Can you swim without internal shoulder rotation?

I don't either, although I actually think backstroke requires the most. Didn't know that. Like I said, backstroke..... Thanks Having said that, a pinky-first entry -- with the forearm in neutral position (neither overly pronated nor supinated) -- can allow for or encourage less internal rotation of the shoulder. Yep. Palm of the hand that faces the side of the body throughout the recovery also help neutralizing internal rotation. Better to think about the shoulder joint directly... and this is the ugly truth... Shoulder internal rotation: high-elbow catch Shoulder external rotation: dropped elbow or doggy paddle If you goal is to avoid "shoulder internal rotation" swim with a dropped elbow. Alternatively, if your goal is to avoid rotator cuff impingement that results in swimmers' shoulder, see a physical therapist with expertise in swimming rehab. Strengthening scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff muscles may prevent or cure swimmers' shoulder. If you are having shoulder pain, changing for thumb-first to pinky-first entry really misses the point and is unlikely to be effective. RadSwim I like your style. I agree with pretty much everything. And if I may, I would add to this that in my opinion, the most probable cause for this sort of shoulder pain is the darn dead spot in the front whilst trying to overreach, which translates into a timing issue. Dead spot in the front whilst body continues to roll means getting late on catch. When that happens, the swimmers must put a lot of weight on the whole pulling path from start to finish, including a lot of weight on catch. So they end up attempting a high elbow catch whilst applying a lot of pressure during the early phase, with the shoulder being in a vulnerable position. Solution is to learn to unweight (unload? anyway) to put less pressure during the catch phase and to give progressive acceleration of the hand. As soon as the hand reaches a point where the shoulder is no longer in a vulnerable position, you can then engage the lats putting a lot of weight on that, using body rotation timing to add some more weight, and finishing with an explosive exit which gives you your distance per stroke, instead of waiting in the front for this elbow to undoubtedly drop, or for this shoulder to undoubtedly hurt.

I don't either, although I actually think backstroke requires the most. Didn't know that. Like I said, backstroke..... Thanks Having said that, a pinky-first entry -- with the forearm in neutral position (neither overly pronated nor supinated) -- can allow for or encourage less internal rotation of the shoulder. Yep. Palm of the hand that faces the side of the body throughout the recovery also help neutralizing internal rotation. Better to think about the shoulder joint directly... and this is the ugly truth... Shoulder internal rotation: high-elbow catch Shoulder external rotation: dropped elbow or doggy paddle If you goal is to avoid "shoulder internal rotation" swim with a dropped elbow. Alternatively, if your goal is to avoid rotator cuff impingement that results in swimmers' shoulder, see a physical therapist with expertise in swimming rehab. Strengthening scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff muscles may prevent or cure swimmers' shoulder. If you are having shoulder pain, changing for thumb-first to pinky-first entry really misses the point and is unlikely to be effective. RadSwim I like your style. I agree with pretty much everything. And if I may, I would add to this that in my opinion, the most probable cause for this sort of shoulder pain is the darn dead spot in the front whilst trying to overreach, which translates into a timing issue. Dead spot in the front whilst body continues to roll means getting late on catch. When that happens, the swimmers must put a lot of weight on the whole pulling path from start to finish, including a lot of weight on catch. So they end up attempting a high elbow catch whilst applying a lot of pressure during the early phase, with the shoulder being in a vulnerable position. Solution is to learn to unweight (unload? anyway) to put less pressure during the catch phase and to give progressive acceleration of the hand. As soon as the hand reaches a point where the shoulder is no longer in a vulnerable position, you can then engage the lats putting a lot of weight on that, using body rotation timing to add some more weight, and finishing with an explosive exit which gives you your distance per stroke, instead of waiting in the front for this elbow to undoubtedly drop, or for this shoulder to undoubtedly hurt.