So at this particular time in history, I think it is safe to say that no one on earth is currently suffering from swimmer’s shoulder. With the global pandemic bringing all training to a grinding halt, all athletes have had time to recover from any effects of over-training that they had suffered before the COVID-19 worldwide shut-downs. But does this mean that your swimmer’s shoulder problem has fixed itself?

Another side effect of the shut-down is that all these athletes have not been able to train as they typically would have. Because of this, many athletes are under-conditioned and relatively out-of-shape at this time for their given sport. A quick return to their previous level of training could be frustrated by trouble with new pains or problems, or return of previous troubles.

We have never had a time when all training in every sport and every discipline has been stopped for 2-3 months straight. We are all (coaches, swimmers, trainers, PT’s) going to have to work through this for the first time.

With the recent re-opening plans, outdoor pools are now opening in Maryland. Many of the local swim teams have made arrangements with local pools to start training again, but now in the outdoor facilities. As we start our swimmers back to practices, we need to be aware of any problems that they might have had before the shut-down prevented them from training.

If you had swimmer’s shoulder prior to the shut-down, it is likely you will get it on return to the water. I know that sounds like I’m being a naysayer, but I have some reasons behind my thought.

Problem #1 – You are not conditioned for swimming.

No matter what you have done to try to keep your conditioning up during the COVID-19 shut-down, there just is nothing that works you like being in the water. Aerobically, you could be a monster on your bike, or when running (although it’s unlikely that a swimmer is a running-fiend…there is a reason you love the water!). But here is the rub. When you run or bike, you can breathe whenever you please, and at whatever rate you need. This helps you to be able to keep yourself oxygenated, which keeps you working out aerobically (FYI, aerobic means “with oxygen”).

Now, limit your ability to breathe whenever you want because your face is in the water. You will be oxygen-deprived in a very short time, which will show up as fatigue in your muscles. You know, that burning sensation that your muscles get when you are working hard? Yup, that’s a sign of fatigue and oxygen-deprivation.

The more fatigued you become, the more likely your stroke will break down. That can lead to more stress on the shoulders, which in turn, leads to “swimmer’s shoulder.”

Problem #2 – You are not used to swimming.

During the shut-down, you most likely did not have access to a swimming pool. So your swimming training was crippled. Unless you have a pool in your backyard, or a friend does, and you have lots of bungees or tethers to keep you centered in the small pool (think power-tower), swimming has not been in your routine.

Some of my patients have been able to do a bit of open-water training, but they are few and far between. In fact, I can count them on 2-fingers…

Dryland training is great to keep your strength and work on maintaining an aerobic base, but it is still not the same as working in the water. You have a lot of stability while working on land. The ground provides a nice, stable base for all of your workouts. But when you are in the water, that base is anything but stable. You push against the water, and it moves. Which makes you have to work even harder. You need to: 1) create stability while in the water, and 2) produce propulsive power to get yourself moving through the water.

Getting both of those tasks working together and for the duration of a swim practice set requires both strength and endurance. We already talked about the aerobic fatigue issues in Problem #1. Now we add to that actual muscular fatigue issues because the muscles need to do two jobs at once…stabilization and movement.

The more fatigued you become, both muscularly and aerobically, the more likely your stroke will break down. That can lead to more stress on the shoulders, which in turn, leads to “swimmer’s shoulder.” (sound familiar?)

Problem #3 – You will most likely have the exact same swimming stroke you had prior to the shut-down.

Since you have not been in the water for 2-3 months, you will have lost your “feel” for the water. But your brain will still remember the previous movements patterns as the default way to do things. If we do not pay attention, we will most likely fall back into exactly the same pattern of strokes that we had prior to the shut-down. If you had solid stroke-mechanics prior to the shut-down, then it is likely that you can get those back…those mechanics would be your default pattern.

However, if you were not-so-solid in your mechanics, it is likely you will have those same shaky mechanics return. You might have been doing well-enough with the poor mechanics when you were in swimming shape, but now with the strength and aerobic base being lower, those poor mechanics could lead to shoulder pain rapidly.

Mistakes in your stroke patterns add up over time. They rarely cause pain immediately. But count the number of strokes you take in a practice, and you will see how quickly those faulty mechanics can pile up.

The more fatigued you become, both muscularly and aerobically, the more likely your stroke mechanics will break down. That can lead to more stress on the shoulders, which in turn, leads to “swimmer’s shoulder.” (Again, does that sound familiar, only adding more layers to the problem?)

Problem #4 – You might be tempted to “make up for lost time.”

The greatest temptation that any athlete has is to make-up for lost training time. This goes double for swimmers, where the saying goes: “For every one day out of the water, it takes two days to regain the fitness.”

Let’s do the math on that. Three (3) months out of the water= 92 days. Two (2) days for every day out =184 days.

