Awhile ago, Terry asserted that there was an "epidemic" of shoulder injuries among young USS swimmers, which he asserted were all due to stroke defects. Is he right?
Lately, I've been polling parents of 12-15 year old girls and I have learned that they all seem to have nagging injuries, particularly shoulder problems: Tendonitis, scapular pain, knee pain, etc. From what I know about the practice schedules, I don't think the injuries are due to overtraining, although some put in yardage or have some pretty hard practices. None of the girls I know do doubles. They all appear to be in puberty, and perhaps the changes in their bodies account for some of this pain. I'm sure some of it is due to bad technique too. I see a lot of lack of sufficient rotation on freestyle for example. But it's very annoying. Everyone is in PT or pain. I worry that some of these girls, including my own, will quit because they are tired of battling pain.
Another thought. Elsewhere I read that one program started their girls on RC stuff beginning at age 10 and kids doing these exercises have had fewer shoulder problems. Should this be started at a young age? I know my kid is doing them.
I have also heard of this problem mainly among girls. I don't know boys with shoulder problems. But that is likely due to the fact that I know more girls because I have a girl.
Thoughts?
When my daughter was 11, she had a coach that wanted all the "hopefuls" to start lifting, and my daughter to "swim up" with the high school girls. My daughter is very rules oriented so she went along, but she later told Mom and I that the lifting hurt, and she missed swimming with her contemporaries. We tried to get the coach to back off, but he said she would never be really good without both the weights and the harder sets.
We talked it out with our daughter, and eventually pulled her from the program. I think parents need to stay in the mix, and listen to their kids when they are so young. Thankfully, my daughter does not suffer some of the issues you discuss here.
I've read weight training should be avoided on under 16's.
I don't think this is universally accepted. I've read that strength and weight training is OK for kids, as long as they aren't trying to "max out."
It may be more a girl thing than boy because of a weakness we have in our shoulders. I read somewhere that most women end up with RC issues as they age from just life stuff like holding children, carting purses, carrying groceries.
My RC stuff started with softball, and improper weight lifting aggravated it. Now proper exercise helps it, and as long as I keep the shoulder strong, I don't have too many issues, was in fact playing some shortstop last Saturday and throwing really well.
It seems that on our age group team, the incidences of shoulder problems are more girls than boys, but knees are more boys than girls, especially during the big growth spurt boys have.
At the risk of getting a NSR scolding from Fort, As a runner we had little to no injuries in high school. We ran 1000 miles in the 90 days of summer vacation in prep for X-country
Now we all have hip, knee and ankle issues. A young body can recover so much better to a point that we pay for as we age.
IMHO, I think its the same for swimming. As a Masters swimmer, you are paying for the sins (excesses) of your youth.
My personal opinion (and I am not an orthopedist) is that all swimmers should be doing RC exercises. I believe you need to specifically target these small muscles to keep them (and the shoulder joint) strong and healthy. And I suspect that a healthy shoulder will tolerate overuse and less than perfect technique (like mine) better.
I agree! In fact, I've mentioned this to coaches. Ours seem to pretty aware of the need for RC exercises and some dryland as a normal part of swimming training. The trick is convincing kids that this is so. Most parents I know have to nag their kids about it, which is really tedious.
(Kirk: I couldn't tell if you were joking or not when you asked what RC exercises we should be doing. If not, I guess you're one of those folks with iron shoulders.)
Girls do suffer from shoulder issues more than men. Laxity plus more rotations (usually).
I don't know any programs where 11 years olds do weights. That would give me pause. But I know my 12 year old does some drylands. A lot of it is scapular/core stuff though. But I was under the impression that some elite girls start lifting at 14-15.
(Kirk: I couldn't tell if you were joking or not when you asked what RC exercises we should be doing. If not, I guess you're one of those folks with iron shoulders.)
No, I wasn't kidding. I've never done any rotator cuff exercises and I know I probably should. I doubt I have iron shoulders. I've probably just been lucky so far.
I don't think this is universally accepted. I've read that strength and weight training is OK for kids, as long as they aren't trying to "max out."
YesI agree just that t it's a fine line between working hard and a danger line on a young body. It may not be right for everyone though...much the same as any activity.
Personally, I wish I'd never got into weight training, it's chiefly responsible for my bad back.
While I was rehab'ing my shoulder this past winter, due to a swim injury, I was amazed at the number of children/teens that were receiving services. I asked my physical therapist why he thought this was - he replied poor coaching and conditioning, overuse/no down time - esp with some sports year round and unrealistic training regimes. It is one thing to see an old fart like me in rehab it is another to see children and teens due to sports injuries.
Redbird - I think there needs to be more parents like you. Bravo!! :banana:
My personal opinion (and I am not an orthopedist) is that all swimmers should be doing RC exercises. I believe you need to specifically target these small muscles to keep them (and the shoulder joint) strong and healthy. And I suspect that a healthy shoulder will tolerate overuse and less than perfect technique (like mine) better.
