Swimmers’ hand and wrist problems come from two places:
- HAND PADDLES, which multiply the load on your forearm tendons, and
- WALL AND LANE STRIKES, which break and dislocate fingers
Backstrokers hitting the wall, and swimmers clashing hands in crowded lanes, cause the acute finger injuries. Paddle sets added too quickly cause the forearm and wrist tendon pain.
Shoulders take most of swimming’s overuse load. This article covers the hand, wrist and elbow.
How the injuries happen
- Paddles. A larger surface means more water resisting every pull, and your wrist and forearm muscles hold the paddle’s angle against it for the whole set
- Tight paddle straps. Tubing pulled tight across the fingers and wrist presses on the soft tissue beneath
- Backstroke finishes and turns. Miscounting strokes from the flags drives an outstretched hand into the wall at full speed
- Lane crowding. Hands strike another swimmer’s head, hand or foot mid-stroke, or catch the lane rope
- Breaststroke and butterfly touches. Two-handed finishes jam fingers when the timing is off
- Open water. Rocks, boats and other swimmers at mass starts
Count your strokes from the flags on every backstroke length, including the easy ones.
What turns up
- A swollen finger after a wall or lane strike: jammed finger, or a PIP sprain or dislocation that stays fat for months
- A finger that looks crooked or crosses its neighbor when you make a fist: broken finger
- A fingertip that droops after hitting the wall: mallet finger
- Pain and swelling over a knuckle after hitting the wall with a closed hand: metacarpal fracture
- Forearm and wrist tendon pain after paddle sets: extensor overload, tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow depending on the side
- Thumb-side wrist pain building through a paddle block: De Quervain’s
- Wrist pain after a slip on a wet pool deck: wrist fracture or scaphoid fracture
The changes that make the most difference
- Build paddle volume gradually. Add a few hundred meters of paddle work per week, not a full block in the first session back
- Start with smaller or finger paddles and move up in size over weeks
- Loosen the straps, and drop the wrist strap if the paddle stays on without it
- Backstroke: count strokes from the flags and reach the final stroke with a relaxed, slightly bent arm
- Circle swim with spacing, and swim wider strokes only in a lane with room
- Walk the pool deck. A slip on wet tiles onto an outstretched hand is a common way to break a wrist
Getting back in the water
- Finger sprain: swim within days, buddy strapped with waterproof tape, and no paddles for 2 to 3 weeks
- Simple finger fracture: usually 3 to 4 weeks of protection first. Kick sets with a board held in the good hand keep fitness going
- Mallet finger: the fingertip must stay straight 24 hours a day for the full splinting period. Swimming waits unless your therapist gives you a waterproof splint and shows you how to change it without letting the tip bend
- Forearm tendon pain: keep swimming without paddles, add tendon loading on land, and bring paddles back small over 4 to 6 weeks
- Wrist fracture: no swimming in a plaster cast. Kick sets and pool walking once the skin and your surgeon allow
Get it assessed if
- A finger points the wrong way or crosses another when you make a fist
- A fingertip that droops and won’t straighten
- A finger that won’t fully bend after a strike
- Thumb-side wrist pain after a slip, even with a normal X-ray
- Numbness in any fingers
- Forearm pain that stays after six weeks without paddles
Rowers share the paddle-style forearm problem.
See rowing injuries.
For the splints involved, see mallet finger splints and buddy strapping.
Small paddles, loose straps, and count to the wall.
Every article on this site is written using the Closing Window Method: name the window your condition runs on, find where you are in it, and act while it’s still open.