The purpose of this study was to explore how specific shoulder stabilizing exercises influenced the shoulder strength balance, incidence of practice time lost due to shoulder ailments and swim performance. Two US high school varsity swim teams participated in the study. The treatment team (N = 59) performed thrice weekly 20-minute dryland activities to improve shoulder and scapular stability, whereas the control team (N = 68) did not explicitly train their athletes in this manner. In addition to the shoulder ailment incidence and lost practice time, we also monitored changes in athletic performance. The results indicate that shoulder-stabilizing exercises reduce the incidence and duration of shoulder ailments in swimmers, without being detrimental to swim performance.
© Copyright 2010 ISBS - Conference Proceedings Archive (Konstanz). Springer. Published by International Society of Biomechanics in Sports. All rights reserved.