Smart kids can't do butterfly!

By Coach John Thomas

 

Writers should be put in jail.  A headline of an article in a recent New York Times newspaper caught my eye, making it hard to pass up reading it.  The article discussed how writer need to divest themselves of all outside disturbances. This way, nothing obstructs their creativity.  The story was nothing like the thoughts that came to mind when you saw the heading.  Weeks later I thought of this writer’s piece when the idea for this article came to mind.  

Now that I've caught your eye, let put it straight, even though the titles of these pieces have some validity, its really not true. Smart kids can do butterfly and writer don't need to be put in jail.  

In swimming, I've notice many athletes have very strong muscles in the front of their shoulder, enough to draw them forward.  Each stroke in swimming builds strength in the chest area, but swimming shouldn't be the only thing to cause such a strength imbalance.  Noticing one of my swimmers, shouldering her backpack, leaning, shoulders draw forward, laboring, carrying its heavy content, I thought could this weight add to this problem. 

Antagonistic pairs, a principle repeating itself throughout the body should be looked at.  If you've ever read about kinesiology, the study of the muscles, this principle is paramount.  Every muscle in your body has a matching muscle working in opposition, hence the word antagonistic. Problems arise when one of these pairs becomes stronger than the other. In the shoulder girdle you have the pectoral muscles in the



front and the Rhomboids ( Rhomboideus major and minor) and Latissimus Dorsi in back, keeping the shoulder aligned. When the front muscle gets stronger from use, the shoulder joint is drawn forward.  attempting to stretch this muscle would seem to be the solution to realignment but in many cases it adds to the problem.  Drawing the arms back into a stretch does not do much to lengthen the pect muscle; in most cases it simple pulls on the ligament of the shoulder joint, loosening the joint, doing nothing to change the alignment.  Many times stretching this joint will cause rotator cuff problems to occur caused by the looseness of the joint. 

Rowing exercises will build up the muscles in the back, equalizing the imbalance.  As the back gets stronger, the shoulder will come into alignment.  

Results of this realignment will eliminate the comments made by parent to their children, sit up straight, and pull your shoulders back. Plus, when looking in the mirror, at your back, the wings you see, caused by your scapula (shoulder blade) being drawn forward will flatten out.  The strength you build in the back muscles will pull the scapula back, smoothing out its contour.  

I still haven't explained my statement, "Why smart kids can't do butterfly". Every back pack/book bag swimmers carry, pulls on their shoulders, strengthening the pect muscles.  More books mean more weight, causing more stress on your muscles.  Smart kids never want to be without all the tools to get good grades, so carrying every book to class is necessary, causing a better chance of having this muscle imbalance. 

How does butterfly come in?  To have a great butterfly stroke you need to have shoulder flexibility.  If you don't have it, your stroke will be deficient.  Arm recovery should be up along the side of your body.  In swimmers with this imbalance drawing their arms above their head in the recovery is more in front then back, causing them to lift out of the water further, adding to the inability to enter the arms above their head in a relaxed fashion.  

Their style of fly is not like the individuals who have the flexibility. 

So what's next? First reconsider your book bag.  Don’t overload it, if you do, consider another type of bag, maybe a shoulder bag you can alternate shoulders with.  Do rowing exercises to improve the strength of your back muscles.  

Smart kids can do butterfly, but take a look at your alignment and consider improving the shoulder alignment.  Bringing your shoulders into the right place could take you from being able to do butterfly to a great butterflyer.