You want to swim your best this season, but the threat of injury haunts you. As you practice, you can’t help but wonder if there are ways you can avoid sports-related injuries before they start. Your time and health are too valuable to waste on incorrect practice or ineffective techniques that won’t protect your body and your season.

I’ve experienced that “gut-punch” and heartache when an injury renders a team member benched for the season. That’s why Scarpone Sports Regenerative strives to not only help you recover, but keep injuries from happening in the first place.

The following are are a few habits I found useful throughout my 15 years of competitive swimming, and over 5 years of working with athletes as an athletic training student, Certified Athletic Trainer, and Physician Assistant student. Here are 5 tips for injury prevention that I hope will help as you strive to enhance your performance and protect your health throughout your career as a competitive swimmer.

1. Build a strong core.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: everything you do comes from your core. I’m living proof that this is a true statement, so listen to your coaches, physical therapists, and athletic trainers when they tell you to focus on your core! A strong core is at the heart of every swimming stroke.

Most people save ab exercises for the end of the workout, but I’ve found it beneficial to take a few minutes before jumping in the pool or starting a weight lifting session to activate your abdominal muscles. Do 5-10 minutes of continuous ab exercises to “wake up” your core. You’ll find you’re much more aware of those muscles during your workout. Using your core will help stabilize any movement, thus preventing injuries in your extremities.

2. Focus on good technique.

Proper technique will help protect you from injuries. While there is not enough time or room in this post to explain specific techniques for every stroke, I will give some general tips and then provide links to more specified resources.

First, avoid dropping your elbow as soon as you start the pull phase of your stroke. Dropping your elbow leaves your shoulder muscles vulnerable and stops you from using your powerful latissimus dorsi muscle.

Second, Remember that core! There’s no need to exhaust your other muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Third, keep your head steady (literally and figuratively). Your body will follow whichever way your head is going, so make sure you are keeping it in line. Stop looking to the right or left at your opponent, or forward at the wall – they’re certainly not going anywhere!

Below, I’ve listed a few suggested resources that dive deeper into drills and techniques for specific strokes. I encourage you to find a balance between what makes you swim fast and maintaining a solid technique that will protect you from injury. Swim Swam is a very reliable website with so many great posts about technique, drills, ways to improve your mental game, and testimonies from some of the best swimmers in the world.

Recommended resources:

• Butterfly Technique – The Second Down Kick
• Single-Arm Freestyle: Nathan Adrian’s Favorite Free Drill
• Two New Metrics to Evaluate Breaststroke
• Hybrid Freestyle Technique: Who Should Use It and When?
• Three Home Exercises to Build a Better Backstroke

3. Stabilize your shoulders.

As terrifying as it may sound, many competitive swimmers are walking around with asymptomatic rotator cuff tears. Yet, they continue to swim thousands and thousands of yards every day.

Since swimmers are so prone to shoulder injuries, specifically rotator cuff tears, it is important to stabilize those muscles to prevent tears from occurring or becoming symptomatic. Swimmers also tend to have a much stronger and tighter front body (i.e. pectoralis muscles, anterior deltoids) in contrast to a weaker back body (i.e. rhomboids). This results in poor posture with shoulders rolled forward, hyper-kyphosis (“hunchback”), and occasionally a forward head posture. This is why some health care professionals who have worked with swimmers can spot them as soon as they walk into the office.

Add a variety of stabilizing exercises for the rotator cuff to your practice. This will strengthen those weaker back muscles. In addition to strengthening, mobility should be maintained using a tennis or lacrosse ball to help loosen up the front body and work out any “tight” spots. Below are two videos I found helpful for putting these shoulder-saving ideas into practice.

4. Utilize the off-season.

Burn out is a real problem in any sport. These days, athletes seem to be specializing in a sport at very young ages.

I always advise people to choose an off-season. This can vary depending on your geographical location. For those in Ohio, spring is usually the best time to take a break from the pool and focus on different forms of exercise. Try out for the track team, take kick boxing or high intensity interval training classes at a local gym or YMCA, or pick up cycling, for example.

When I swam at Ashland University, the swim team would get involved in an intramural soccer league. Warning: Swimmers tend to be uncoordinated out of the water so please be careful! Yoga was also something I enjoyed all year round. It helps maintain flexibility while building strength, and it’s also a great chance to practice your mental game (i.e. visualization techniques, meditation).

5. Take care of your body and mind.

This can mean different things for different people, but one thing is certain: You MUST give your body 1 day off every week (with one exception).

That exception being during the challenging time of Christmas break. While most people look forward to Christmas break, swimmers almost always dread this time because of multiple grueling sessions in the pool each day, in addition to weight-lifting workouts. But I digress.

Take that day off, preferably Sunday (depending on your training cycle). I understand that some people really do feel better after jumping in to swim a few thousand yards on their day off, but I’ve found that my body absolutely needed that one day out of the pool. It was good for both my body and my mind.

Furthermore, make sure you are fueling your body with the right foods. During my time at Ashland, our coach coordinated multiple meetings with the program director for dietetics. Try to schedule a quick meeting with a specialist and bring questions. You’ll walk away with a lot of great information and ways to prevent crashing in the middle of workouts or long competitions.

There you have it! I hope you found these tips and tricks helpful. These techniques have served me well throughout my swimming career, and brought me to the other side of it as a stronger and better person.

Best of luck with your season! Stay healthy and keep working hard!