Difference in muscle synergies of the butterfly technique with and without swimmer’s shoulder

This study aimed to investigate whether muscle synergy differs between swimmers with and without swimmer's shoulder in the butterfly technique. Muscle synergies, which can assess muscle coordination, were analyzed using surface electromyography. Twenty elite swimmers were included in this study (swimmer's shoulder: n = 8; control: n = 12). The motions involved in executing the butterfly technique were classified into the early pull-through, late pull-through, and recovery phases. Muscle synergy data analyzed using the nonnegative matrix factorization method were compared between the two groups. The swimming velocities were 1.66 ± 0.09 m・s (−1) and 1.69 ± 0.06 m・s (−1) for the control and swimmer's shoulder groups, respectively. Four muscle synergies in both groups were identified: synergy #1, which was involved in the early pull; synergy #2, involved in the late pull; synergy #3, involved in the early recovery; and synergy #4, involved in pre- and posthand entry. Compared to the control group, the swimmer's shoulder group had a small contribution from the pectoralis major (p = 0.032) and a high contribution from the rectus femoris during the early pull phase (p = 0.036). In the late pull phase, the contribution of the lower trapezius muscle in the swimmer's shoulder group was low (p = 0.033), while the contribution of the upper trapezius muscle in the pre- and postentry phases was high (p = 0.032). In the rehabilitation of athletes with swimmer's shoulder, it is therefore important to introduce targeted muscle rehabilitation in each phase.