07 Apr Core activation in swimmers! Is it Important? If so WHY!

As you would probably already know swimming is a non weight bearing sport. Therefore swimmers get little assistance in their surroundings as far as stability and control. So you could assume then, that the swimmer must rely heavily on the core area of their bodies to be able to transfer the force between their arms and their legs and be able to hence gain propulsion through the water. If a swimmer is unable to gain this ability through a good core section a lot of “energy” is wasted as the force doesn’t project in a forward manor. You could think of the core as somewhat an anchor that allows the legs and arms to work together to get movement through the water in the most efficient manor. A swimmer has to learn how to control their core if they want to utilise it for a stable base while swimming.

Phyxit Physio currently screens all of its top level swimmers twice a year and this screening includes a functional Vi Move assessment that gives us a base line as to how well the swimmers are activating their core region. This is obviously done on land, however, it allows us a baseline measure for progression and advice. after these screenings Phyxit Physios will advice the swimmer, the coach and S and C as to the current abilities of the swimmer in this area. Often we see a strong correlation between our swimmers that are currently or have recently carried a shoulder injury and those with poor results from the Functional Vi Move test. However, with frequent prevention screenings and the right intervention afterwards and with strong communication between the coaching team we continue to see better results especially as far as prevention.

If we can just prevent one of our swimmers form being out of the pool due to a shoulder injuries having this screening process is certainly worth it.