That’s 6-months to regain what you have lost by being out of the water!

So your temptation is to do more training so that you can shorten your return to competitive fitness levels. More is better, right? But the trouble here is that your body will still need recovery time between sessions. Insufficient recovery means that your next workout is starting at a lower fitness level than the previous workout. Do that for several days/weeks, and you are working in the wrong direction…having lower fitness overall…at least until you allow yourself to recover fully. Which might mean several days out of the water, leading to the same thought process of “needing to train more to make up for lost time.”

The other temptation is to train harder, and faster swims to make up for lost time. Harder, faster swims will likely require increased time of rest between workouts for full muscle recovery. Otherwise, you are starting your next workout weaker than your previous workout. Again, this is moving your fitness in the wrong direction.

In short, you need to be on guard against doing “too much, too soon” or swimming “too fast, too soon.”

The more fatigued you become, both muscularly and aerobically, the less recovered you are between workouts, the more likely your stroke mechanics will break down. That can lead to more stress on the shoulders, which in turn, leads to “swimmer’s shoulder.” (Again, adding another layer to the problem!)

The Solutions to These Problems

Hopefully you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t simply point out problems and then leave you wondering how to fix them. We need to go about solving the problems in a logical manner. All of these problems can be solved or avoided, so we can reduce the risk of your swimmer’s shoulder pain returning.

As you return to the water, use this time to make corrections to all of the above problems. My advice to everyone is to train like you are coming back from an injury…slowly and steadily.

Solution #1 – Start gradually.

By starting gradually, you allow many things to occur naturally in your body. Starting gradually will address both Problem #1 and Problem #2. Starting gradually allows a bit more recovery time early in the return to swimming. Having better recovery early in your training allows your body time to adapt.

These adaptations will show up in your aerobic conditioning and capacity. They will also be noticeable in your tissues’ tolerances to stress. How will you observe these changes? You will swim longer with less fatigue, and have less soreness on waking the following morning after a workout.

It’s important to remember that both the aerobic capacity, the muscular strength, and the overall tolerance to stresses go hand-in-hand. They all require consistency in your training. Try to avoid too much, too soon as that can cause you to require more days off, and fall back into the de-training cycle.

Solution #2 – Drill, Drill, and Drill Some More

Doing stroke drills when at practice might seem boring, at least maybe it did in the past. Maybe you thought it was a time to coast, since the pace was easier. But not anymore.

Using stroke drills (and a little brain effort), you can correct your stroke faults NOW. Why go back to the old, poor mechanics of your previous stroke, when you can correct those and have a stronger, more efficient, and faster stroke technique? This is your opportunity to improve without the immediate pressures of competition looming over you.

Have you ever wanted to change something about your stroke, but you were afraid it might mess things up before the next meet? You have a great opportunity right now to make that change, ingrain it, and be better than before!

Don’t wait until you have shoulder pain to make improvements. Think about what you are training when you are doing stroke drills in practice. Be intentional with those drills and make things better from the beginning.

Solution #3 – Don’t compare yourself with others…at least, not yet.

Focus on your own incremental improvements. Don’t worry about what someone else is able to do, or if you can do better than someone else. It’s practice at this point. When we start back with competition, then you can measure yourself against the other swimmers. But for now, show up, work hard, and listen.

Show up for your practice. Don’t simply attend, but actually be ready for action and with a goal in mind. Practice with intention.

Work hard in practice. Going through the motions will get some improvements, but working diligently to make things better will get you there faster.

Listen. Your coaches are there to help you improve. Listen to their feedback. Be open to making changes now. By listening and starting things off correctly, you won’t have to break bad habits in the future.

Solution #4 – Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Making some of these changes is bound to make you feel a little out-of-sorts. It’s common to feel uncomfortable when trying something new, or changing the way that you do something. That’s where the growth and learning occur. If it all feels easy and similar, you are probably not making any changes at all. If you don’t have to think while doing a drill, you are probably not focusing on what you need to change.

It will be uncomfortable to put effort into thinking about your stroke, making changes, and getting feedback from your coaches. That’s okay. This is the time to grow and improve. Our greatest accomplishments are born from discomfort, uncertainty, and taking a chance.

“Nothing in the world is worth having, or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Conclusion

So remember that your swimmer’s shoulder pain will not fix itself just because you have been out of the water for 3-months. Quite the opposite is true.

Your success will be greater by taking the small steps along the way seriously. So start gradually, do your drills attentively, don’t compare yourself with others, and get used to being uncomfortable.

Vince Lombardi said, “We would accomplish more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

What can you accomplish as you return to the water? State cut? National cut? Futures? Olympic Trials?

Take the time, put in the effort, and make the changes to feel better, swim better and faster, and achieve what you once thought was impossible!