The Effect of a Six-Week Program Using Unstable Surfaces for Upper Body on Shoulders Proprioceptive Capability and Strength among Young Competitive Swimmers

Background: Swimming requires a large number of repetitive overhead movements that may expose competitive swimmers to pain and muscle injuries in the upper limbs. The effect of training the proprioceptive system on pain reduction, performance improvement and injury prevention has been extensively documented in many knee and ankle joint studies. Those studies include exercises on unstable surfaces. Despite the importance of the proprioceptive system, swimming training routines do not include specialized proprioceptive training.

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of implementing exercises with unstable surfaces, on proprioceptive abilities and to strengthen the shoulders of young competitive swimmers.

Methods: Fifty-five young competitive swimmers were divided into two age and gender matched training groups. Both intervention group (GRP1) and control group (CO) performed an upper body strength-training program, 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks. GRP1 performed the exercises on unstable surfaces and CO performed them on stable surfaces. The training program included six upper body drills, three sets of each drill in a varied range of repetitions. The participants started the program in a given difficulty level according to their abilities and were assessed each week. If their abilities improved in a certain drill the difficulty level was raised. All swimmers were assessed for shoulder peak torque and proprioceptive ability before and after training.

Results: A significant difference was found in the proprioceptive ability (that was improved) after the training program for CO in the right hand (p.05). In the other variables, the differences were not significant. There was no significant difference in shoulder strength between pre-training and post-training.

Discussion and Conclusions: Shoulder strength and shoulder proprioception were mainly unchanged in both groups. It is necessary to continue seeking for the appropriate training program for the improvement of strength and proprioception of the shoulder in young swimmers.