I’m a marathoner and cyclist and have some minor shoulder problems, have had surgery, so I can’t completely lift my right arm above my head, so I can’t quite do a ‘normal’ swim stroke. I’m interested in trying a sprint triathlon next year, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to do so just using the side stroke. I can manage that just fine, but don’t use it much - that is, I don’t swim often. I’m wondering if it’s worth my time to train if this stroke is going to give me a semi-decent pace, or should I just stick to marathons and duathlons…
Go for it. In any race of decent numbers I’d be very surprised if you don’t spot a number of others doing breaststroke or something similar.
With the swimming - How is your body rotation? You can compensate for some shoulder problems by exaggerating body roll. Obviously I don’t want to encourage you to do something that is going to cause injury. Emphasis on that. But if it’s just a lack of flexibility sort of thing with your right arm then you could work on a modified freestyle with a big roll on one side that would be faster than sidestroke. Take a look at some vids of Janet Evans for inspiration.
Note: Not serious about the Janet Evans comment but serious about the rest. IMO even if you can only get half forward and half a catch with your right arm it’s likely to be faster than side stroke.
Actually, it’s my left shoulder that has the short reach. My right (dominant) shoulder is fine. It could be possible for me to stretch it to a semi-decent stroke, and I didn’t consider the body rotation - good idea. I just considered the side stroke because it’s easier and it’s what I’m used to…
While sidestroke is perfectly legal on the swim, you’ll be disliked by other competitors because the kick can cause some damage to other swimmers in crowded group conditions.
If you do give it a try, please stick to the outside of the course.
I have a chronic shoulder problem as well - stretched ligament which makes the rotator cuff area very susceptible to impingement and more minor sources of irritation. I tired a few swim coaches and found one who helped me develop a freestyle stroke that works fairly well. I need to skip a day between swim sessions. I’m a pretty slow swimmer, but can finish mid-pack in my age-group in all but sprint races. My endurance is better than my speed because I can’t get a fast turnover going - although I’m still trying. I’ve never seen a fast side-stroke, but who knows? I can’t imagine going long distance that way.
Again, although your shoulder may be in sadder shape than ours…
I also have worn out r-cuffs and an impingement from years of hard work and abuse; swimming actually helps the joint and keeps the pain at bay - in my case. If I watch out that I don’t loose form in the water, I benefit from swimming. I’d wager that you could get there also.
I have a chronic shoulder problem as well - stretched ligament which makes the rotator cuff area very susceptible to impingement and more minor sources of irritation. I tired a few swim coaches and found one who helped me develop a freestyle stroke that works fairly well. I need to skip a day between swim sessions. I’m a pretty slow swimmer, but can finish mid-pack in my age-group in all but sprint races. My endurance is better than my speed because I can’t get a fast turnover going - although I’m still trying. I’ve never seen a fast side-stroke, but who knows? I can’t imagine going long distance that way.
I have a similar condition to this - totally unrelated to stroke mechanics and completely physiological. Every time I perform a full extend/catch/pull-through, I get severe impingement in the affected shoulder which will cause inflammation and force me to stop within 4-5 minutes. (I actually had one coach tell me that I was in that situation because I didn’t listen to people like him when they told me the “proper” way to swim.) To fix the situation, I had to develop my own stroke that limits the direct overhead extension and sweeps closer to the torso (kind of like crawling on your elbows rather than your hands). It’s not the most efficient stroke, but by using it, my pain is limited and it is good enough to make me a MOP swimmer. Like some others suggest, I would recommend experimenting with an exaggerated roll and developing a freestyle-esque stroke if you are able to. The side stroke is great if no one’s around. But in the crowd, you’ll make more enemies than friends. Good luck.
Foolish as it is to try and diagnose what’s causing your shoulder problems from that description…
What was it that the coach told you and why didn’t you listen? If you don’t have a correct high elbow catch you can put to much pressure on your shoulders and cause pain. Is this what the coach was talking about when he said you weren’t listening to him?
There are some good descriptions of correct catch floating around by desert dude, Just Old, FLA Jill, gary hall etc or if that fails, this graphic is a good visual aid
do rotator cuff exercises until you can move better. Talk to your PT about it.
Respectfully :D, I could not disagree more with your assumption and Tx suggestion. The rotator cuff itself is a group of four very small muscles whose primary goal is to allow for Gleno-humeral/ “Shoulder Joint” stability… PERIOD. It should not be thought of as a torque producer. So, the suggestion to strengthen the rotator cuff first is probably like taking tylenol to take away the pain of having a knife stuck in your eye and just keep on living… ok, perhaps not that extreme but right up there! Unless Alpinist takes a look at how to swim “well” with good form/technique this injury will likely keep him/her out of swimming forever. And, the suggestion to overcompensate by doing something completely contrary to proper swimming form (not your suggestion :D) is perochial at best and a suggestion that will not only instill improper motor patterns but also lead to other injuries due to compensations for the compensations!!! make sense?
