elbows up, and push your chest up. Pretty easy, right? Now imagine there is a bar 3" off the ground in front of your hands. This time instead of getting your chest up by pushing on the ground with your elbows up, imagine that starting with your elbows on the floor, you grab that bar out in front of your hands and push on the bar. Ouch! Not exactly the same mechanism of dropping your elbow in swimming, but it illustrates the point. So technique is key, but I'd still go see a doctor. If nothing else, you should be able to get a prescription for some PT. Rotator cuff exercises are a wonderful thing, but need to be done with proper form. Also, since shoulder stability is entirely dependent on the balance and strength of the muscles surrounding joint, you want to make sure you're strengthening the right areas. Swimmers tend to be overly tight in the front of the shoulder and way too lax in the back. Just try to find a doctor that has experience with athletes. Since you're a runner by background, maybe you already know of a good doctor or your running partners do. You could also check with the coach/trainer at a nearby university and ask where they send their swimmers. Hopefully this wasn't too ridiculously long of a post and good luck!

Originally posted by rtodd For those who are responding, are your shoulder problems from previous sports? Left shoulder/right shoulder/ both? Are you left/righty? Just trying to find a pattern. Although I'm right handed, most of my problems have been with my left shoulder, which is the side I breathe on. An MRI showed some arthritic changes. From what I've read, I don't believe you can attribute swimmer's shoulder to overuse. I think the poblem is anatomic--the shoulder joint is really not that inherently stable, consequently weakness of the supporting muscles can lead to impingement, inflammation, and tears. Conventional dry land exercises do not address the small muscles which comprise the rotator cuff. More recently, attention has been focused on stabilization of the scapula as well.

Swam 1700 yds today and the shoulder felt OK. I just cycled it and did not push it too hard. I am relying on my kick more and using a 6 beat kick for distance. I am encouraged. Dobbie, will look into fins to help develop kick and take stress off my shoulder. Good suggestion. I don't use paddles. I have tried them before and I feel like I can tear my arm right out of the socket with them.

I played water polo for years as well as swimming.I also played tennis.This has damaged my right shoulder to some degree.When I got back into swimming competitively at 33 my shoulder would constantly play up.I rarely get problems now and have learnt the following. a back off sooner ...don't fight on.....rest or minimise the sessions.Use zoomers/fins when inflammation starts.they take weight off the shoulders and really work the lower half.do a kick session.it's often over looked as an option. b dont place weight too early in the catch(outstretched).Focus on emphasising the weight at the back end of the stroke.Particularly when using paddles. c focus on good body rotation. d dont use paddles unless you have great technique e dont use paddles for sprints or when tired. f do stretch exercises at least twice a week