Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Effect Of Sport-Specific Demands On Swimmer's Shoulder, Jordan A. Thielbar

Honors Thesis

Swimming is a unique sport in that the shoulders generate most of the propulsive force. Therefore, due to the large amounts of repetitive force, the shoulders generate during freestyle, swimmer’s shoulder is the most common injury among competitive swimmers. Freestyle biomechanics, muscular imbalances and posture all play a pertinent role in a swimmer’s risk for developing a shoulder injury during their swimming career. Swimmers typically develop large muscular imbalances between their dominant and nondominant shoulders due to several sport-specific demands including freestyle stroke mechanics, breathing, and body roll. These muscular imbalances alter a swimmer’s posture and freestyle biomechanics which eventually …