So… Alpinist… seek out professional help in the form of a qualified manual therapist familiar with what Moulli (sp?) suggests using the stroke analysis he linked. Get the structures that are damaged or dysfunctional worked on and gradually re-build your body USING PROPER FORM/TECHNIQUE instead of just swimming the way you feel is the way you need to swim. I wish you all the best… think about it! ERIK
See your local PT. It depends on what your issue is. There may be no reason that you couldn’t recover full range and function with disciplined therapy. If there isn’t then find a well qualified swim coach that understands your mechanics.
Just to clear up a few things: Shoulder inpingement is the result of poor Scapulo-Humeral timing. This is dependent on rotator cuff strength(and control), and Range of motion. The rotator cuff prevents the head of the humerus from rolling up on the glenoid into the subacromial space (where the Supraspinatus sits) and inpinging upon it. Improving both the timing and strength of these muscles will help prevent this issue by enhancing joint spin during the contraction of the deltoid, trap, lat and pec. Also tight pecs (major and minor), lats, and weak serratus anterior, mid/lower traps and rhomboids can cause an elevation and rolling forward (protraction) of the scapula increasing the size of the “roof” of the shoulder joint proper (glenohumeral joint) making it easier to inpinge the joint by decreasing your available range before you hit bone. If range of motion is limited here stretching is needed to ensure that further injury is prevented.
The clavical, cervical spine, scalenes and levator scapula may also have a role in dysfuction.
Usually cyclist (and Most computer users) have the prerequisite posture that will set themselves up for inpingment; Forward head, elevated and protracted shoulder blades.
Hope that helps
Seth Wilkie
Master Personal Trainer
Physical Therapy Student - University of New Mexico
You should definitely do a sprint. Even if you come out of the water BOP, because your a runner and cyclist you will have a blast passing people throughout the race.
Thanks so much for the input everyone. I think the first stop is my doc, who is also a sports med specialist, and knows a couple of good PTs.
I congratulate you for taking on a triathlon and feel certain that whatever the result of your race (s), you’ll be glad you did. Triathletes are a nice bunch of folks and the post race eats and BS session will be worth the price of admission alone.
I would assume, possibly incorrectly, that if there were a traditional fix for your lost ROM after surgery that it would have been instituted by now. Therefore, in my mind, you are being advised courses of action by intelligent, motivated folks who breathe triathlon and perhaps have a deeper commitment to the sport than than you’d wish to make at this point. I’m in that group as well, sorry. But heck, it’s only 750-1000 yds (or so, depending on your particular race) and whatever approach you choose is great.
I’m sure that some at the starting line do little in the way of preparation and if you’re comfortable with an off stroke, have practiced it sufficiently so you don’t get embarrassed, whatever level of involvement of the healthcare system you choose will be right for you. Welcome to our world!
I had shoulder surgery late September last year and have just hit the pool again in February. Every day the stroke is feeling better and my ROM is improving, thanks in large part to physio and my shoulder exercises. I am even doing some dryland training with a thera-band and exercise ball. I’ve never been a strong swimmer, so my goal is just to get out the water feeling good enough for the bike and run. I’m doing IMC this August.
I’m not sure how extensive your surgery was, but is there a chance your range of motion will improve by next year? I’d say jumping in the pool for a bit of exercise should help. My surgeon even urged me to get back to swimming earlier than I anticipated. And even if you can’t get back to a regular free style stroke, I’d definitely give the sprint a try. There’s always a lot of people in sprints with “unorthodox” styles, if the swims are in heats and you take a slower heat, I’m sure there won’t be too much hate going on.
Good luck
Definitely see your Dr. and a PT to see if you can regain more range of motion in your shoulder. That being said, you can do the side-stroke and I think you really should go for it.
Check out this site. Their swim ‘technique’ is a form of side stroke and if you find their instructional video you’ll see how they do their stroke. I think they can cover 50m in 1 minute pace doing this which would allow you to be quite competitive in your local sprint tris.
http://www.sealfitnesschallenge.com/
Another option would be to learn to do single arm freestyle. I do a little bit of single-armed swimming as a drill and I actually clip along not too much slower than my full pace.
2 things, hopefully encouraging:
I did my first tri - an oly - doing breaststroke all the way, because I didn’t know anything else. Finished the swim about 2/3 of the way down, which is normal for me now that I can - sort of - do the crawl.
After suffering for a year with a shoulder injury, that didn’t seem to be getting any better and was waking me up at night with pain, I went to an athletic therapist who supervised tough stretching and strengthening exercises, and I now have almost my complete range of motion back, almost no pain or discomfort, and can swim as well (haha) as ever! j
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