Hi I have had fairly bad case of biceps tendonitis for quite some time now and have not been able to swim. I have been doing kick sets every day for several weeks now, but realized that I wasn't _really_ doing the flutter kick in order to get more propulsion (otherwise I really don't move very much at all).
In any case, after reading these forums I decided to buy some Zoomers fins and started doing all my kicking with them for the past week. Initially I was quite happy with them (except blisters but I think I have solved that problem now). However, I have a concomitant knee problem (I went to an orthopod some time ago for it and he said by the physical exam it might be a medial meniscus issue - pain on the inside of my right knee - but since it was still relatively mild he was hesitant to do an MRI as surgery would not be something that would be considered at this point, which sounds reasonable to me) and I have noticed this week it has gotten worse (I did also stupidly sprint for my bus on Monday which I immediately felt caused some knee upset, and that certainly contributed a lot to it, but I'm still wondering about the Zoomers).
I know initially I did not feel the Zoomers aggravate my knee pain but now I'm not sure (although today I seem to have had more knee pain in general throughout the day so I'm not really sure if working out with them really added anything to it or if its just that my knee pain was still there when I was using them). In any case, I was wondering people's opinions about whether my increasing knee pain this week might be related to the Zoomers or perhaps simply to using them too much too soon? Anyone with knee problems noticed that Zoomers aggravate them? Are any other short fins better for knees or am I just stuck ineffectively kicking with no fins since I can't swim cuz of the shoulder probs?
Oh yeah I'm only doing flutter kick and I'm fairly sure I'm doing it correctly with the Zoomers (my legs are certainly straight and I am not kicking from the knees although I wonder if maybe I am locking them more than I should be perhaps).
Thanks
Misha
Parents
Former Member
Re head on video.
I would like both hands to follow the black lane line on the bottom of the pool. Your left arm really goes out wide and changes your head and legs into a fishtale side to side motion. Your right arm is a little better. The "S" motion is very exagerated and I think if you watch other swimmers you will see that their "S" motion almost looks like an "I" stroke that follows the lane marker line on the bottom of the pool.
Thanks. I was just trying to figure out the elbow drop in the fourth vid and I think it is related to this as well somewhat. Interestingly it is in fact the _left_ arm where I have the biceps tendonitis; the right one is just fine (had supraspinatus tendonitis quite mild when I was only breathing on one side quite some time ago; wasn't serious enough to keep me from swimming though and I fixed this by turning my palms out when I enter water and breathing on both sides).
I found a video that was helpful to look at someone's freestyle where they keep both arms close to the center line and don't drop their elbows:
www.youtube.com/watch
Thanks a lot for your comments! :)
Misha
EDIT/UPDATE: So I tried doing some swimming in the pool with a finis swimmer's snorkel and focus on keeping my hands at the black line in the middle of the pool. I think I was doing a pretty good job but it's hard to change something so ingrained I guess. Also I feel like I was dropping my left elbow sometimes (don't know if I really was or not but I felt that I was). Anyways, any drills you recommend would be great too if you feel they could be helpful. Will keep trying it and will see how my shoulder is feeling tomorrow too
Re head on video.
I would like both hands to follow the black lane line on the bottom of the pool. Your left arm really goes out wide and changes your head and legs into a fishtale side to side motion. Your right arm is a little better. The "S" motion is very exagerated and I think if you watch other swimmers you will see that their "S" motion almost looks like an "I" stroke that follows the lane marker line on the bottom of the pool.
Thanks. I was just trying to figure out the elbow drop in the fourth vid and I think it is related to this as well somewhat. Interestingly it is in fact the _left_ arm where I have the biceps tendonitis; the right one is just fine (had supraspinatus tendonitis quite mild when I was only breathing on one side quite some time ago; wasn't serious enough to keep me from swimming though and I fixed this by turning my palms out when I enter water and breathing on both sides).
I found a video that was helpful to look at someone's freestyle where they keep both arms close to the center line and don't drop their elbows:
www.youtube.com/watch
Thanks a lot for your comments! :)
Misha
EDIT/UPDATE: So I tried doing some swimming in the pool with a finis swimmer's snorkel and focus on keeping my hands at the black line in the middle of the pool. I think I was doing a pretty good job but it's hard to change something so ingrained I guess. Also I feel like I was dropping my left elbow sometimes (don't know if I really was or not but I felt that I was). Anyways, any drills you recommend would be great too if you feel they could be helpful. Will keep trying it and will see how my shoulder is feeling tomorrow too
