This stroke has brought me back into the water. After years of swimming, ranging from age group and high school, to tri's and open water events, my shoulder began to ache. The doc gave me an x-ray, then showed me what he called an impinged shoulder. He discouraged any over-arm motion(s), indicating the breaststroke would work. Unfortunately my knees don't don't agree with the whip kick. Granted, it's a huge change from the traditional competitive strokes, the combat swimmer stroke allows me to swim again, albeit a little slower. Having a pulling motion similar to the front crawl is refreshing. The kicking combination of both flutter and scissor have made it interesting too. As one that once specialized in fly, and also swam a lot of front crawl, the underwater recovery still seems awkward (no offense breaststrokers). Adapting to this stroke has been both a fun challenge and a very refreshing return to the pool (and lakes). I'm curious if/how the kicking motion, at times with fins, will benefit other activities, such as hiking, cycling and snowshoeing?
This stroke has brought me back into the water. After years of swimming, ranging from age group and high school, to tri's and open water events, my shoulder began to ache. The doc gave me an x-ray, then showed me what he called an impinged shoulder. He discouraged any over-arm motion(s), indicating the breaststroke would work. Unfortunately my knees don't don't agree with the whip kick. Granted, it's a huge change from the traditional competitive strokes, the combat swimmer stroke allows me to swim again, albeit a little slower. Having a pulling motion similar to the front crawl is refreshing. The kicking combination of both flutter and scissor have made it interesting too. As one that once specialized in fly, and also swam a lot of front crawl, the underwater recovery still seems awkward (no offense breaststrokers). Adapting to this stroke has been both a fun challenge and a very refreshing return to the pool (and lakes). I'm curious if/how the kicking motion, at times with fins, will benefit other activities, such as hiking, cycling and snowshoeing?
