Raise your hand if you know the body part most prone to injury when it comes to swimmers slash the overall sport of swimming. What was that? Your skin? Nice try but no, get some lotion and your skin will be just fine (unless you have an allergy, then don’t listen to a word I’ve written and consult your doctor). Let’s try one more time…Yes, it’s YOUR SHOULDERS. I knew you’d get it.
So, if that’s the most commonly injured part of your body when you swim consistently what should you do, suck it up? Stop swimming? In the famously genius words of Jason Nesmith (aka Tim Taylor and by that I really mean Tim Allen, just wanted to throw Home Improvement some love), “Never give up, never surrender.” If you’re sitting there scratching your head wondering what that’s from please close this and watch Galaxy Quest immediately. If you don’t like Tim Allen, it’s at least always fun to see Sigourney Weaver hanging out in space again. BUT what I really mean to say is that stopping swimming is not the answer, and sucking it up really isn’t the smartest option here. So what’s there left to do? Now that I’ve gotten enough sarcastic humor in for the time being why don’t we get into that.
In order to protect your shoulders from injury the first thing we need to do is make sure you know the correct position your shoulders need to be in for all things swimming. And to do that we want to share this easy little reset-to-neutral movement you can do every time before you hop into the pool.
Neutral Shoulder Position is where your shoulder is going to be in the safest position in relation to your body that also allows for full range of motion and sets you up for proper and safe swimming movements (boy, that was a mouthful). In order to find your neutral position you’re going to take your left hand (or right hand, whichever hand you like more and want to start with first) and place it on your right shoulder. Then take your right hand and place it on your right thigh. THIS IS NEUTRAL. The position your shoulder is in after making these two movements is where you want your shoulder to be to stay as safe as possible.
Now that’s great and all, but how do you know when you’re OUT of neutral? I’m so glad you asked! It’s actually even easier than finding neutral position. All you have to do is start to slowly move your right hand towards the back of your thigh - towards your back, towards your butt, however you want to think of it - all the while keeping your left hand on your right shoulder. As soon as you feel your shoulder press forward into your left hand you’re out of neutral position. And whyyy (besides injury prevention) is it necessary to make sure your shoulder is in a neutral position for swimming? Take a look at the pictures below to see the differences in range of motion between your shoulder being out of neutral and your shoulder being in neutral.
Range of Motion NOT IN NEUTRAL
Range of Motion IN NEUTRAL
As you can see in the picture on the right, where the shoulder is IN NEUTRAL, you have a much larger range of motion to make proper and safe movements in the water. Whereas when your shoulder is OUT OF NEUTRAL, as shown on the left, you are much more restricted in your movements are are extremely limited in your range of motion. Not to mention the more out of neutral your shoulder becomes if you swim this way, the more strain and pressure will be applied to your shoulder joint, which will lead to varying degrees of injury.
Proper range of motion when your shoulder is in neutral allows for a proper and safe recovery, additional feedback as to where your hand needs to be during your finish (to stay in neutral), and better movement as a whole during your entire stroke.
Don’t miss our video that shows this movement in action!
