Shoulder surgery? Have you had one yet?

I have a bad AC joint and a SLAP tear. Thought about surgery. My doctor's advice was if your injury is merely a nuisance then don't get the surgery, but if the pain and performance is interfering with your life and activities then get the surgery. I opted for no surgery. My advice for avoiding shoulder problems (and this goes for those of you who don't have any issues YET). --Do RC and shoulder exercises several nights a week. All you need is a few therabands and some free weights. A solid program takes 10 minutes. ALL SWIMMERS SHOULD BE DOING THIS SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK!!!! --Do NOT stretch before swimming. Instead warm up slowly. After you swim there are a few stretches that are okay (search the forum) but absolutely avoid stretching the shoulder capsule. --Focus, focus, focus on technique. Bad technique can have a huge impact on your shoulder. For me this means that when I swim, it's not about yardage, but about drills and refining my stroke. Different mindset. --Try fistgloves. These take a lot of strain off my shoulder and force me to focus on swimming more with my core and back muscles. --Swim all strokes at every workout. Not only is it more fun, but it helps your joints which do not take kindly to repetitive action. --For all strokes: stop thinking about pulling your arms through the water and instead picture yourself anchoring your arms in the water and using your back and core to rotate or undulate your body forward. Good luck Zegmal, I have been using small 6lb medicine balls to do 3 way straight arm shoulder raises. Hold the ball in your hand, with a straight arm, lift 1st to the front 10x, to the side 10x, to the back 10x. 2 sets with each arm before I get in to swim. It takes less than 10 minutes and really warms up my shoulders and gets my heart rate up. You can also use them for quick bicep and tricep exercises. I have my hs team toss the balls vertical 30x each arm to work the lats, delts, tris, bis, forearms and wrists. I do these once a week with them and I got to tell you, it really does work all of those muscles. The balls can be found at fitness1st.com

I have a bad AC joint and a SLAP tear. Thought about surgery. My doctor's advice was if your injury is merely a nuisance then don't get the surgery, but if the pain and performance is interfering with your life and activities then get the surgery. I opted for no surgery. My advice for avoiding shoulder problems (and this goes for those of you who don't have any issues YET). --Do RC and shoulder exercises several nights a week. All you need is a few therabands and some free weights. A solid program takes 10 minutes. ALL SWIMMERS SHOULD BE DOING THIS SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK!!!! --Do NOT stretch before swimming. Instead warm up slowly. After you swim there are a few stretches that are okay (search the forum) but absolutely avoid stretching the shoulder capsule. --Focus, focus, focus on technique. Bad technique can have a huge impact on your shoulder. For me this means that when I swim, it's not about yardage, but about drills and refining my stroke. Different mindset. --Try fistgloves. These take a lot of strain off my shoulder and force me to focus on swimming more with my core and back muscles. --Swim all strokes at every workout. Not only is it more fun, but it helps your joints which do not take kindly to repetitive action. --For all strokes: stop thinking about pulling your arms through the water and instead picture yourself anchoring your arms in the water and using your back and core to rotate or undulate your body forward. Good luck Zegmal, I have been using small 6lb medicine balls to do 3 way straight arm shoulder raises. Hold the ball in your hand, with a straight arm, lift 1st to the front 10x, to the side 10x, to the back 10x. 2 sets with each arm before I get in to swim. It takes less than 10 minutes and really warms up my shoulders and gets my heart rate up. You can also use them for quick bicep and tricep exercises. I have my hs team toss the balls vertical 30x each arm to work the lats, delts, tris, bis, forearms and wrists. I do these once a week with them and I got to tell you, it really does work all of those muscles. The balls can be found at fitness1st.com