Hurt Shoulder

I don't know. Dropping the paddles seems like the most obvious solution, especially if you are already having shoulder problems. Even assuming your stroke is perfect, a siginificant increase in yardage leads to fatigue of muscles intended to KEEP your stroke perfect. Once these are cooked in a practice your stroke may get sloppy (as mine did this week doing a pyramid set) and your shoulder becomes vulnerable to injury. Adding paddles after that point, even if for a short set, may cause big problems. As a sprinter I may not have the endurance to keep a proper stroke through the whole workout, so maybe you have another issue, but I'd suggest dropping the paddles, at least temporarily, and strengthening your shoulders with surgical/stretch cord tubing as discussed previously until you get used to the new yardage.

I wrecked my left rotator last February and it's taken me till now to get back into the pool. I do a lot of shoulder exercises and stay away from bench press and push-ups (I’ve replaced them with flys because they don't hurt and still give my chest a workout). An imbalance of shoulder muscles is at the root cause of most shoulder problems. Paddles increase the area of the hand and help destabilize the head of the humerus. Stay away from hand-paddles is a great idea for anyone with shoulder problem. I don’t let my swimmers swim with shoulder pain. When they start complaining I immediately stop any recovery that causes discomfort. I’ve found that the way they exit their hand and start their pull (straight-arm) are two places where pain occurs. After we change the way they exit their hand and slow down and reposition how they catch or start their pull, shoulder pain goes away. We recommend following a religious shoulder and shoulder-cuff strength gaining regime and shoulder problems should not resurface. Underwater recovery is stressed for butterflyers. Good luck.

Ah, but freestyle. I really wish I had time to pull a 1k free in every practice. Not only is it fun, but since the resistance is magnified, it makes it easy to find the path of most resistance in your pull. In summary, I love my paddles, and I recommend them, as long as your technique is good, and you technique will remain good through the entire set. Amen brother, amen. Long live the paddles. Have you tried Fly with Zoomers? Next best thing to hurtling along with paddles in Free.

I don't agree that you need to throw away your paddles, but they do increase stress by design. If you do something wrong, the error is amplified by paddles. I am not a breaststroker, but it seems to me that breaststroke pull with paddles is rather clunky. The paddles get in the way of getting my hands to go where they need to go. And breastroke pull with a bouy and no paddles hurts so D.MN much, why torture yourself by adding paddles? Ah, but freestyle. I really wish I had time to pull a 1k free in every practice. Not only is it fun, but since the resistance is magnified, it makes it easy to find the path of most resistance in your pull. Back and fly it would be rare for me to use paddles. If my stroke is on, and I am feeling good, backstroke with paddles is no problem for me. If my stroke is off, or I am feeling tired, back with paddles would be asking for trouble. Fly kills me as it is, so I wouldn't do more than a 50 fly with paddles as a challenge, and only if I knew I could keep my stroke together. In summary, I love my paddles, and I recommend them, as long as your technique is good, and you technique will remain good through the entire set. Actually, that shouldn't be limited to paddles. If my technique is falling apart because I am exhausted, I either rest or swim a cool down and get out. I agree with Glenn, bad technique is the primary cause of shoulder problems.

When you have shoulder pain as you exit your arm and hand from the water, try this. As the elbow begins to leave the water, position your hand so you can see your palm. You'll need to roll more than you usually do but it shouldn't be difficult. If you don't notice an immediate relief from your pain, try another exit position. Once the arm is out of the water, you can return the hand into it's normal entry (thumb and index finger first). I tell swimmers to experiment with the exit of their arm and hand until they find a position that doesn't hurt. I've had swimmers exit with a straight-arm because it was the only position that didn't hurt them. The key is to find a position that doesn't hurt and doesn't adversely effect your stroke. The recovery can be manipulated and changed without an adverse change in your stroke, so it may look funny but hey - so what. Good luck, Coach T.

Throw away your paddles. It has taken me 2 years to recover from my hurt shoulder.

Everyone, thanks so much for the advice. I know I definitely bumped up the yardage too much to be safe here the last few weeks, but I just made plans to go to YMCA Masters Nationals, so I wanted train harder. I guess at 31 I can't jump in as fast. From what I have read, it looks like I should swim if it doesn't hurt, backing off a bit in yardage, kick to my hearts content, go to practice, stop the paddles at least until I am pain free (maybe no paddles for *** at all for a good while) and in better shape, keep going to practice, do exercises for the rotator cuff/shoulder. Thanks again for the huge response. I was pretty bummed about the setback, but the response made me feel less alone in the process.

Good luck. Many, if not all, of us have been bivouacked with you in the land of shoulder woes. You will emerge!

Update on my shoulder injury: I stopped using paddles during breaststroke. I stopped pulling breaststroke more than a few hundred yards a practice. I took some ibuprofen (800mg, 2-3 times a day). I iced my shoulder (ice massage for about 10 minutes after practice). My shoulder felt better, but there was still that twinge I noticed. Then, last week, due to an unrelated condition, I had to stake some steroids (prednisone) and my should pain is totally gone. That stuff really gets rid of inflammation. It is good to know that my pain was not from a lasting musculoskeletal problem, but just inflammation that was hard to get rid of. Thanks to everyone for the advice. I think all the information will help me from having the injury happen again.

That's great news- thanks for posting a positive update, and good luck.