I have read some past threads about this issue but have a question for anyone that can answer. Last summer I developed a swimmer's shoulder but for different reasons than the one I have now. My technique was pretty poor and my arms and shoulders were doing the majority of the work at that time, not to mention my arm recovery was problematic. That pain eventually resolved as I improved my technique a bit. However over the past month I have really worked hard on the EVF and I'm pretty sure I'm getting the hang of it better because suddenly I've been feeling a soreness in my lats that I never used to feel (and my wife has complemented me on a firmer back, ;)). Anyhow, joking aside, I'm feeling that pain again. I'm also feeling a lot of clicking in my left shoulder. I'm still able to swim, but it's when I'm out of the pool that I really feel it.
This seems to have coincided with my conscious attempts to internally rotate the shoulder on the catch very early. And it's when I practice this maneuver on dryland that I feel the pain. My questions are;
1. Are there others here who have experienced this type of pain as they work on the EVF in particular? Does it pass as you get use to the move?
2. In another post people were discussing catching higher or lower in the water. Has anyone found that catching lower helps avoid this injury? Do you lose speed catching lower (it seems that catching lower is catching closer to your body so less distance to pull). I've certainly seen swimmers like Roland Schoeman who have lower catches.
Good idea. I went through this last year after working on incorporating EVF into my stroke. Oddly, it is not usually the stroke that causes damage, but the recovery. Especially in my case.
Overrotation of the shoulder socket during the recovery phase will let you think that you are getting extra reach on your stroke for the entry, but the clicking you feel or hear is the tendons snapping on the bone in your shoulder from overreaching. An easy and quick test (but not a replacement for seeing a doc or PT) is to look at your recovery and see which way your hand is turned. If the fingers are dragging or the back of the hand is pointing toward the water, you may have a problem. This can be changed (and you may feel immediate relief) if you consciously do this: upon end of pull stroke, once hand is out of the water, turn the palm of the hand to face the water for the entire recovery and enter with the pinkie finger first. This will feel odd, but I found that it gave almost instant relief.
Thanks. I think you're referring to supination of the forearm during the recovery? I used to recover with my palm facing directly backward, but will try to get it facing my body a little more.
Good idea. I went through this last year after working on incorporating EVF into my stroke. Oddly, it is not usually the stroke that causes damage, but the recovery. Especially in my case.
Overrotation of the shoulder socket during the recovery phase will let you think that you are getting extra reach on your stroke for the entry, but the clicking you feel or hear is the tendons snapping on the bone in your shoulder from overreaching. An easy and quick test (but not a replacement for seeing a doc or PT) is to look at your recovery and see which way your hand is turned. If the fingers are dragging or the back of the hand is pointing toward the water, you may have a problem. This can be changed (and you may feel immediate relief) if you consciously do this: upon end of pull stroke, once hand is out of the water, turn the palm of the hand to face the water for the entire recovery and enter with the pinkie finger first. This will feel odd, but I found that it gave almost instant relief.
Thanks. I think you're referring to supination of the forearm during the recovery? I used to recover with my palm facing directly backward, but will try to get it facing my body a little more.
