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?
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.
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.
