shoulder injuries (un)avoidable?

Question
QUESTION: If I swim backstroke every day, will I develop shoulder injury or shoulder arthritis even if my position and movement are correct?

Thanks in advance

ANSWER: It's tough to say. It would depend on:
1. Your genetics. How stable is your shoulder? A family history of arthritis?
2. How far and how hard are you going? The more you swim, the harder you swim, the more likely to get shoulder injuries. If you're under 3,000 yards a day, it's doubtful.
3. Do you do anything else to protect the shoulder? Any strength or flexibility exercises.
4. Do you do anything that would increase the likelihood of injuries? A lot of overhead presses in the gym, or swim with paddles.
5. Do you have a pre-existing condition?

The main shoulder injury in swimming is a rotator cuff impingement. It's a little muscle in the front of the shoulder that helps the arm stay in place and rotate. It's used a lot in swimming so it gets developed. The rear muscles of the shoulder and back don't get strong enough to keep the arm in the shoulder socket and it pinches this little muscle.

Backstroke can cause this condition. Most swimmers don't do a ton of back (Olympic and collegiate swimmers the exception) and they mix it up with other strokes. So I'd say it's unlikely that you'll get hurt.

My question is why only backstroke? It's better for you to mix things up and it keeps things more interesting. Backstroke is a difficult stroke to push yourself hard enough to get a good workout in. But if you do swim only backstroke, try to do some with fins and then do some lengths of kicking only for variation.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the prompt and elaborate answer. I only do it moderately and do freestyle, too, definitely less than 3000 yards. What about arthritis? Can that happen with swimming in the long run? Thanks again!

Answer
I'm not a doctor, so I don't know much about arthritis. I did a brief search: http://orthopedics.about.com/od/arthritis/f/arthritiscauses.htm   and from the looks of it swimming would not be on the list of things to cause it.

That said, swimming can be tough on shoulders. The repetitive overhead motion and the front part of the pull (the catch), can put a lot of stress. But it's very individual and depends on body type, genetics, stroke mechanics. If you're not getting pain then I think you're good to go and shouldn't worry about it.

If you are having pain, then there are some things to do; mostly exercises, stroke changes and workout adjustments. Let me know if that's the case.

Btw, I've coached masters swimmers in their 90s with no problems at all.

Best of luck!