Who is your Coach?

I see this verbalized so frequently - shoulders need "time off" - whether months, weeks, days or select sets. I'll bet that if you asked an osteo or PT they'd say it's not a given that swimming is bad for shoulders or that shoulders need time off. If your shoulders need recovery time, you should examine how you're swimming. It's the biomechanical stuff, not volume or frequency that stresses shoulders. Terry: I know you are right that biomechanics accounts for many shoulder injuries and problems. And I'm sure that's why I get some soreness although I'm working on that and trying to be "mindful" when I swim, especially on my restorative days. But I also firmly believe that volume, frequency or stroke choice can effect the shoulders. My fly, for example, is pretty good technically, but it still bangs up my shoulders if I do quantitites of it. (Hence, my recent 2 week layoff from fly after doing 900 yards of it one night.) When your shoulders are filled with loose cartilege and scar tissue, volume, overuse and just swimming hard during practice makes them sore or can cause tendonitis. I'm also just not a PT fan, except that I dutifully perform my rotator cuff exercises. PT people always tell you: "Take 4-6 weeks off and rest, rest, rest. It won't heal if you don't rest." That's what I hear "all the time." I don't believe that helps at all exept for the type of restorative-rest you described. More progressive types of orthopedists, ART practitioners or prolotherapy docs will give you the opposite advice. So I'm not resting, but trying to be mindful. P.S. When I first walked into my orthopedist's office over a year ago and he heard I was a swimmer, he just moaned and groaned about all his cases of "swimmer's shoulder." I'm just not sure we're all unmindful.... Allen: I agree with you! Geek: I agree with you too!

I see this verbalized so frequently - shoulders need "time off" - whether months, weeks, days or select sets. I'll bet that if you asked an osteo or PT they'd say it's not a given that swimming is bad for shoulders or that shoulders need time off. If your shoulders need recovery time, you should examine how you're swimming. It's the biomechanical stuff, not volume or frequency that stresses shoulders. Terry: I know you are right that biomechanics accounts for many shoulder injuries and problems. And I'm sure that's why I get some soreness although I'm working on that and trying to be "mindful" when I swim, especially on my restorative days. But I also firmly believe that volume, frequency or stroke choice can effect the shoulders. My fly, for example, is pretty good technically, but it still bangs up my shoulders if I do quantitites of it. (Hence, my recent 2 week layoff from fly after doing 900 yards of it one night.) When your shoulders are filled with loose cartilege and scar tissue, volume, overuse and just swimming hard during practice makes them sore or can cause tendonitis. I'm also just not a PT fan, except that I dutifully perform my rotator cuff exercises. PT people always tell you: "Take 4-6 weeks off and rest, rest, rest. It won't heal if you don't rest." That's what I hear "all the time." I don't believe that helps at all exept for the type of restorative-rest you described. More progressive types of orthopedists, ART practitioners or prolotherapy docs will give you the opposite advice. So I'm not resting, but trying to be mindful. P.S. When I first walked into my orthopedist's office over a year ago and he heard I was a swimmer, he just moaned and groaned about all his cases of "swimmer's shoulder." I'm just not sure we're all unmindful.... Allen: I agree with you! Geek: I agree with you too!