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Victoria Day long weekend has come and gone. For many Vancouver residents, especially those residing in Kitsilano, it means the opening of our beloved Kits Pool. At 137 metres it’s almost 3 x longer than an Olympic sized pool and is Canada’s longest pool. Located at beautiful Kitsilano beach with the picturesque backdrop of the North Shore mountains and downtown Vancouver. Rain or shine, opening to close, you will see the dedicated swimming their laps.

I have already started to see the first of the swimming injuries coming through the clinic. Most commonly it’s the swimmer’s shoulder. Usually starts with a twinge just below the tip of the shoulder during random strokes but after hundreds and or thousands of repetitions it can easily blow up into a full on shoulder tendonitis. By the time these shoulders arrive at the clinic, they are reporting difficulty with many daily tasks such as: reaching over head, reaching behind back, sleeping on your side, and of course swimming.

Common Problems

1. Poor scapular (shoulder blade) stabilization
2. Poor thoracic mobility
3. Poor glenohumeral joint (the ball and socket joint) mobility
4. Swimming technique

Swimming in general utilizes a large proportion of your available shoulder ROM (range of motion). Think of the windmill type movements at the shoulder required for front crawl, backstroke or butterfly. Because of the large ROM needed, even a small loss of movement due to tightness can stress the shoulder complex tendons. If you are unable to comfortably swing your arms around in a windmill motion in both directions, most likely some level of movement dysfunction will be present and should be addressed by a healthcare professional especially if pain occurs.

Swimming Technique Consideration

1. Body Roll: smooth and symmetrical rotation along the long axis will reduce strain on the shoulders and decrease at the amount of water resistance you are pushing through.
2. Hand placement: the hand entering the water with thumbs pointing down will promote an internal rotation at the shoulder which will promote impingement issues. Try to enter the water with your palm relatively flat and finger tips first.
3. Posture: just as you don’t want to sit or stand with excessively rounded shoulders, swimming posture should be the same. Think of lengthening across your collarbones to keep your shoulders back.
4. Pull through: avoid pulling across the midline underwater. Reaching across the body is inefficient and puts the shoulder joint in a mechanically poor position.

I hope these simple strategies can help keep your shoulders healthy as you enjoy your swimming endeavours, outside or indoors. If your shoulder issues persists, a healthcare provider at PhysioWorks will be happy to work with your injury and return to function.

Rob Iwasaki, BScPT, BScKin, Clinical STOTT Pilates, CAFCI